Annual Monitoring Report 2024 - Denmark
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/770 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 1
Copenhagen ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 1
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 7.43692 DKK
2024: 7.45701 DKK
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2024 1.2%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2024 1.7%
Share en route / terminal costs 2024 80% / 20%
En route charging zone(s)
Denmark
Terminal charging zone(s)
Denmark
Main ANSP
• NAVIAIR
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• DMI
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Denmark recorded 594K actual IFR movements in 2024, +6.3% compared to 2023 (559K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements were -10.4% below the plan (663K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements represent 89% of the actual 2019 level (669K).
▪ Denmark recorded 1,571K actual service units in 2024, +7.7% compared to 2023 (1,459K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were -11.9% above the plan (1,784K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units represent 88% of the actual 2019 level (1,781K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ NAVIAIR achieved four out of five Management Objectives targets, but lacked sufficient improvement in safety risk management causing NAVIAIR to miss the RP3 targets in 2024.
▪ Denmark did not record any runway incursions (RIs) in 2024 and has seen a very low rate since 2022. The rate of separation minima infringements (SMIs) increased but remained below the Union-wide average.
▪ Denmark should ensure that the ANSP implements, in a timely and cost-efficient manner, the necessary additional measures such as enhanced processes, improved allocation of resources, targeted training, and systematic reviews. Without such actions, the achievement of the RP4 targets could be jeopardised.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Denmark achieved a KEA performance of 1.24% compared to its target of 1.14% and did not contribute positively to achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that the main reason for NAVIAIR not achieving the target is the staffing challenges it faces.
▪ Both KEP and SCR improved in 2024. Despite the KEA target being missed, the improvement in SCR shows that Denmark has improved the environmental efficiency of its airspace when accounting for impacts outside of its control.
▪ The share of CDO flights increased from 48.64% to 50.26% in 2024.
▪Additional taxi out time decreased marginally from 2.59 to 2.53 min/flight, while additional time in terminal airspace decreased from 1.10 to 0.96 min/flight, in 2024 compared to 2023.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Denmark registered 0.05 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which remained 0.05 after the post-ops adjustment process, thus achieving the local target value of 0.05. Delays in Denmark decreased by 0.05 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Delays were highest in June, July and September, mostly due to ATC Capacity and Staffing issues.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Denmark increased by 2 percentage points compared to 2023 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 11% below 2019 levels in Denmark in 2024.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 101, being over the 2024 plan in Copenhagen by 2 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Copenhagen ACC was 44,464, showing a 0.3% decrease compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 0.5% below 2019 levels.
▪ Copenhagen ACC registered 11.62 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 10.0% below 2019 levels.
▪ Denmark registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 0.50 minutes per flight in 2024, thus not achieving the local target of 0.10 minutes.
▪ Compared to 2023, average arrival ATFM delays in Denmark were 84% lower in 2024, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 6%.
▪ The main drivers of delays were ATC staffing, accounting for 56% of delays, and weather, responsible for 33%.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Denmark was 66.40€2017, +25% higher than the determined unit cost (52.97€2017). The terminal 2024 actual unit cost was 157.46€2017, +13% higher than the determined unit cost (139.13€2017).
▪ The en route 2024 actual service units (1.6M) were -12% lower than the determined service units (1.8M), mainly due to shifted traffic flows caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs were +10M€2017 (+10%) higher than determined. This was mainly driven by higher staff costs for NAVIAIR (+8.8M€2017, or +19%). The NSA explains that this is due to wage increases resulting from a collective agreement for all government employees, the execution of an agreement with the ATCO union, as well as a high level of extra shifts. The NSA did not provide sufficient information on the reason for these additional shifts, which contrasts with the significant reduction in service units compared to the plan.
▪ NAVIAIR costs of investments were 19M€2017 in 2024 for both en route and terminal charging zones, -7.0% less than determined (20M€2017). According to the NSA, this reduction is due to reduced depreciation resulting from “fewer and postponed investments, and later date of entry into operation than planned”.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 64.52€ (+16% above the 2024 DUC), while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users was 162.15€ (+10% above the 2024 DUC ).
▪ The en route regulatory result for NAVIAIR amounted to -11M€. The loss is mainly attributable to the application of the cost risk sharing mechanism, in particular the negative difference between determined and actual costs to be borne by the ANSP.