Annual Monitoring Report 2021 - Malta
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/2425 of 5 December 2022
List of ACCs 1
Malta ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 0
<80’K 1
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2021: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2021 0.8%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2021 0.3%
Share en route / terminal costs 2021 85% / 15%
En route charging zone(s)
Malta
Terminal charging zone(s)
Malta
Main ANSP
• MATS
Other ANSPs
• Malta International Airport Plc.
MET Providers
–
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Malta recorded 72K actual IFR movements in 2021, +29% compared to 2020 (56K).
▪ Actual 2021 IFR movements represent 55% of the actual 2019 level (130K).
▪ Malta recorded 504K actual en route service units in 2021, +27% compared to 2020 (396K).
▪ Actual 2021 service units represent 49% of the actual 2019 level (1,020K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ MATS, that achieved the EoSM targets in 2020, demonstrated good safety performance and continued safety improvements over 2021. MATS exceeded the RP3 EoSM target in safety culture.
▪ Malta’s runway incursion rate increased in 2021, which can be explained by the large increase in general aviation traffic. Specific mitigation actions were identified for the aerodrome users and ATCOs including constant monitoring, investigations, and ATCOs briefings to mitigate the risks and ensure that the occurrences are maintained at safe level.
▪ MATS should improve its safety management by implementing automated safety data recording systems.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Malta achieved a KEA performance of 3.11% compared to its target of 1.82% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target. Performance worsened by 23% compared to 2020.
▪ The NSA states that the KEA deterioration is caused by changes in traffic flow and intensity and by new data reported to the Network Manager by Turkey (affecting origin and destination considered for the calculation).
▪ However, the case of Turkish data reported to the Network Manager occurred in 2019. The effect was not restricted to Malta.
▪ Both KEP and SCR have been degrading since 2017 and are now the worst in five years.
▪ The share of CDO flights has remained similar over the last five years.
▪ Additional taxi out time and additional time in terminal airspace increased in comparison to 2020, but are still lower than pre-pandemic years.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Malta 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 Malta were also zero on average during the past years.
▪ Traffic is expected to grow, with 2019 levels likely being reached in 2023 (in high and base growth scenarios). A significant increase in the number of ATOCs in OPS is planned by 2022, no capacity issues are foreseen.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Malta ACC was 8,760, showing a 7.6% decrease compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are 28.3% below 2019 levels.
▪ Malta ACC registered 8.17 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 22.7% below 2019 levels.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2020/2021 actual unit cost of Malta was 43.63 €2017, slightly lower (-1.0%) than the determined unit cost (44.08 €2017). The terminal actual unit cost was 275.44 €2017, -8.4% lower than the determined unit cost (300.69 €2017).
▪ The en route 2021 actual service units (504K) were -4.6% lower than determined (528K).
▪ In 2021, actual total costs of Malta were -1.5 M€2017 (-6.9%) lower compared to determined. The reduction was mainly driven by -0.5 M€2017 lower other operating costs (-6.8%), and -0.8 M€2017 lower depreciation costs (-31%). The NSA did not provide explanations for the variations of costs.
▪ MATS spent 2.8 M€2017 in 2021 related to costs of investments, significatively lower (-28%) than determined (3.9 M€2017), due to both a reduction on depreciation and cost of capital.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2020/2021 was 44.79€, while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 305.05€.