Annual Monitoring Report 2023 - Croatia
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/764 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 1
Zagreb ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 0
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2023: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2023 2.1%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2023 1.3%
Share en route / terminal costs 2023 100% / 0%
En route charging zone(s)
Croatia
Terminal charging zone(s)
Main ANSP
• Croatia Control
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
–
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Croatia recorded 814K actual IFR movements in 2023, +14% compared to 2022 (713K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements were +35% above the plan (605K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements are +14% above the actual 2019 level (714K).
▪ Croatia recorded 2,563K actual en route service units in 2023, +15% compared to 2022 (2,229K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units were +32% above the plan (1,946K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units are +17% above the actual 2019 level (2,193K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ Croatia Control improved its performance in safety risk management but not sufficiently to achieve the RP3 target. The establishment of a proactive safety management system at CCL gave confidence that the ANSP can achieve the RP3 targets before the end of RP3.
▪ Croatia recorded an increase of runway incursions (RIs) in 2023. The rate of separation minima infringements (SMIs) decreased compared with 2022. Croatia Control adopted the European Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions.
▪ Croatia monitored safety performance using specific safety tools, including the automated safety data recording systems for the recording of SMIs and RIs.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Croatia achieved a KEA performance of 1.51% compared to its target of 1.46% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that after the establishment of FRA there was limited ability for the ANSP to influence KEA.
▪ Both KEP and SCR deteriorated in comparison to 2022.
▪ Croatia has no airports that are regulated under the performance and charging scheme.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Croatia registered 0.48 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2023 which has been adjusted to 0.43 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.17. Delays in Croatia decreased by 0.15 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Delays were highest in the summer season, mostly due to adverse weather and ATC Capacity reasons.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Croatia decreased by 3 p.p. compared to 2022 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪The average number of IFR movements was 15% above 2019 levels in Croatia in 2023.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 32% by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Zagreb by 15 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Zagreb ACC was 37,865, showing an 11.9% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 3.5% above 2019 levels.
▪ Zagreb ACC registered 20.53 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 12.8% above 2019 levels.
▪ Croatia experienced a 14% year-on-year traffic growth, with IFR movements being 20% higher than the STATFOR October 2021 Base forecast and is highly affected by seasonal traffic variation. While capacity provision improved in 2023 compared to previous years, a capacity gap still exists. Adverse weather also impacted capacity performance. Thus, Croatia should work closely with the NM and all concerned stakeholders to mitigate weather impact as much as possible.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2023 actual unit cost of Croatia was 31.65 €2017, -31% lower than the determined unit cost (45.84 €2017). Croatia does not have a terminal charging zone.
▪ The en route 2023 actual service units (2.6M) were +32% higher than the determined service units (1.9M).
▪ The en route 2023 actual total costs were -8.1 M€2017 (-9.1%) lower than determined, as all categories registered lower-than-planned costs. This was mainly attributable to lower other operating costs (-4.4 M€2017, or -21%). The NSA attributed this mainly to the deferral of investment projects, which resulted in lower maintenance and third-party services costs, as well as to the lower-than-expected expenditures on licenses and leases of intangible assets. The PRB highlights that the actual number of ATCOs in OPS FTEs for Croatia Control were -13% below plan.
▪ Croatia Control spent 11 M€2017 in 2023 related to costs of investments, -8.9% less than determined (12 M€2017), mainly due to the postponement of investment projects
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2023 was 40.10€ (-17% below the 2023 DUC), mainly affected by higher than planned SUs.
▪ The en route regulatory result for Croatia Control amounted to +16 M€, or 16% of the 2023 revenue. This may indicate that the airspace users are charged for costs which have not materialised in 2023.
▪ The PRB will take into consideration the implementation of the RP3 performance plans when assessing the RP4 cost-efficiency targets and urges Croatia to take immediate, adequate, and proportionate action to implement the relevant ATCO and investment plans committed to in the RP3 performance plan.