Capacity - Estonia

Download Report

PRB monitoring

▪ Estonia registered 0.01 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which remained 0.01 after the post-ops adjustment process, thus achieving the local target value of 0.03. Delays in Estonia increased by 0.01 minutes per flight year-on-year.

▪ Delays were highest between July and September, mostly driven by the lack of ATC Capacity.

▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Estonia increased by 21 percentage points compared to 2023 and was higher than 2019 values.

▪ The average number of IFR movements was 25% below 2019 levels in Estonia in 2024.

▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 21, being below the 2024 plan in Tallinn by 6 FTEs.

▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Tallinn ACC was 10,470, showing a 2.5% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 17.5% below 2019 levels.

▪ Tallinn ACC registered 15.3 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 12.1% below 2019 levels.

▪ Estonia registered zero minutes of average airport arrival ATFM delay per flight, thus achieving its local target of zero minutes in 2024.

▪ Compared to 2023, the number of IFR arrivals in Estonia increased by 15%, while the average airport arrival ATFM delay remained zero minutes.

En route performance

En route ATFM delay (KPI#1)

Summary of capacity performance

Estonia experienced an increase in traffic from 148k flights in 2023, to 170k flights in 2024, with just over 1k minutes of en route ATFM delay. Traffic levels remain significantly below the 227k flights handled in 2019.

NSA’s assessment of capacity performance

The enroute capacity target for Estonia in 2024 was set at 0.03 minutes of ATFM delay per flight. Despite an overall increase in the number of flights during the year, EANS has achieved a result with the actual ATFM delay per flight recorded at only 0.01 minutes. This performance reflects effective management and coordination within the ANSP.

The number of reports related to ATCO fatigue increased in 2024, highlighting the growing challenges faced by controllers in maintaining optimal performance under increased workload conditions. To address these challenges, efforts are being made to optimize ATCO work through the implementation of technical solutions.

Monitoring process for capacity performance

Review of the actual values from the NM dashboard. The 0.01 delay registered is related to prearrival sequencing for Helsinki Vantaa airport.

Capacity planning

The shift supervisor is the tactical FMP, who plans according to the traffic flows. Flows are coordinated with the Network Manager as needed.

Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)

The number of reports related to ATCO fatigue increased in 2024 (6 vs 3 in 2023), highlighting the growing challenges faced by controllers in maintaining optimal performance under increased workload conditions.

ATCO fatigue has been identified as a safety issue and is being actively addressed by EANS. Although no direct safety related incidents resulting from fatigue were reported in 2024, and therefore no immediate corrective actions were deemed necessary, the issue continues to be monitored closely.

All fatigue related reports and associated data were thoroughly analysed by the members of the Fatigue Safety Action Group (FSAG). Based on their findings, the FSAG team provided recommendations aimed at preventing potential fatigue-related situations in the future.

In 2024, the implementation of a self-assessment system for fatigue management was postponed and refocused, with the revised plan scheduled for rollout in 2025. Under the updated approach, ATCOs will assess their fatigue levels using the Samn-Perelli scale at a dedicated terminal, which will be located separately from the operational working position. This measure is intended to reduce any potential influence on flight safety during the self-assessment process.

The Estonian Transport Administration will re-evaluate the associated risks in cooperation with EANS in 2025.

En route Capacity Incentive Scheme

EANS: The NSA reports that the ANSP performance falls within the deadband range and therefore neither bonus nor malus is applicable.
In accordance with Article 3(3)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1627: The incentive scheme shall cover only the calendar years 2022 to 2024.

Other indicators

In previous years, due to various crises, ATCOs as well as technical personnel were among those affected by staff reductions. Now, as traffic volumes are beginning to rise a bit and in order to be prepared for the possible reopening of airspaces, there is a growing need for additional technical staff whose expertise is essential for implementing technical solutions to enhance the efficiency of ATCOs’ work.

Terminal performance

Arrival ATFM delay (KPI#2)

Estonia identified two airports, Tallinn and Tartu, as subject to RP3 monitoring. In accordance with IR (EU) 2019/317 and the traffic figures at these 2 airports, pre-departure delays are not monitored and the capacity performance focuses on arrival ATFM delays and slot adherence. Traffic at these Estonian airports in 2024 was still 11% lower than in 2019, regardless a 15% increase with respect to 2023.

Like in the rest of RP3, no arrival ATFM delays were observed in the entire 2024 at these two airports and slot adherence remained very high (2023: 98.9%; 2024: 99%).

Like in previous years, no arrival ATFM delay was observed at the Estonian airports (Tallinn and Tartu) in 2024. According to the Estonian monitoring report: Changes in traffic flows/patterns around airports due to Ukrainian war and if/how those changes affected terminal capacity performance: Estonian airspace continues to be impacted by sanctions and the resulting decrease in traffic.

The Estonian performance plan sets a national target on arrival ATFM delay for all RP3 of 0.0 min/arr. This target, like in the rest of RP3, was met in 2024 with an actual performance of 0.0 min/arr. The Estonian performance plan does not establish any bonus.

Other terminal performance indicators (PI#1-3)

Airport level
Airport name
Avg arrival ATFM delay (KPI#2)
Slot adherence (PI#1)
ATC pre departure delay (PI#2)
All causes pre departure delay (PI#3)
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Tallin NA NA NA NA NA 98.5% 98.2% 98.6% 98.9% 99.0% 0.01 0.02 0.11 0.09 0.08 7.3 11.9 14.0 12.8 11.8
Tartu NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 50.0% 90.9% 98.1% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

ATFM slot adherence

Tallin showed very high slot adherence (99%) and at Tartu there only 52 regulated departures in 2023, from which only 1 departed outside of the STW. The national average was 99%. With regard to the 1% of flights that did not adhere, 0.3% were early and 0.7% were late.

ATC pre-departure delay

This indicator is not monitored for airports below 80 000 IFR movements annual average during the 2016-2018 period, so it is not monitored for any airport in Estonia.

All causes pre-departure delay

This indicator is not monitored for airports below 80 000 IFR movements annual average during the 2016-2018 period, so it is not monitored for any airport in Estonia.