Annual Monitoring Report 2022 - Switzerland
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2023/178 of 14 December 2022
List of ACCs 2
Geneva ACC
Zurich ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 2
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1.11124 CHF
2022: 1.00492 CHF
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2022 1.4%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2022 2.7%
Share en route / terminal costs 2022 66% / 34%
En route charging zone(s)
Switzerland
Terminal charging zone(s)
Switzerland
Main ANSP
• Skyguide
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• Office Féderal de la Météorologie et de Climatologie MétéoSuisse
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Switzerland recorded 1,042K actual IFR movements in 2022, +67% compared to 2021 (623K).
▪ Actual 2022 IFR movements were -0.6% below the plan (1,048K).
▪ Actual 2022 IFR movements represent 89% of the actual 2019 level (1,177K).
▪ Switzerland recorded 1,545K actual en route service units in 2022, +72% compared to 2021 (897K).
▪ Actual 2022 service units were -3.1% below the plan (1,594K).
▪ Actual 2022 service units represent 87% of the actual 2019 level (1,769K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ Skyguide achieved the RP3 EoSM targets for all management objectives, except for safety risk management, which is in line with its planned maturity level. In 2022, the NSA reviewed Skyguide’s safety management function and concluded that the ANSP should achieve all the EoSM targets before the end of RP3. Skyguide implemented specific measures in all safety management areas to maintain safety performance.
▪ In 2022, Switzerland recorded a lower rate of runway incursions, and marginally higher rate of separation minima infringements despite significant traffic increase.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Switzerland achieved a KEA performance of 4.51% compared to its target of 3.95% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target. KEA increased by 0.64 percentage points compared to 2021.
▪ The NSA states that most inefficiencies are due to the network impacted by ATC strikes or flight planning.
▪ Both SCR and KEP worsened in 2022.
▪ The share of CDO flights decreased by 9.84% compared to 2021.
▪ During 2022, additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.14 to 1.64 min/flight, while additional taxi out time increased from 1.84 to 2.22 min/flight.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Switzerland registered 0.34 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2022, which has been adjusted to 0.21 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.19.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 11% below 2019 levels in Switzerland in 2022.
▪ A decrease in the number of ATCOs in OPS is planned in both ACCs by the end of RP3. The actual value remained lower than the 2022 plan in Geneva ACC, while in Zurich ACC the actual value was above the 2022 plan.
▪ Given that ATC capacity appears to be a continuing issue in Switzerland, the planned number of ATCOs in OPS may need to be revised upwards.
▪ Delays were highest between May and September, mostly driven by adverse weather conditions and ATC Capacity issues.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Switzerland increased by 1.81 percentage points compared to 2021 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Geneva ACC was 29,162 in 2022, showing a 27% increase compared to 2021. Sector opening hours are 9.8% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Zurich ACC was 31,844 in 2022, showing a 38.4% increase compared to 2021. Sector opening hours are 10.2% below 2019 levels.
▪ Geneva ACC registered 19.93 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2022, being 5.5% below 2019 levels. Zurich ACC registered 22.83 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2022, being 1.5% below 2019 levels.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2022 actual unit cost of Switzerland was 105.23€2017, 2.1% higher than the determined unit cost (103.11€2017). The terminal 2022 actual unit cost was 372.26€2017, 2.1% lower than the determined unit cost (380.28€2017).
▪ The en route 2022 actual service units (1,545K) were 3.1% lower than the determined service units (1,594K).
▪ In 2022, the en route actual total costs were slightly lower (-1.8M€2017, or-1.1%) than determined. The decrease is driven by reduced staff cost (-17M€2017, or -14%), the NSA explained that it is due to the reimbursement by pension fund, although partially offset by the provision for ATCO retirement age transition costs.
▪ However, the variations within cost categories were not transparent as it included the non-invoicing of the financing of the delegated airspace, that was initially determined as negative exceptional items. As mentioned last year, Switzerland should improve clarity in the reporting.
▪ Skyguide spent 41M€2017 in 2022 related to costs of investments, 8.7% less than determined (45M€2017), mainly due to lower net book value of fixed assets than planned.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2022 was 107.89€, while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 430.65€.