Annual Monitoring Report 2023 - Switzerland
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2023/178 of 14 December 2022
List of ACCs 2
Geneva ACC
Zurich ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 2
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1.11124 CHF
2023: 0.971299 CHF
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2023 1.3%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2023 3.0%
Share en route / terminal costs 2023 63% / 37%
En route charging zone(s)
Switzerland
Terminal charging zone(s)
Switzerland
Main ANSP
• Skyguide
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• Office Féderal de la Météorologie et de Climatologie MétéoSuisse
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Switzerland recorded 1,092K actual IFR movements in 2023, +5% compared to 2022 (1,042K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements were +0.4% above the plan (1,088K).
▪ Actual 2023 IFR movements represent 93% of the actual 2019 level (1,177K).
▪ Switzerland recorded 1,595K actual en route service units in 2023, +3% compared to 2022 (1,545K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units were -5.6% below the plan (1,689K).
▪ Actual 2023 service units represent 90% of the actual 2019 level (1,769K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ Skyguide achieved the RP3 EoSM targets for all management objectives other than safety risk management. Over 2023, Skyguide has improved significantly on this management objective with only one question out of three at maturity level C.
▪ The NSA has cautioned that the ANSP might not be able to achieve the RP3 targets. The issue is related to the understanding of the EoSM guidance on specific aspects.
▪ Switzerland recorded the same rate of runway incursions, and lower rate of separation minima infringements despite significant traffic increase.
▪ Skyguide do not use automated safety data recording systems for runway incursions.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Switzerland achieved a KEA performance of 4.43% compared to its target of 3.95% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that most inefficiencies are due to the network being impacted by ATC strikes or flight planning.
▪ Both SCR and KEP improved in 2023 compared to 2022. Despite the KEA target being missed, the improvement in SCR shows that Switzerland has improved the environmental efficiency of its airspace when accounting for impacts outside of its control.
▪ The share of CDO flights increased marginally from 17.42% to 17.86% in 2023.
▪ During 2023, additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.64 to 1.92 min/flight, while additional taxi out time increased from 2.22 to 2.72 min/flight.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Switzerland registered 0.2 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2023 which has been adjusted to 0.13 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus achieving the local target value of 0.19. Delays in Switzerland decreased by 0.08 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Delays were highest between June and September, mostly driven by adverse weather conditions and ATC capacity.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Switzerland increased by 5 p.p. compared to 2022 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 8% below 2019 levels in Switzerland in 2023.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to increase by 2% by 2024, with the actual value being below the 2023 plan in Geneva by 9 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is expected to decrease by 10% by 2024, with the actual value being over the 2023 plan in Zurich by 13 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Geneva ACC was 28,234, showing a 3.2% decrease compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 12.6% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Zurich ACC was 32,064, showing a 0.5% increase compared to 2022. Sector opening hours are 9.6% above 2019 levels.
▪ Geneva ACC registered 20.99 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 0.5% below 2019 levels. Zurich ACC registered 23.72 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2023, being 2.3% above 2019 levels.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2023 actual unit cost of Switzerland was 114.13 €2017, +23% higher than the determined unit cost (93.10 €2017). The terminal 2023 actual unit cost was 393.76 €2017, +15% higher than the determined unit cost (343.36 €2017).
▪ The en route 2023 actual service units (1.6M) were -5.6% lower than the determined service units (1.7M).
▪ In 2023, the en route actual total costs were higher (+25 M€2017, or +16%) than determined. The difference is driven by Skyguide’s other operating costs (+11 M€2017, or +32%), where the NSA explained that it is due to higher purchased services and products as a result of increased technical incidents, as well as additional costs to correct compliance issues in many areas (Technical but also buildings/infrastructures). Additionally, an increase of +12 M€2017 relates to the impact of the capitalisation rules, which was included as a negative exceptional item in the determined costs (so as to be excluded from the amounts charged to airspace users), but has not been deducted from the actual costs, as it is reported as being actually incurred.
▪ Skyguide spent 44 M€2017 in 2023 related to costs of investments for both en route and terminal charging zones, +3.2% more than determined (42 M€2017).
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2023 was 116.29€ (+7.1% above the 2023 DUC), while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 412.14€ (+2.9% above the 2023 DUC).
▪ The en route regulatory result for Skyguide amounted to -31 M€, or -19% of the 2023 revenue.