PRB monitoring
▪ Germany registered 0.22 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2021, thus missing the local breakdown value of 0.18.
▪ Delays were higher than the breakdown value despite the lower traffic: In Germany, IFR movements in 2021 were 50% lower than in 2019.
▪ The delays were mainly caused by limited ATC capacity, staffing and severe weather at Bremen and Karlsruhe ACCs with new traffic patterns, increased volatility contributing during the summer period in ACCs already affected by staffing issues. Specifically, during the traffic recovery in summer 2021, the main delay causes were ATC capacity and ATC staffing in Bremen ACC, and ATC capacity and weather in Karlsruhe ACC.
▪ Traffic is expected to grow, with 2019 levels likely being reached in 2023 (in high growth scenario) or 2024 (in base growth scenario). A significant increase in the number of ATCOs in OPS is planned during RP3 in Bremen and Karlsruhe ACCs with a smaller increase in Langen and Münich ACCs.
▪ Delays were highest between July and December, mostly driven by ATC Capacity and Staffing issues and adverse weather conditions.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Germany increased by 6.51 p.p. compared to 2020 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Langen ACC was 94,626, showing a 20.4% decrease compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are 28.4% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Munich ACC was 52,942, showing a 24.3% decrease compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are 45.1% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Karlsruhe ACC was 100,596, showing a 14.8% increase compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are 30.6% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Bremen ACC was 76,548, showing a 1.8% decrease compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are 26.4% below 2019 levels.
▪ Langen ACC registered 7.41 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 26.3% below 2019 levels. Munich ACC registered 10.42 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 15.7% below 2019 levels. Karlsruhe ACC registered 10.22 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 19.2% below 2019 levels. Bremen ACC registered 3.92 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 37.9% below 2019 levels.
Summary of capacity performance
NSA’s assessment of capacity performance
Monitoring process for capacity performance
Capacity planning
Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)
With the closure of Tegel, Germany identifies a total of 15 airports as subject to RP3 monitoring in 2021.
However, in accordance with IR (EU) 2019/317 and the traffic figures, only 7 of those 15 airports must be monitored for pre-departure delays.
The Airport Operator Data Flow, necessary for the monitoring of these pre-departure delays, is established for the 8 airports required. Nevertheless, the quality of the reporting does not allow for the calculation of the ATC pre-departure delay at 6 of these airports, with more than 60% of the reported delay not allocated to any cause.
In 2021, traffic at the ensemble of German airports under monitoring was still 55% lower with respect to 2019, with only an 11% over 2020. The recovery differs from airport to airport and while cargo airports like Leipzig (EDDP) saw 98% of the 2019 traffic, Munich (EDDM) and Dusseldorf (EDDL) observed 64% less flights than in 2019.
Berlin Tegel ceased operations as of November 2020, so 2020 is the only year that appeared in the monitoring.
Average arrival ATFM delays in 2021 was 0.28 min/arr, compared to 0.10 min/arr in 2020.
ATFM slot adherence has improved (2021: 97.3%; 2020: 95.5%).
The most important delays at German airports in 2021 were observed at Berlin Brandenburg (EDDB: 2020: 0.00 min/arr.; 2021: 0.94 min/arr.) and Cologne (EDDK: 2020: 0.03 min/arr.; 2021: 0.80 min/arr.)
At Berlin Brandenburg, the traffic recovery in the second half of the year, influenced by some runway closures due to noise and ATC staff training, resulted in high delays attributed mostly to aerodrome capacity. In Cologne, where the traffic held better throughout the crisis due to the important cargo operation, delays were registered during the entire year but increased significantly in the second half of the year and were mostly attributed, like for Berlin, to aerodrome capacity issues (82%)
Leipzig (EDDP: 2020: 0.14 min/arr.; 2021: 0.31 min/arr.) doubled the delays per arrival, attributed mainly to weather followed by aerodrome capacity.
Frankfurt (EDDF: 2019: 0.69 min/arr.; 2020: 0.19 min/arr.; 2021: 0.19 min/arr.) and Munich (EDDM: 2019: 0.25 min/arr.; 2020: 0.08 min/arr.; 2021: 0.13 min/arr.) showed delays only in the second half of the year, mainly due to weather.
The rest of German airports registered zero or nearly zero arrival ATFM delays in 2021.
The provisional national target on arrival ATFM delay in 2021 was met.
In accordance with Article 3 (3) (a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1627: The incentive scheme shall cover only the calendar years 2022 to 2024. No bonus will be awarded to DFS for 2021 achievement.
| Airport level |
| Airport name |
Avg arrival
ATFM delay (KPI#2)
|
Slot adherence (PI#1)
|
ATC pre departure
delay (PI#2)
|
All causes pre departure
delay (PI#3)
|
| 2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
| Berlin Schönefeld |
NA |
0.94 |
NA |
NA |
97.7% |
98.3% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.04 |
0.32 |
NA |
NA |
8.2 |
12.3 |
NA |
NA |
| Berlin-Tegel |
0.05 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
94.2% |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
6.7 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
| Bremen |
0.01 |
0.02 |
NA |
NA |
94.9% |
92.5% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.01 |
0.10 |
NA |
NA |
3.4 |
4.9 |
NA |
NA |
| Dresden |
NA |
0.00 |
NA |
NA |
99.7% |
98.8% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.00 |
0.00 |
NA |
NA |
7.9 |
9.0 |
NA |
NA |
| Düsseldorf |
0.26 |
0.03 |
NA |
NA |
95.8% |
98.2% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.11 |
0.03 |
NA |
NA |
8.2 |
11.6 |
NA |
NA |
| Erfurt |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
96.0% |
97.4% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.00 |
0.00 |
NA |
NA |
4.8 |
7.8 |
NA |
NA |
| Frankfurt |
0.19 |
0.19 |
NA |
NA |
92.3% |
96.4% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.28 |
0.14 |
NA |
NA |
16.5 |
20.4 |
NA |
NA |
| Hamburg |
0.03 |
0.01 |
NA |
NA |
97.5% |
97.6% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.08 |
0.12 |
NA |
NA |
7.4 |
10.2 |
NA |
NA |
| Hannover |
NA |
0.07 |
NA |
NA |
95.9% |
94.4% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.01 |
0.08 |
NA |
NA |
11.6 |
16.1 |
NA |
NA |
| Köln-Bonn |
0.03 |
0.80 |
NA |
NA |
97.2% |
97.0% |
NA% |
NA% |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
10.8 |
16.7 |
NA |
NA |
| Leipzig |
0.14 |
0.31 |
NA |
NA |
98.9% |
96.9% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.16 |
0.12 |
NA |
NA |
15.2 |
21.9 |
NA |
NA |
| München |
0.08 |
0.13 |
NA |
NA |
94.3% |
96.9% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.01 |
0.07 |
NA |
NA |
7.3 |
9.0 |
NA |
NA |
| Münster-Osnabrück |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
97.1% |
97.1% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.00 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
8.6 |
9.9 |
NA |
NA |
| Nürnberg |
NA |
0.01 |
NA |
NA |
97.6% |
97.7% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.03 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
13.4 |
15.9 |
NA |
NA |
| Saarbrücken |
NA |
0.00 |
NA |
NA |
98.4% |
98.7% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.00 |
0.00 |
NA |
NA |
3.3 |
6.3 |
NA |
NA |
| Stuttgart |
NA |
0.02 |
NA |
NA |
98.9% |
98.9% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.05 |
0.01 |
NA |
NA |
6.9 |
9.0 |
NA |
NA |
ATFM slot adherence
With the drastic drop in traffic, regulated departures from German airports virtually disappeared until July 2021.
All German airports showed adherence above 92% and the national average was 97.3%, an improvement with respect to 2020 (95.5%). With regard to the 2.7% of flights that did not adhere, 1.8% was early and 0.9% was late.
According to FABEC monitoring report: For the time being there is no significant risk. But the ANSP stated that due to the ambitious targets, there is a
risk that the targets cannot be reached due to a single, longer-lasting disruption at one of the airports. Anyways, ANSP and NSA will, in case of any arising significant risk, go into dialogue to evaluate what the risk is and how it can be solved.
ATC pre-departure delay
The share of unidentified delay reported by 5 of the 7 German airports subject to monitoring of this indicator in 2021 (Tegel is closed) has been above 40% for more than 2 months in the year, preventing the calculation of this indicator. This is partially due to the special traffic composition during the crisis. Most of these airports normally had proper reporting before the pandemic and only after April 2020 the share of unidentified delay exceeded the required minimum for the computation. On the other hand the insufficient data quality provided by Cologne (EDDK) is a long standing issue.
Only Berlin Brandenburg and Dusseldorf provided enough data quality. Dusseldorf has a low ATC pre-departure delay (EDDL: 2021: 0.03 min/dep) while Brandenburg has a slightly higher value (EDDB: 2021: 0.32 min/dep)
FABEC monitoring report mentions that It should be noted that EDDK faced a deterioration due to “Aerodrome Capacity” (by airport operator, G-Regulations) and that EDDB, EDDM and EDDS faced a deterioration due to more bad weather situations than in 2020 (WX-Regulations).
All causes pre-departure delay
The total (all causes) delay in the actual off block time at German airports in 2021 was between 9.04 min/dep for Munich(EDDM) and 20.38 min/dep. for Frankfurt (EDDF) which is the 2nd highest among the RP3 monitored airports.
The highest delays per flight at these airports were observed in Summer and increased again at some airports at the end of the year.