Summary of capacity performance
Portugal experienced an increase in traffic from 345k flights in 2021 to 610k flights in 2022. However, traffic levels were still below the 651k flights in 2019.
In 2022, Lisboa ACC had 404k minutes of en route ATFM delay 79% of which were attributed to ‘Special event’ & ‘Other’ - the implementation of TOPSKY ATM system. 17% of ATFM delays were attributed to ATC capacity and the remaining 4% of ATFM delays were attributed to ATC equipment.
The en route delay figures reported above include circa 20k minutes of en route ATFM delay, re-attributed from ENAIRE, under the NM post operations relay attribution process, due to capacity constraints, in Spain, stemming from the implementation of the TOPSKY project in Portugal.
NSA’s assessment of capacity performance
2022 was the much expected recovery year from the covid-19 pandemic. Traffic levels recovered to levels close to 2019, especially in the summer and year-end. Specifically, in Lisbon FIR, traffic recovered by 76%, when compared to 2021, but remained 6,3% below 2019 levels.
Further to the recovery in traffic, in Portugal ANS was marked by the change in the ATM System, that after some delays due to the COVID pandemic, was finally ready by October 2022. The transition to the new ATM system, was planned with the objective of maintaining the highest traffic levels that could be managed safely . As such, capacity reduction was kept to a minimum, with a direct impact in terms of delays.
The capacity KPI for en-route was highly affected by the implementation of the new ATM system in October, and the preparatory work that came with it. The new system implementation was carefully planned and prepared with 2 key objectives, assuring all the safety conditions, and at the same time minimize the impact at the network level and on users.
Unfortunately, the process had a significant toll in terms of delays in the Lisbon FIR, and at the Lisbon airport, which were the most affected by the process, leading to a non-compliance of both en-route and terminal delay targets
Monitoring process for capacity performance
NAV Portugal and ANAC have a capacity monitoring process in place that consists of quarterly reports and follow-up meetings to monitor and present corrective measures whenever necessary.
In particular in 2022, ANAC closely supervised the implementation of the new ATM System (TopSky), the measures taken to insure safety, and to minimize its impact in the overall system.
Capacity planning
Regarding the ATFM En Route delay, the KPI’s performance was particularly affected by the implementation of the new TOPSKY system, in NAV Portugal, which influenced the final value of the KPI (0.63min/flight )- well above the target for 2022 (0.13min/flight).
Nevertheless, discounting the causes associated with the implementation of TOPSKY, the ATFM en-route delay would have been approx. 0.15min/flight. Finally, It must be mentioned that the all process of TOPSKY’s implementation has been coordinated with the most critical stakeholders like the: NM, Airspace users, Airports and NSA in order to minimize the impact of this transition at network and local level.
Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)
The implementation process of the new ATM system (TOPSKY), namely during the months of July, October and November, originated capacity constraints and consequently additional delays that significantly degraded this indicator. It should be noted that the entire operation in 2022 was impacted by the TOPSY implementation process, which required a very strict management of resources in order to respond as efficiently as possible to the training needs of Air Traffic Controllers (ATCO), the customization and parameterization of the system and the daily operation in the various ATC units.
The implementation of the TOPSKY system, previously scheduled for the month of March, was initially postponed to 26 September after talks with the Network Manager (NM), in order to minimize the impacts on the European network (EATMN), due to the overlap with the implementation of the 4FLIGHT ATM system in Reims (France). In this way it was possible to mitigate the impacts on the European network during the summer period.
However, the adverse side effect of this decision was the need to prolong the shadow operation in order to keep the ATCOs in a state of readiness adequate for the final phase of the ATM system transition, with the consequent challenges referred to above.
The transition plan was duly coordinated by the ANSP with ANAC, the air operators and the NM, with the latter highlighting NAV Portugal’s availability to accommodate the new planning.
It should be noted in this regard that this new plan, scheduled to begin on September the 26th, contemplated 8 weeks for the final transition, a very demanding and ambitious period, compared to other identical processes. As an example, the transition to the 4FLIGHT system in Reims involved 6 months of air traffic restrictions and the implementation of TOPSKY in Prague 8 months of restrictions.
However, also this second plan suffered changes at the request of several air operators, especially those operating from Lisbon. Once again, the ANSP, trying as much as possible to minimize the impacts of ATM system transition, delayed the beginning of the final phase of transition by three weeks, to October 18th, bringing it as close as possible to IATA winter and, additionally, shortening it by two weeks, proposing to carry out the final phase of transition in only 6 weeks, with increments of capacity in each week.
Additionally, throughout the final phase of transition, in order to mitigate the impacts of a significant capacity decrease in the Lisbon FIR, all ATCOs were mobilized for the operation in order to allow the opening of the maximum number of sectors, accommodating higher traffic demand and reducing the need for restrictions.
Finally, it should be noted that the transition to a new ATM system is a highly complex process that requires the management of a wide set of variables and it is not possible to shorten the steps and time required to build confidence in the system, nor is it possible to offer more capacity than can be provided while ensuring the safety of air operations.
Other measures were implemented, including the issuing of a Ministerial Order derogating temporarily and to a limited extent, the restrictions to Lisbon airport operations between 00H00/02H00 and 05H00/06H00 (night curfew), during the critical period of reduction in the capacity derived from the final transition phase to the new ATM system.
As this was a one-off situation, there are no specific recommendations to the ANSP.