Annual Monitoring Report 2023 - Latvia
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/2426 of 5 December 2022
List of ACCs 1
Riga ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 0
<80’K 3
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2023: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2023 0.4%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2023 0.3%
Share en route / terminal costs 2023 76% / 24%
En route charging zone(s)
Latvia
Terminal charging zone(s)
Latvia
Main ANSP
• LGS
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• LVĢMC
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Latvia recorded 200K actual IFR movements in 2023, +6% compared to 2022 (190K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements were -5.9% below the plan (213K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements represent 67% of the actual 2019 level (298K).
▪ Latvia recorded 466K actual en route service units in 2023, which was similar compared to 2022 (466K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units were -15% below the plan (548K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units represent 49% of the actual 2019 level (958K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ In 2023, LGS has improved its performance for safety policy and objective and risk management and consequently achieved the RP3 target levels for all management objectives.
▪ LGS implemented improvements in the procedures for change management and safety assessment. More developments are necessary in the area of Fatigue Risk Management and Emergency Response Plan.
▪ Despite the currently high performance of the ANSP, the NSA cautions that the ANSP might not be able to retain the RP3 targets due to financial and human resource issues as a result of the war in Ukraine.
▪ Latvia recorded stable performance with respect to safety risks with a single runway incursion and a single separation minima infringement in 2023.
▪ LGS uses specific safety recording tools for separation minima infringements and runway incursions and is one of the few ANSPs that does so.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Latvia achieved a KEA performance of 7.97% compared to its target of 1.25% and did not contribute positively to the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that the KEA deterioration was due to the continuation of significant route extensions as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
▪ Both KEP and SCR followed the same trend and worsened in comparison with 2022’s performance.
▪ The share of CDO flights decreased from 60.40% to 58.92% in 2023.
▪ During 2023, additional time in terminal airspace increased from 0.33 to 0.51 min/flight, while additional taxi out time increased from 2.82 to 2.66 min/flight.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Latvia registered zero minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2023, thus achieving the local target value of 0.03. Delays in Latvia remained unchanged year-on-year.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 33% below 2019 levels in Latvia in 2023.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 9% by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Riga by 13 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Riga ACC was 24,050, showing a 0.8% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 16.6% below 2019 levels.
▪ Riga ACC registered 8.25 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 19.7% below 2019 levels.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2023 actual unit cost of Latvia was 38.45 €2017, +8.0% higher than the determined unit cost (35.62 €2017). The terminal 2023 actual unit cost was 152.45 €2017, +16% higher than the determined unit cost (131.92 €2017).
▪ The en route 2023 actual service units (0.47M) were -15% lower than the determined service units (0.55M), mainly due to shifted traffic flows caused by the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
▪ The en route 2023 actual total costs were -1.6 M€2017 (-8.2%) lower than determined. The reduction in total cost was due to the lower staff costs (-1.3 M€2017, or -12%) which was a result of a reduction in staff numbers driven by lower than anticipated traffic volumes. In addition, other operating costs were lower than planned (-0.6 M€2017 or -13%), largely attributable to the MET provider LVĢMC, stemming from the cancellation and deferral of planned acquisitions.
▪ The ANSPs spent 6.7 M€2017 in 2023 related to costs of investments for both en route and terminal charging zones, -2.4% less than determined (6.9 M€2017). Although there was a difference in depreciation costs (+0.1 M€2017 or +2.2%) due to the commissioning of several assets that had been delayed since 2020, the cost of capital showed a gap (-0.3 M€2017 or -15%) primarily due to a significant reduction in net current assets (-2.1 M€2017 or -85%). However, the NSA did not provide a detailed explanation for this substantial reduction in net current assets.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2023 was 50.65€ (+22% above the 2023 DUC), while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 156.13€ (+4.6% above the 2023 DUC). The difference between the AUCU and the DUC for en route charging zone is strongly affected by the difference between the determined and actual SUs.
▪ The en route regulatory result for LGS amounted to +2.3 M€, or 11% 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.