Annual Monitoring Report 2021 - Poland
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/779 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 1
Warsaw ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 1
<80’K 14
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 4.25483 PLN
2021: 4.55963 PLN
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2021 3.9%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2021 2.4%
Share en route / terminal costs 2021 81% / 19%
En route charging zone(s)
Poland
Terminal charging zone(s)
Poland EPWA
Poland Others
Main ANSP
• PANSA
Other ANSPs
• Warmia i Mazury sp. z o.o.
• Port Lotniczy Bydgoszcz S.A.
MET Providers
• Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute (IMWM)
• Radom Meteo sp. z o.o.
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Poland recorded 473K actual IFR movements in 2021, +26% compared to 2020 (377K).
▪ Actual 2021 IFR movements were +2.7% above the plan (461K).
▪ Actual 2021 IFR movements represent 52% of the actual 2019 level (912K).
▪ Poland recorded 2,586K actual en route service units in 2021, +21% compared to 2020 (2,146K).
▪ Actual 2021 service units were +1.4% above the plan (2,549K).
▪ Actual 2021 service units represent 52% of the actual 2019 level (4,972K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ PANSA achieved the RP3 EoSM targets in 2021 and exceeded the target maturity for safety culture and safety promotion. PANSA successfully implemented measures defined in their safety management development roadmap, leading PANSA to achieve the level D for all five management objectives.
▪ Port Lotniczy Bydgoszcz S.A. and Warmia i Mazury sp. z o.o. need to improve in the area of safety risk management but achieved the targets for the four other management objectives. Both ANSPs are in line with the maturity levels according to Poland’s performance plan.
▪ Poland recorded a higher rate of runway incursions and lower rate of separation minima infringements in 2021 relative to 2020. The rate of runway incursions is above the Union-wide average rate.
▪ Poland should improve its safety management by implementing automated safety data recording systems.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Poland achieved a KEA performance of 2.33% compared to its target of 1.65% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target. KEA worsened by 40% compared to 2020.
▪ Poland states this situation was caused largely by elements linked to the geopolitical situation leading to users from the Russian Federation avoiding the airspace of Ukraine, European users avoiding that of Belarus, and flights circumnavigating Kaliningrad.
▪ SCR was the highest in five years, which the NSA states may be due to restricted airspace beyond Poland’s control. KEP was also the highest in five years and increased by 20% compared to 2020.
▪ The share of CDO flights has slightly decreased compared to 2020, but is still higher than during pre-pandemic years.
▪ Additional time in terminal airspace has improved by 0.16 min/flight, while additional taxi out time has increased by 0.12min/flight.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Poland registered 0.07 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2021, thus meeting the local breakdown value of 0.07. The main delay causes were ATC staffing and ATC capacity, and the delays were mostly generated in December 2021 due to staffing issues at Warsaw ACC.
▪ Delays should be considered in the context of lower traffic: in Poland, IFR movements in 2021 were 48% lower than in 2019.
▪ Poland has received additional traffic due to airspace closures East of the SES airspace. Despite this, 2019 traffic levels are not likely to be reached during RP3. An increase in the number of ATCOs in OPS is planned in Warsaw ACC by the end of RP3.
▪ Delays were highest in December, mostly driven by ATC Staffing issues.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Poland increased by 23.05 p.p. compared to 2020 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Warsaw ACC was 29,815, showing a 36.8% increase compared to 2020. Sector opening hours are 30.4% below 2019 levels.
▪ Warsaw ACC registered 14.11 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2021, being 26.5% below 2019 levels.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2020/2021 actual unit cost of Poland was 65.342017, -13% lower than the determined unit cost (75.24 €2017). The terminal zone 1 actual unit cost was 152.00 €2017, -16% lower than the determined unit cost (181.05 €2017) and the terminal zone 2 actual unit cost was 344.23 €2017, -16% lower than the determined unit cost (410.47 €2017).
▪ The en route 2021 actual service units (2,586K) were slightly higher (+1.4%) than the determined (2,549K).
▪ In 2021, actual total costs of Poland were -44 M€2017 (-24%) lower than determined. The significant decrease was mainly driven by -39 M€2017 lower staff costs (-35%), mostly due to changes to the renumeration scheme. In a first version of the monitoring report, Poland reported actual costs -37% lower than determined. The explanation for this change is unclear. The PRB recommends the Commission to request a transparent and clear explanation of this cost item given its direct impact on future performance and its alerting structure.
▪ PANSA spent 38 M€2017 in 2021 related to costs of investments, +4.2% higher than determined (37 M€2017), Poland indicates that growing inflation and the increase in interest rates account for the difference.
▪ The discrepancies regarding total costs are significant, especially as the performance plan has been submitted at the end of 2021. The PRB invites the NSA to analyse the discrepancies and identify their reasons, including potential inaccurate planning, treatment of the unspent staff costs, and possible misusing of the regulatory framework to finance the liquidity.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2020/2021 was 74.06€, while the terminal zone 1 actual unit cost incurred by users was 183.17€ and 410.25€ for terminal zone 2.