Annual Monitoring Report 2024 - Greece
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/2421 of 5 December 2022
List of ACCs 2
Athens ACC
Makedonia ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 1
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2024: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2024 5.9%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2024 2.5%
Share en route / terminal costs 2024 88% / 12%
En route charging zone(s)
Greece
Terminal charging zone(s)
Greece
Main ANSP
• HASP
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• HNMS
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Greece recorded 1,075K actual IFR movements in 2024, +7.4% compared to 2023 (1,001K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements were +22.2% above the plan (880K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements are +21.6% above the actual 2019 level (884K).
▪ Greece recorded 7,698K actual service units in 2024, +5.3% compared to 2023 (7,311K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were +13.5% above the plan (6,781K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units are +28.2% above the actual 2019 level (6,005K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ HASP planned to reach maturity level D for Safety Risk Management in 2024 to achieve the RP3 targets, however HASP only achieved level C.
▪ Greece recorded an increase in the rate of separation minima infringements (SMIs) and a marginally lower rate of runway incursions (RIs) in 2024 compared to 2023.
▪ In 2024, HASP implemented enhancements to its occurrence reporting and investigation processes, incorporating the Bow Tie methodology. These improvements are expected to significantly strengthen the ability to identify contributing factors and systematically develop effective risk mitigation measures aimed at preventing future occurrences.
▪ Greece 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)
▪ Greece achieved a KEA performance of 2.19% compared to its target of 1.92% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that the target was missed mainly due to military activity, adverse weather phenomena and high levels of traffic.
▪ KEP improved and SCR improved marginally in comparison with 2023. Despite the KEA target being missed, KEA improved in 2024.
▪ The share of CDO flights increased from 43.31% to 46.42% in 2024.
▪ Additional taxi out time increased marginally from 2.85 to 2.95 min/flight, while additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.44 to 1.55 min/flight in 2024 compared to 2023.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Greece registered 0.98 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which has been adjusted to 0.97 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.15. Delays in Greece increased by 0.14 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Most of the delays were generated between May and September, mainly driven by ATC Staffing issues.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Greece decreased by 4 percentage points compared to 2023 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 22% above 2019 levels in Greece in 2024.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 175, being below the 2024 plan in Athinai/Makedonia by 110 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Greece was 56,167 showing a 3.9% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 1.7% below 2019 levels.
▪ Greece registered 18.31 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 22.7% above 2019 levels.
▪ The deterioration in the capacity performance of Greece in 2024 is a direct consequence of the under-investment in ATM systems and the significant lack of ATCO resources. Greece must prioritise and deploy the investments enabling capacity improvements and expedite the recruitment and training of controllers. These issues are still apparent in the 2025 performance up to August.
▪ Greece registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 3.46 minutes per flight in 2024, thus not achieving the local target of 0.20 minutes.
▪ Compared to 2023, average arrival ATFM delays in Greece were 7% higher in 2024, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 12%.
▪ The main reason for delays was ATC capacity, accounting for 94% of total delays.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Greece was 20.31 €2017, -27% lower than the determined unit cost (27.98 €2017). The terminal 2024 actual unit cost was 138.07 €2017, -31% lower than the determined unit cost (198.95 €2017).
▪ The en route 2024 actual service units (7.7M) were +14% higher than the determined service units (6.8M).
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs were -33M €2017, (-18%) lower than the determined, marking an underspend across all cost categories. The largest difference for HASP was in staff costs (-18M €2017, or -14%), followed by significantly lower depreciation costs (-13M€2017, or -92%), cost of capital (-4.3M€2017, or -97%), and other operating costs (-3.1M€2017, or -18%). The NSA did not provide sufficient explanations for these results. The PRB highlights that the actual number of ACC ATCOs in OPS FTEs for HASP were -39% below plan.
▪ HASP costs of investments were 2.3M €2017 in 2024 for both en route and terminal charging zones, -89% lower than determined (21M €2017), due to postponed investment projects. The NSA did not provide explanations for the non-implementation of the eight new major investments that were planned for RP3. As for the previous monitoring years, the discrepancies regarding costs of investments were significant.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 26.80€ (-11% lower than the 2024 DUC), while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 147.25€ (-32% lower than the 2024 DUC). The difference between the AUCU and the DUC in the en route charging zone is primarily attributable to the difference between determined and actual costs in 2024, while for the terminal charging zone it is primarily attributed to the loss of revenue relating to the application of a lower unit rate, which amounted to -5.5M€.
▪ The en route regulatory result for HASP amounted to +25M€, or 14% of the 2024 revenue.
▪ Greece should take immediate, adequate, and proportionate action to implement the relevant ATCO and investment plans committed to in the RP3 performance plan and to provide the ANSP with the necessary means to implement the planned actions both in respect of decisional and budgetary procedures.
▪ Greece 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.