Annual Monitoring Report 2023 - Italy
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/773 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 4
Brindisi ACC
Milano ACC
Padova ACC
Rome ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 5
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2023: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2023 8.7%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2023 9.6%
Share en route / terminal costs 2023 87% / 13%
En route charging zone(s)
Italy
Terminal charging zone(s)
Italy Zone 1
Italy Zone 2
Main ANSP
• ENAV
Other ANSPs
• ITAF
MET Providers
–
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Italy recorded 1,983K actual IFR movements in 2023, +11% compared to 2022 (1,788K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements were +7.2% above the plan (1,850K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements are +1% above the actual 2019 level (1,962K).
▪ Italy recorded 10,618K actual en route service units in 2023, +11% compared to 2022 (9,562K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units were +1.5% above the plan (10,457K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units are +6% above of the actual 2019 level (10,046K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ ENAV maintained its safety performance, remaining at the RP3 EoSM target levels in all management objectives in 2023. The achieved maturity levels exceeded the planned maturity levels.
▪ Italy recorded a stable number of safety occurrences, with a similar rate of runway incursions and a marginal decrease in the rate of separation minima infringements.
▪ ENAV do not use automated safety data recording systems.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Italy achieved a KEA performance of 3.09% compared to its target of 2.67% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA has not provided an explanation as to why KEA has deteriorated year on year.
▪ Both KEP and SCR deteriorated in comparison with 2022.
▪ The share of CDO flights decreased from 35.05% to 31.45% in 2023.
▪ During 2023, additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.32 to 1.44 min/flight, while additional taxi out time increased from 3.41 to 3.89 min/flight.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Italy registered 0.17 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2023 which has been adjusted to 0.14 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.11. Delays in Italy decreased by 0.01 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Delays were highest between April and August, mostly due to adverse weather conditions.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Italy increased by 5 p.p. compared to 2022 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 1% above 2019 levels in Italy in 2023.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 5% by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Brindisi by 2 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 10% by 2024, with the actual value being over the 2023 plan in Milano by 8 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 9% by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Padova by 6 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to decrease by 2% by 2024, with the actual value being over the 2023 plan in Rome by 8 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Brindisi ACC was 26,280, showing an 8.3% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 29.6% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Milano ACC was 63,763, showing a 22.9% decrease compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 26.7% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Padova ACC was 58,059, showing a 5.7% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 4.1% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Rome ACC was 118,115, showing a 105.8% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 114.8% above 2019 levels.
▪ Brindisi ACC registered 15.97 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 11.1% below 2019 levels. Milano ACC registered 14.95 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 42.5% above 2019 levels. Padova ACC registered 13.05 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 4.5% below 2019 levels. Rome ACC registered 7.78 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 52.6% below 2019 levels.
▪ Italy was badly affected by adverse weather in 2023, resulting in unusually high levels of en route ATFM delay. As the uncertainty of weather impact is likely to increase, Italy 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 Italy was 55.57 €2017, -10% lower than the determined unit cost (61.52 €2017). The terminal zone 1 2023 actual unit cost was 148.84 €2017, +0.3% higher than the determined unit cost (148.46 €2017), while the terminal zone 2 2023 actual unit cost was 163.41 €2017, -14% lower than the determined unit cost (189.46 €2017).
▪ The en route 2023 actual service units (11M) were 1.5% higher than the determined service units (10M).
▪ The en route 2023 actual total costs were -53 M€2017 (-8.3%) lower than determined, with reductions across all categories except for the cost of capital. The most significant reduction was in staff costs (-35 M€2017, or -9.8%). Despite this, in nominal terms, there was a difference of +1% in actual staff costs compared to the determined figures due to new hires and an agreement with trade unions. Other operating costs also saw a substantial underspend between actual and determined cots (-19.9 M€2017, or -13%), for which the NSA did not provide a detailed explanation.
▪ ENAV spent 142 M€2017 in 2023 related to costs of investments for both en route and terminal charging zones, +1.3% more than determined (140 M€2017). This gap was largely due to an overspend in the cost of capital (+29%, or +11 M€2017), which is primarily attributed to the growth in fixed assets and rising interest rates (from 1.86% to 5.0%). However, the reported average interest rate does not align with the genuine average interest rate that ENAV incurred in 2023, which was 3.83%. The PRB recommends that ENAV report the genuine average interest rate they experienced as the actual figure, in line with the Regulation.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2023 was 71.14€ (+10% above the 2023 DUC), while the terminal zone 1 actual unit cost incurred by users was 179.31€ (+16% above the 2023 DUC) and 213.48€ (+7.5% above the 2023 DUC) for terminal zone 2. The difference between the AUCU and the DUC for all charging zones is primarily attributed to the inflation mechanism (+68 M€).
▪ The en route regulatory result for ENAV amounted to +119 M€, or 18% 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 plan when assessing the RP4 cost-efficiency targets.