Summary of capacity performance
Poland experienced an increase in traffic from 473k flights in 2021 to 627k flights in 2022. However, traffic levels were still substantially below the 912k flights in 2019.
In 2022, Poland had 800k minutes of en route ATFM delay - 52% attributed to ‘Other’ (explained above as due to Ukraine war situation); 37% attributed to ATC staffing.
There were an additional 10k minutes of en route ATFM delay originating in the Warsawa ACC that were re-attributed to DFS (9k) and DSNA (1k) via the NM post operations delay attribution process, according to the NMB agreement for eNM/S22 measures, to ameliorate capacity shortfalls in both Karlsruhe UAC and Reims ACC.
A further 131k minutes of ATFM delay due to ‘exceptional events’ were excluded after consultation with the European Commission and the Network Manager, giving a final value of 669k minutes of en route ATFM delay.
NSA’s assessment of capacity performance
The results in the CAPACITY KPA at the end of 2022 year for Poland (PANSA) was 1,30 minutes/flight with a target of 0,12 minutes/flight. [Corrected to 1,09 minutes per flight after exclusion of delays due to ‘exceptional events’.]
The aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine has a significant impact on the air navigation services in Poland due to the introduction of a number of restrictions in FIR Warszawa. A direct consequence of this situation are significant delays in Polish airspace, especially the en route delays rate.
The main reasons for the imposed regulations related to the war in Ukraine were:
• increased air traffic in the sectors affected by the regulations (mainly in the south-eastern part of the Warsaw FIR), related to the need to bypass the space closed for traffic in Ukraine and restrictions on operating in the space of Belarus,
• space reservations by the military,
• requirements of the new operational situation resulting from the ongoing war beyond Poland’s eastern border and the growing intensity of military air operations in FIR Warszawa. The need to reduce area capacities for all sectors and reduce the occupancy value for sectors NL, JK, JKL and CL,
• additionally, the redirection of traffic flows from the border sectors with Ukraine and Belarus (sector R) resulted in increased traffic volume and complexity in the JK sector, which meant that most regulations were imposed on this sector,
• due to the reservation of space by the military for 24 hours (tactically the reservation times were changed), some of the regulations were assumed pre-tactically.
In Polish CAA opinion all above mentioned ATFM regulations/actions taken by PANSA to mitigate negative impact of the external, political situation on the traffic in Poland fulfil the definition of the exceptional events as defined in in article 2 point 9 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317. However it was impossible to significantly reduce ATFM delays related to the exceptional events.
As a consequence, Poland wished to exclude the delays related to the war from the 2022 Monitoring Report.
The Polish National Supervisory Authority (NSA) proposed that en-route ATFM delays attributable to extraordinary events marked with the code “O” should not be taken into account for the en-route delay. EC did not accept this solution and presented its legal analysis .
The ATCO’s industrial action in April and May 2022 had a significant impact on the KPA Capacity. Actions taken by both trade unions and PANSA management resulted in the ceasing of the crisis, but the event resulted in increasing of delays.
Monitoring process for capacity performance
The fulfilment of the Polish Performance plan was regularly monitored by the NSA. The process of continuous oversight of all ANSPs was conducted based on the Regulation (EU) 2019/317) and Regulation 2017/373.
The monitoring activities included analysis of the ANSP’s business and annual plans and their consistency with the Performance Plan for RP3. They were covering, among the others, the following areas:- investment plan (CAPEX) execution:
- execution of planned costs
- use of public funding, including EU funding
- execution of employment plan
- execution of staff training plan
- ATCO productivity
- implementation of major projects aimed at increasing capacity and enhancing flight efficiency
- implementation of corrective measures in the safety area.
The monitoring of progress in achieving performance targets set in Performance Plan for RP3 was performed also by dedicated Polish NSA inspectors during routine inspections.
Capacity planning
Capacity planning over 2022 focused on mid to long-term planning based on STATFOR forecasts, NM data, PANSA simulations and internal recovery plan prepared by PANSA as well as short term planning (up to 4-6 weeks) under the NOP rolling planning initiative coordinated by the Network Manager. Capacity planning, especially over 1H 2022, was challenging due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine and sanctions for air traffic flows in the Polish airspace and related uncertainty as well as military activity resulting from the geopolitical developments.
Similarly, as over 2020-2021, 2022 rostering at PANSA still had to consider implementation of measures aimed at limiting the risk of virus spread among ATCOs.
Despite the war and challenges related thereto, PANSA continued to implement initiatives aimed at improving capacity in FIR Warszawa to meet challenges related to traffic increase after the crisis as well as potential changes in traffic flows.
These included, among others, the following:
- continuation of new ATCOs training (continued training process for trainees employed before the pandemic outbreak and new recruitment process for ATCO trainees, which started in January 2022),
- continued adaptation of the air traffic management system (Pegasus_21) to operational needs and modernisation of the ATM system as well as works – under international iTEC cooperation – on new ATM system to be implemented in the future,
- development of tools supporting ATCOs and flow management optimisation (including implementation and use of Traffic Complexity Tool and update of Common Airspace Tool system),
- continued investments in infrastructure (CNS) and technology allowing for optimisation of airspace structures and optimisation of coverage in the Polish airspace as well as supporting contingency,
- preparations for implementation of the first stage of airspace three-layer vertical split (south-eastern part of the Polish airspace – JR sectors – operationally deployed in April 2023),
- reorganisation of Kraków TMA – new sectors, new SID/STAR procedures (planned to be operationally deployed in 2023),
- continued harmonisation of GAT and OAT traffic leading to implementation of EUROAT,
- refreshment trainings for current ATCOs to maintain their competence following the 2020-2021 significant traffic drop,
- continuation of flexible rostering,
- evolving ACC sector configurations and management to cope with updated traffic forecasts,
- continued FMP dynamic management and ATFCM techniques including STAM,
- improvement of comprehensive airspace management.
Following the observed negative impact of the war in Ukraine and related increased military activity on capacity, PANSA also implemented solutions aimed at minimising this negative impact, especially in the south-eastern part of the Polish airspace: level change of military areas, RAD and PTR to change EPRZ traffic profiles, new sector configurations in JKZR part since 17.06.2022, coordination with LZBB to unblock PODAN and KEFIR border points (above FL315).
PANSA implemented RAD measures and EU Restrictions that were aimed to reduce ATFCM delays within EPWW FIR sectors with limited capacity due to additional military activity.
PANSA also actively contributed to the implementation of Summer 2023 NM measures aimed at limiting delays in the mostly congested parts of the Network.
Plans for the following years of RP3 include continuation of the above listed initiatives, among others:
- further works on reorganisation of ACC Warszawa sector configuration – three layer vertical division – further stages (planned to be operationally deployed in RP4),
- continuation of training process for new ATCOs (new recruitments), with initiatives supporting increased efficiency of the recruitment and training processes,
- adaptation of the air traffic management system to operational needs and modernisation of the ATM System,
- continued investments in infrastructure (CNS) and technology allowing for optimisation of airspace structures and optimisation of coverage in the Polish airspace as well as supporting resilience, scalability and flexibility of service provision
Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)
Two main elements impacted the delay indicator over 2022 that resulted in not meeting the target:
1. military aggression of the Russian Federation on Ukraine,
2. social tensions at PANSA.
On point 1 – the Russian aggression against Ukraine resulted in the introduction of restrictions in FIR Warszawa (specifically, along Poland’s eastern border), impacting availability of the airspace for civil traffic. Much wider military activities are visible, also linked to increased the number of NATO flights in eastern part of the Polish airspace. The significant portion of this part of airspace is reserved for military flights (performed H24) thus unavailable for civil traffic. An immediate consequence of the limited capacity (caused directly by the political circumstances) was significant increase of delays in the Polish airspace. The impact can be especially visible during the period of higher traffic levels (when the traffic demand exceeds the available capacity in the parts of FIR Warszawa which were impacted by the restrictions).
On point 2 – following changes to remuneration regulations at PANSA introduced at the end of 2021 and in 2022, social tensions were visible at ACC and some APP units, which impacted the delays. New PANSA Management was running intensive negotiation process with the ATCO Trade Union to solve the issues.
The war in Ukraine and related geopolitical situation is expected to impact capacity indicator for Poland also in the subsequent years of RP3.
The situation will be deeply analysed with close cooperation with PANSA.
Additional Information Related to Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine
The biggest impact on en-route capacity performance for Poland is linked with increased military activity and related limited capacity available to civil traffic. As indicated above, much wider military activities in the Polish airspace are visible, also linked to increased number of NATO flights in eastern part of the Polish airspace.
Significant portions of this part of airspace are reserved for military flights (performed H24), thus unavailable for civil traffic. At the same time, following closure of Ukrainian airspace and very limited possible use of Belarusian airspace, additional traffic flows are observed on the north-southern axis along the eastern Poland’s border. The combination of limited airspace available and traffic demand leads to increase in delays. The impact can be especially visible during the period of higher traffic levels (when the traffic demand exceeds the available capacity in the parts of FIR Warszawa which were impacted by the restrictions).
Following discussion with the Network Manager, since mid-March 2022 delays caused by the war in Ukraine have been marked as “O” (other) and thus also included in the data published by the Network Manager. Delays marked “O” are only related to the war in Ukraine and do not take into account other causes of delays. At the beginning of the war, before the code “O” started to be used, they were reported under the code “M”. The delays coded “O” amounted to 419 394 minutes, while those coded “M” over February-March amounted to 5 712 minutes.
In Poland’s opinion, these above mentioned delays (all delays reported under “O” as well as delays reported under “M” which were linked to the war) meet the conditions for delays resulting from exceptional events as defined in in article 2 point 9 of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317 of 11 February 2019 laying down a performance and charging scheme in the single European sky and repealing Implementing Regulations (EU) No 390/2013 and (EU) No 391/2013, and therefore shall be excluded from the calculation of the route delay indicator for PANSA in 2022.
Following the outbreak of the war, the EACCC was activated by the Network Manager. Although, for practical reasons, the EACCC was subsequently deactivated in May 2022, the circumstances triggering its activation still pertain and haven’t changed.
As indicated above:
- PANSA implemented RAD measures and EU Restrictions that were aimed to reduce ATFM delays within EPWW FIR sectors with limited capacity due to additional military activity.
- PANSA also implemented solutions aimed at minimising this negative impact, especially in the south-eastern part of the Polish airspace: level change of military areas, RAD and PTR to change EPRZ traffic profiles, new sector configurations in JKZR part since 17.06.2022, coordination with LZBB to unblock PODAN and KEFIR border points (above FL315).
- Further improvements in the sectorisation in the south-eastern part of the Polish airspace were made through introduction of three-layer vertical split (first stage).