PRB monitoring
▪ Ireland registered 0.02 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2023, thus achieving the local target value of 0.03. Delays in Ireland increased by 0.02 minutes per flight.
▪ Delays were highest between June and August, mostly due to ATC capacity and staffing.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Ireland increased by 15 p.p. compared to 2022 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 3% above 2019 levels in Ireland in 2023.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to stay the same by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Dublin by 4 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to stay the same by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Shannon by 3 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Dublin ACC was 18,816, showing a 1.1% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 1.1% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Shannon ACC was 42,707, showing a 7.1% decrease compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 7.2% below 2019 levels.
▪ Dublin ACC registered 13.42 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 2.2% below 2019 levels. Shannon ACC registered 11.52 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 13.8% above 2019 levels.
▪ Ireland registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 0.30 minutes per flight in 2023, thus not achieving the local target of 0.20 minutes
▪ Compared to 2022, average arrival ATFM delays in Ireland were 106% higher in 2023, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 14%.
▪ The main reasons for delays were other, non-ATC related causes, accounting for 48% of delays and weather, responsible for 47%.
Summary of capacity performance
Ireland experienced an increase in traffic, from 582k flights in 2022, to 664k flights in 2023. Delays increased to almost 11k minutes. For reference there were 647k flights in 2019 and 4k minutes of ATFM delay.
NSA’s assessment of capacity performance
En route traffic also grew strongly year-on-year, although was slightly below the stronger growth which had been forecast in the Performance Plan.
En route ATFM delay increased year-on-year. The En Route target was still met.
Monitoring process for capacity performance
The ANSP monitors on a daily basis any ATFM delay ensuring causes are identified, the results of which are reported weekly to Senior Management. The ANSP and NSA meet regularly to discuss the peformance indicators.
Capacity planning
The ANSP provides input to the Network Operations Report. The ANSP sends the capacity plan to NM for the outlook period on a weekly basis. The Network Manager in conjunction with the ANSP provides a traffic expectation at network and ACC level for the outlook period. The NM assesses the capacity plans which are then published on the Weekly NOP. The plan is as follows:
October 2024: 2024 Capacity baselines confirmed. November 2024: Capacity requirements and reference values. November to January: Preparation of Capacity Plans for 2025-2029, this will also involve teleconferences with NM. January 2025: NM Assessment forecast of expected operational performance for the period 2025-2029. January 2025: preparation of migration measures if required. Q1 2025: plan complete.
Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)
Not applicable since targets were met.
En route Capacity Incentive Scheme
Airnav Ireland: Since actual performance falls within the deadband range neither bonus nor malus is due.
In accordance with Article 3(3)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1627: The incentive scheme shall cover only the calendar years 2022 to 2024.
Ireland includes 3 airports under RP3 monitoring. However, in accordance with IR (EU) 2019/317 and the traffic figures, only Dublin must be monitored for pre-departure delays.
The Airport Operator Data Flow is fully established at Dublin and the monitoring of pre-departure delays can be performed. Nevertheless, the quality of the reporting does not allow for the calculation of the ATC pre-departure delay.
Traffic at these Irish airports in 2023, with a 14% increase compared to 2022, showed full recovery with the same traffic levels as in 2019.
Average arrival ATFM delays in 2023 was 0.30 min/arr, compared to 0.15 min/arr in 2022. National target on arrival ATFM delay was not met.
ATFM slot adherence at national level slightly improved (2023: 96.5%; 2022: 96.2%; 2021: 97.6%).
The national average arrival ATFM delay at Irish airports in 2023 was 0.30 min/arr.
No delays were observed in 2023 at Cork (EICK). At Dublin (EIDW: 2019: 0.17 min/arr.; 2020: 0.14 min/arr.; 2021: 0.01 min/arr.; 2022: 0.17 min/arr.; 2023: 0.34 min/arr.) the delays were attributed mainly to weather (50%) followed by Aerodrome Capacity (38%) and ATC staffing (5%).
According to the Irish monitoring report:
For Terminal Operations in Ireland, there was a total of 150,195 arrivals with ATFM delay of 43,164, giving average ATFM arrival delay of 0.29, at all Irish Airports. At airports within the scope of the Performance Plan, average ATFM arrival delay per flight was 0.3 minutes, which was 0.1 minutes above the target.
This can be categorised for Dublin Airport as 1,099 Equipment (Non-ATC), 15,295 Aerodrome Capacity, 56 minutes other; 1,728 Special Event - State visit of US President Biden; 1956 ATC Staffing, and 20,433 Weather. Shannon had 2,597 minutes, due to ground infrastructure works (Taxiway A). Cork had zero minutes.
The NSA notes that ATFM delay minutes were largely caused by weather and aerodrome related issues. Consistent with historic patterns, only a small proportion of ATFM arrival delay was ANSP attributable, with 0.01 minutes per flight relating to ATC staffing. This delay was likely linked to staffing levels being lower than forecast by the NSA, in circumstances where the traffic was considerably ahead of the forecast.
The NSA recommends the ANSP to: Aim to increase ATCO staffing levels at least in line with the Performance Plan forecast as soon as possible, to enable ANSP attributable delay to be improved/maintained.
The monitoring report adds: The main risk to the achievement of the target in 2024 appears to be weather or other non-ANSP attributable delay.
The Irish performance plan sets a national target on arrival ATFM delay for 2023 of 0.20 min/arr. This target was not met with an actual performance of 0.30 min/arr.
According to the Irish monitoring report, this performance falls within the deadband, and therefore no penalty applies.
The monitoring report mentions: We note that the formulae in this tab include the precise actual value achieved (0.30 mins) both within the deadband range, and also the penalty range. The NSA has reviewed Regulation 2019/317 and notes that Article 11(3)(f) provides that the financial disadvantage is to be applied only ‘beyond’ the deadbange range, meaning that the deadband is inclusive of the top of the range (i.e. it encompasses values up to and including 0.30 mins). On that basis, the correct financial incentive is zero, as opposed to the negative incentive automatically computed below.
| Airport level |
| Airport name |
Avg arrival
ATFM delay (KPI#2)
|
Slot adherence (PI#1)
|
ATC pre departure
delay (PI#2)
|
All causes pre departure
delay (PI#3)
|
| 2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
| Cork |
NA |
0.01 |
NA |
NA |
97.9% |
96.9% |
96.5% |
96.5% |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
15.6 |
19.5 |
15.6 |
16.5 |
| Dublin |
0.14 |
0.01 |
0.17 |
0.34 |
96.6% |
97.7% |
96.2% |
96.5% |
0.26 |
NA |
0.47 |
0.15 |
7.1 |
6.9 |
23.1 |
20.5 |
| Shannon |
NA |
0.02 |
NA |
0.23 |
98.3% |
95.7% |
96.0% |
95.6% |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
ATFM slot adherence
All three airports showed adherence above 95% and the national average was 96.5%. With regard to the 3.5% of flights that did not adhere, 2.2% was early and 1.3% was late.
According to the Irish monitoring report:
ATFM slot adherence is continuously monitored, and the ANSP reports to unit management on a weekly basis. ATFM Compliance is discussed regularly with the NSA, all units above 90%.
ATC pre-departure delay
The calculation of the ATC pre-departure delay is based on the data provided by the airport operators through the Airport Operator Data Flow (APDF) which is properly implemented at Dublin (the only Irish airport subject to monitoring of this indicator).
However, there are several quality checks before EUROCONTROL can produce the final value which is established as the average minutes of pre-departure delay (delay in the actual off block time) associated to the IATA delay code 89 (through the APDF, for each delayed flight, the reasons for that delay have to be transmitted and coded according to IATA delay codes.
However, sometimes the airport operator has no information concerning the reasons for the delay in the off block, or they cannot convert the reasons to the IATA delay codes. In those cases, the airport operator might:
- Not report any information about the reasons for the delay for that flight (unreported delay)
- Report a special code to indicate they do not have the information (code ZZZ)
- Report a special code to indicate they do not have the means to collect and/or translate the information (code 999)
To be able to calculate with a minimum of accuracy the PI for a given month, the minutes of delay that are not attributed to any IATA code reason should not exceed 40% of the total minutes of pre-departure delay observed at the airport.
Finally, to be able to produce the annual figure, at least 10 months of valid data is requested by EUROCONTROL.
The share of unidentified delay reported by Dublin was above 40% for most months since April 2020, preventing the calculation of this indicator since then. Dublin had proper reporting before April 2020. In 2022 the reporting slightly improved, but since summer 2023 has deteriorated again and the calculation of the indicator was not possible as of May.
The Irish monitoring report mentions: Dublin Airport’s new runway 28R/10L with associated taxiway became operational in August 2022, it continues to show benefits. There appears to be inconsistency in the application of IATA Code 89.
All causes pre-departure delay
The total (all causes) delay in the actual off block time at Dublin slightly decreased in 2023 (EIDW: 2020: 7.08 min/dep.; 2021: 6.88 min/dep.; 2022: 23.07 min/dep.; 2023: 20.54 min/dep.)
According to the Irish monitoring report: Dublin Airport’s new runway 28R/10L became operational in August 2022, it continues to show benefits, as noted above. Additionally, On Time Performance significantly improved year-on-year from 2022 to 2023, with the largest contributor to delay being aircraft rotational delay.