PRB monitoring
▪ Ireland registered zero minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2021, thus meeting the local breakdown value of 0.01.
▪ En route ATFM delays in Ireland were also zero on average during the past years.
▪ Traffic is expected to grow with 2019 levels likely being reached in 2023 in all growth scenarios and a slight increase in the number of ATCOs in OPS is planned in Dublin and Shannon ACCs by the end of RP3.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Dublin ACC was 18,615, showing a 0.3% decrease compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are unchanged from 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Shannon ACC was 45,990, showing a 0.3% decrease compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are unchanged from 2019 levels.
▪ Dublin ACC registered 5.17 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 62.4% below 2019 levels. Shannon ACC registered 5.07 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 49.8% below 2019 levels.
Summary of capacity performance
Ireland experienced an increase in traffic from 225k flights in 2020 to 254k flights in 2021, with zero ATFM delay. However, traffic levels were still substantially below the 560k flights in 2019.
NSA’s assessment of capacity performance
The level of ATFM delay per flight in 2021 was zero, in the context of a substantial reduction in traffic stemming from the COVID-19 crisis.
The ANSP avoided ATFM delay despite an increased level of Covid related absences, and mandatory time off following rest periods.
Monitoring process for capacity performance
Actual performance is monitored on a regular basis between the NSA and ANSP
Capacity planning
Resumption of Student Controller Programmes and actively seeking to recruit direct entry controllers
Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)
No data available
Ireland includes 3 airports under RP2 monitoring. However, in accordance with IR (EU) 2019/317 and the traffic figures, only Dublin must be monitored for pre-departure delays.
The Airport Operator Data Flow is fully established at Dublin and the monitoring of pre-departure delays can be performed. Nevertheless, the quality of the reporting does not allow for the calculation of the ATC pre-departure delay, with more than 60% of the reported delay not allocated to any cause.
Traffic at these Irish airports in 2021 was still 62% lower with respect to 2019.
Average arrival ATFM delays in 2021 was 0.01 min/arr, compared to 0.11 min/arr in 2020.
ATFM slot adherence has improved (2021: 97.6%; 2020: 96.8%).
The national average arrival ATFM delay at Irish airports in 2021 was 0.01 min/arr, much lower than the 0.11 min/arr in 2020 or the 0.14 min/arr in 2019.
Delays at Shannon (EINN: 2021:0.02 min/arr.) and Cork (EICK: 2021: 0.01 min/arr.) were exclusively attributed to ATC staffing and concentrated in July and August.
Dublin (EIDW: 2019: 0.17 min/arr.; 2020: 0.14 min/arr.; 2021: 0.01 min/arr.) drastically reduced its delays, registering only some in October (equipment) and November (accident/incident).
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.
| 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 |
| Cork |
NA |
0.01 |
NA |
NA |
97.9% |
96.9% |
NA% |
NA% |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
15.6 |
19.5 |
NA |
NA |
| Dublin |
0.14 |
0.01 |
NA |
NA |
96.6% |
97.7% |
NA% |
NA% |
0.26 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
7.1 |
6.9 |
NA |
NA |
| Shannon |
NA |
0.02 |
NA |
NA |
98.3% |
95.7% |
NA% |
NA% |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
ATFM slot adherence
With the drastic drop in traffic, the share of regulated departures from Irish airports virtually disappeared until July 2021.
All three airports showed adherence above 96% and the national average was 97.6%, an improvement with respect to 2020 (96.8%). With regard to the 2.4% of flights that did not adhere, 1.9% was early and 0.5% was late.
According to the Irish monitoring report: During the NSA oversight cycle, the subject of adherence to ATFM measure is discussed with the ANSPs and airline operators. ATCO vigilance and awareness of the requirements are seen as key enablers to improve performance.
*The ANSP monitors adherence slot performance and is reported and discussed at weekly ops review meetings.
ATC pre-departure delay
The calculation of the ATC pre-departure delay is based on the data provided by the airport operators through the Airport Operator Data Flow (APDF) which is properly implemented at Dublin (the only Irish airport subject to monitoring of this indicator).
However, there are several quality checks before EUROCONTROL can produce the final value which is established as the average minutes of pre-departure delay (delay in the actual off block time) associated to the IATA delay code 89 (through the APDF, for each delayed flight, the reasons for that delay have to be transmitted and coded according to IATA delay codes.
However, sometimes the airport operator has no information concerning the reasons for the delay in the off block, or they cannot convert the reasons to the IATA delay codes. In those cases, the airport operator might:
- Not report any information about the reasons for the delay for that flight (unreported delay)
- Report a special code to indicate they do not have the information (code ZZZ)
- Report a special code to indicate they do not have the means to collect and/or translate the information (code 999)
To be able to calculate with a minimum of accuracy the PI for a given month, the minutes of delay that are not attributed to any IATA code reason should not exceed 40% of the total minutes of pre-departure delay observed at the airport.
Finally, to be able to produce the annual figure, at least 10 months of valid data is requested by EUROCONTROL.
The share of unidentified delay reported by Dublin was above 40% for most months since April 2020, preventing the calculation of this indicator both in 2020 and 2021. Dublin had proper reporting before April 2020 and in 2022 the reporting has slightly improved, but still reaching above 40% of unidentified delay some months.
All causes pre-departure delay
The total (all causes) delay in the actual off block time at Dublin slightly decreased in 2021 (EIDW: 2020: 7.08 min/dep.; 2021: 6.88 min/dep.) and it was the 2nd lowest among the RP3 monitored airports. The highest delays per flight were observed in the January-February and December.
According to the Irish monitoring report:
The NSA holds regular performance meetings with the ANSP at Dublin Airport where the data related to
— delays due to airline operations;
— en route ATFM;
— reactionary (knock-on) delay;
— airport operations delay, including ATFM airport delay caused by regulation based on traffic volume which has a reference location classified as Aerodrome Zone or Aerodrome;
are reviewed and discussions are held on the factors that impact or enhance performance.