Annual Monitoring Report 2023 - Greece
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/2421 of 5 December 2022
List of ACCs 2
Athens ACC
Makedonia ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 1
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2023: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2023 6.0%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2023 2.5%
Share en route / terminal costs 2023 88% / 12%
En route charging zone(s)
Greece
Terminal charging zone(s)
Greece
Main ANSP
• HASP
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• HNMS
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Greece recorded 1,001K actual IFR movements in 2023, +12% compared to 2022 (896K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements were +8.2% above the plan (925K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements are +13% above the actual 2019 level (884K).
▪ Greece recorded 7,311K actual en route service units in 2023, +14% compared to 2022 (6,416K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units were +11% above the plan (6,584K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units are +22% above the actual 2019 level (6,005K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ HANSP achieved RP3 EoSM targets in four management objectives but is required to improve in the safety risk management area. This is in line with its planned maturity levels.
▪ Over 2023, HASP implemented improvements related to reporting and investigation occurrences.
▪ Greece recorded a significant increase in the rate of runway incursions and a minor increase of the rate of separation minima infringements in 2023. The occurrences and the effectiveness of mitigations were closely monitored and analysed by the NSA.
▪ HANSP do not use automated safety data recording systems.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Greece achieved a KEA performance of 2.26% compared to its target of 1.92% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that the target was missed mainly due to military activity, adverse weather phenomena and high levels of traffic.
▪ Both KEP and SCR improved in comparison with 2022 and, according to the NSA, this is mainly because HASP implemented FRA H24 in 2023. Despite the KEA target being missed, the improvement in SCR shows that Greece has improved the environmental efficiency of its airspace when accounting for impacts outside of its control.
▪ The share of CDO flights increased marginally from 42.86% to 43.31% in 2023.
▪ During 2023, additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.37 to 1.44 min/flight, while additional taxi out time decreased from 3.18 to 2.85 min/flight.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Greece registered 0.84 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2023 which has been adjusted to 0.83 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.15. Delays in Greece increased by 0.67 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Delays were highest between April and July, mostly driven by ATC staffing and adverse weather conditions.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Greece decreased by 5 percentage points compared to 2022 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 13% above 2019 levels in Greece in 2023.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 33% by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Athens by 86 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Greece was 54,081, showing a 1.2% decrease compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 5.3% below 2019 levels.
▪ Greece registered 17.61 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 18.1% above 2019 levels.
▪ Year-on-year traffic growth was at 12% in Greece, with IFR movements being 19% above the STATFOR 2021 October Base forecast. Some aspects of capacity provision improved compared to 2022, but the significant lack of ATCOs resulted in a capacity gap in 2023. Greece will have to resolve ATCO recruitment and training issues, as well as carry out the long-planned overhaul of the ATM system to close the capacity gap.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2023 actual unit cost of Greece was 21.25€2017, -21% lower than the determined unit cost (26.96€2017). The terminal 2023 actual unit cost was 148.20€2017, -19% lower than the determined unit cost (182.18€2017).
▪ The en route 2023 actual service units (7.3M) were +11% higher than the determined service units (6.6M).
▪ The en route 2023 actual total costs were -26M€2017 lower (-15%) than determined (not considering the determined exceptional items relating to 2021), marking an underspend across all cost categories. The largest reduction was in staff costs (-16M€2017, or -12%), followed by significantly lower depreciation costs (-6.3M€2017, or -73%), other operating costs (-2.4M€2017, or -7.6%), and cost of capital (-2.2M€2017, or -60%). The NSA did not provide sufficient explanations for these results. The PRB recommends that the NSA submit an updated Additional Information to the Reporting Tables, providing more comprehensive explanations for the differences between the actual and determined costs in each cost category. The PRB highlights that the actual number of ACC ATCOs in OPS FTEs for HASP were -31% below plan.
▪ HASP spent 1.4M€2017 in 2023 related to costs of investments for both en route and terminal charging zones, -87% less than determined (8.9M€2017), due to postponed investment projects. The NSA did not provide explanations for the non-implementation of the three new major investments that were scheduled for 2023. As for the previous monitoring year, the discrepancies regarding costs of investments were significant.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2023 was 26.91€ (-6.3% below the 2023 DUC), while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 148.21€ (-24% below the 2023 DUC). The difference between the AUCU and the DUC in terminal charging zone is primarily attributed to the loss of revenue relating to the application of a lower unit rate, which amounted to -5.4M€.
▪ The en route regulatory result for HASP amounted to +21M€, or 12% 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 Greece to take immediate, adequate, and proportionate action to implement the relevant ATCO and investment plans committed to in the RP3 performance plan.