Annual Monitoring Report 2024 - Croatia
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/764 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 1
Zagreb ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 0
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2024: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2024 2.3%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2024 1.4%
Share en route / terminal costs 2024 100% / 0%
En route charging zone(s)
Croatia
Terminal charging zone(s)
Main ANSP
• Croatia Control
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
–
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Croatia recorded 922K actual IFR movements in 2024, +13.3% compared to 2023 (814K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements were +32.5% above the plan (696K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements are +29.1% above the actual 2019 level (714K).
▪ Croatia recorded 3,046K actual service units in 2024, +18.8% compared to 2023 (2,563K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were +35.3% above the plan (2,251K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were +38.9% above the actual 2019 level (2,193K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ In 2024, Croatia Control implemented the improvements needed in Safety Risk Management to achieve the RP3 target.
▪ Croatia recorded a lower level of runway incursions (RIs) compared to 2023. The rate of separation minima infringements (SMIs) increased compared to 2023.
▪ Croatia monitored safety performance using specific safety tools, including the automated safety data recording systems for the recording of SMIs and RIs at Zagreb Airport.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Croatia achieved a KEA performance of 1.56% compared to its target of 1.46% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that airline route adjustment due to adverse weather conditions and restrictions within congested airspace influenced KEA.
▪ Both KEP and SCR remained stable in comparison to 2023.
▪ Croatia has no airports regulated under the performance and charging scheme.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Croatia registered 1.59 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which has been adjusted to 1.51 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.17. Delays in Croatia increased by 1.08 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ The majority of delays were generated between June and August, mainly driven by adverse weather conditions and the lack of ATC Capacity.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Croatia increased by 12 percentage points compared to 2023 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 30% above 2019 levels in Croatia in 2024.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 104, being below the 2024 plan in Zagreb by 17 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Zagreb ACC was 38,148, showing a 0.8% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 4.3% above 2019 levels.
▪ Zagreb ACC registered 23.05 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 26.6% above 2019 levels.
▪ Capacity provision improved slightly in 2024. However, a capacity gap still exists. Croatia should expedite the recruitment and training of controllers and work closely with the Network Manager to mitigate the impact of adverse weather. Actual 2025 figures up to August show an improvement compared to 2024.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Croatia was 28.74€2017, -29% lower than the determined unit cost (40.48€2017). Croatia does not have a terminal charging zone.
▪ The en route 2024 actual service units (3.0M) were +35% higher than the determined service units (2.3M).
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs were -3.6M€2017 (-3.9%) lower than determined. This is mainly due to lower other operating costs (-3.3M€2017, or -20%), followed by lower depreciation and cost of capital for Croatia Control. The NSA attributed this to the deferral of investment projects, which resulted in lower maintenance costs, as well as to lower-than-expected expenditures.
▪ Croatia Control costs of investments were 13M€2017 in 2024, -4.9% less than determined (14M€2017). According to the NSA, this is mainly due to the postponement of investment projects.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 36.58€ (-15% below the 2024 DUC), mainly affected by higher than planned service units.
▪ The en route regulatory result for Croatia Control amounted to +14M€, or 13% of the 2024 revenue.
▪ Croatia should ensure that any excessive regulatory result, including excess funds received by the ANSP due to the inflation mechanism, is either reinvested to improve the quality of services delivered to airspace users or reimbursed to them.