PRB monitoring
▪ The en route 2020/2021 actual unit cost of Cyprus was 47.10 €2017, -5.5% lower than the determined unit cost (49.85 €2017). Cyprus does not have a terminal charging zone.
▪ The en route 2021 actual service units (1,266K) were +3.0% higher than determined (1,230K).
▪ In 2021, actual total costs were -3.1 M€2017 lower (-5.7%) than determined. The main reduction was on staff costs (-1.1 M€2017, or -5.1%), mainly due to the postponement of hiring and early retirement in MET entity. Other operating costs decreased by -1.8 M€2017 (-6.5%), mainly due to a decrease in travels and Eurocontrol costs.
▪ DCAC Cyprus spent 2.3 M€2017 in 2021 related to costs of investments, -6.8% lower than determined (2.4 M€2017) mainly due to delays of projects caused by the pandemic.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2020/2021 was 48.81€.
En route charging zone
Unit cost (KPI#1)
| Actual and determined data |
| Total costs - nominal (M€) |
2020-2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
| Actual costs |
101 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Determined costs |
105 |
60 |
67 |
71 |
| Difference costs |
−3 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Inflation assumptions |
2020-2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
| Determined inflation rate |
NA |
5.3% |
2.3% |
2.0% |
| Determined inflation index |
NA |
109.1 |
111.6 |
113.9 |
| Actual inflation rate |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Actual inflation index |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Difference inflation index (p.p.) |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
AUC vs. DUC
In the combined year 2020-2021, the AUC was lower than the planned DUC (-5.5%, or -2.76€2017). This results from the combination of higher than planned TSUs (+1.7%) and lower than planned en route costs in real terms (-3.9%, or -4.0 M€2017).
En route service units
The difference between actual and planned TSUs (+1.7%) falls within of the ±2% dead band. Hence, the resulting gain of 1.1 M€ is entirely retained by the ANSP (see items 10 to 14).
En route costs by entity
Actual real en route costs for 2020-2021 are -3.9% (-4.0 M€2017) lower than planned. This reflects the fact that while the costs for main ANSP – DCAC Cyprus remained mostly in line with the plan (+0.05%), the costs were much lower than planned for the MET service provider (-13.6%, or -1.1 M€2017) and the NSA/EUROCONTROL (-9.3%, or -3.0 M€2017).
En route costs for the main ANSP at charging zone level
The stable en route costs in real terms for DCAC Cyprus in 2020-2021 reflects a combination of:
- mostly stable staff costs (-0.1%) in real terms, however, it should be noted that staff costs in nominal terms were slightly above the plan (+0.8%) which is explained by higher overtime costs and changes to the ATCO salary scales;
- slightly higher other operating costs (+0.9%), which are understood to reflect higher subcontracted CNS as well as maintenance costs;
- depreciation costs in line with the plan; and,
- lower cost of capital (-7.4%), reflecting lower than planned actual asset base resulting from delays in the investment programme.
Actual unit cost incurred by the users (AUCU) (PI#1)
| AUCU components (€/SU) – 2020-2021 |
| Components of the AUCU in 2020-2021 |
€/SU |
| DUC |
50.35 |
| Inflation adjustment |
0.30 |
| Cost exempt from cost-sharing |
−1.40 |
| Traffic risk sharing adjustment |
0.00 |
| Traffic adj. (costs not TRS) |
−0.33 |
| Finantial incentives |
0.00 |
| Modulation of charges |
0.00 |
| Cross-financing |
0.00 |
| Other revenues |
0.00 |
| Application of lower unit rate |
0.00 |
| Total adjustments |
−1.43 |
| AUCU |
48.92 |
| AUCU vs. DUC |
−2.8% |
| Cost exempt from cost sharing by item - 2020-2021 |
€'000 |
€/SU |
| New and existing investments |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Competent authorities and qualified entities costs |
−2,778.1 |
−1.31 |
| Eurocontrol costs |
−183.4 |
−0.09 |
| Pension costs |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Interest on loans |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Changes in law |
0.0 |
0.00 |
| Total cost exempt from cost risk sharing |
−2,961.5 |
−1.40 |
The actual en route unit cost incurred by airspace users (AUCU) in respect of activities performed in combined year 2020-2021 (48.81€) is -3.1% lower than the nominal DUC (50.35€) which includes DUC initially charged: 28.78€; and to be charged: 21.57€. The difference between these two figures is due to:
- the positive inflation adjustment resulting from higher than planned inflation (+0.30€).
- the deduction of the traffic adjustment (-0.33€) for the costs not subject to traffic risk sharing to be reimbursed in future years;
- and the impact of adjustments resulting from the costs exempted from cost-sharing mechanism (-1.51€).
The share of regulatory result in the AUCU is 3.9%.
DCAC Cyprus net gain on en route activity in the Cypriot charging zone in the combined year 2020-2021
DCAC Cyprus’s net gain amounts to +0.9 M€, as a combination of a loss of -0.2 M€ arising from the cost sharing mechanism and a gain of +1.1 M€ arising from the traffic risk sharing mechanism.
DCAC Cyprus overall regulatory results (RR) for the en route activity
Ex-post, the overall RR taking into account the net gain from the en route activity mentioned above (+0.9 M€) and the actual RoE (+2.0 M€) amounts to +2.9 M€ (4.4% of the en route revenues). The resulting ex-post rate of return on equity is 7.0%, which is higher than the 4.8% planned in the PP.