Annual Monitoring Report 2024 - Italy
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/773 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 4
Brindisi ACC
Milano ACC
Padova ACC
Rome ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 5
<80’K 0
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2024: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2024 8.9%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2024 9.7%
Share en route / terminal costs 2024 87% / 13%
En route charging zone(s)
Italy
Terminal charging zone(s)
Italy Zone 1
Italy Zone 2
Main ANSP
• ENAV
Other ANSPs
• ITAF
MET Providers
–
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Italy recorded 2,164K actual IFR movements in 2024, +9.1% compared to 2023 (1,983K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements were +11.0% above the plan (1,949K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements are +10.3% above the actual 2019 level (1,962K).
▪ Italy recorded 11,733K actual service units in 2024, +10.5% compared to 2023 (10,618K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were +4.0% above the plan (11,278K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units are +16.8% above the actual 2019 level (10,046K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ ENAV achieved the RP3 targets in 2020 ahead of plan and maintained its safety performance throughout RP3. The achieved maturity levels exceeded the planned maturity levels with two management Objectives at maturity level D (Safety Risk Management and Safety Assurance).
▪ Italy recorded an increase in the rate of runway incursions (RIs) and separation minima infringements (SMIs) relative to 2023. The NSA has established a process to monitor reported RIs and SMIs on a daily basis. Regular meetings are held by the ANSP to analyse these events, with a particular focus on identifying trends and underlying factors.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Italy achieved a KEA performance of 3.03% compared to its target of 2.67% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ KEP improved and SCR improved marginally in comparison with 2023, showing airspace users are planning shorter routes than in 2023 but the underlying efficiency of the airspace has not improved. Despite the target being missed, KEA improved in 2024. Additionally, the improvement in SCR shows that Italy has enhanced the environmental efficiency of its airspace when accounting for impacts outside of its control.
▪ The share of CDO flights remained stable in 2024.
▪ Additional taxi out time increased from 3.28 to 3.77 min/flight, while additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.53 to 1.70 min/flight in 2024 compared to 2023.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Italy registered 0.74 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which has been adjusted to 0.72 during the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.11. Delays in Italy increased by 0.58 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Delays in Italy were highest between June and August, mostly due to adverse weather conditions and ATC Capacity issues.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Italy increased by 7 percentage points compared to 2023 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 11% above 2019 levels in Italy in 2024.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 89, being below the 2024 plan in Brindisi by 7 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 290, being over the 2024 plan in Milano by 12 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 205, being below the 2024 plan in Padova by 6 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 337, being over the 2024 plan in Rome by 17 FTEs.
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Rome ACC was 117,286, showing a 0.7% decrease compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 113.3% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Milano ACC was 69,074, showing a 8.3% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 20.6% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Brindisi ACC was 23,654, showing a 10.0% decrease compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 16.7% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Padova ACC was 64,644, showing a 11.3% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 15.9% above 2019 levels.
▪ Milano ACC registered 14.75 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 40.6% above 2019 levels. Padova ACC registered 13.03 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 4.7% below 2019 levels. Brindisi ACC registered 16.97 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 5.5% below 2019 levels. Rome ACC registered 9.02 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 45.0% below 2019 levels.
▪ 2024 results were above the target value. Italy should work closely with the Network Manager to mitigate the impact of adverse weather on capacity performance. Actual 2025 figures up to August indicate a significant performance improvement compared to 2024.
▪ Italy registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 0.28 minutes per flight in 2024, thus achieving the local target of 0.30 minutes.
▪ Compared to 2023, average arrival ATFM delays in Italy were 87% higher in 2024, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 10%.
▪ The main drivers of delays were weather, accounting for 68% of delays, and other, non-ATC related causes, responsible for 27%.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Italy was 50.65€2017, -12% lower than the determined unit cost (57.80€2017). The terminal zone 1 2024 actual unit cost was 125.26€2017, -11% lower than the determined unit cost (141.52€2017), while the terminal zone 2 2024 actual unit cost was 154.66€2017, -16% lower than the determined unit cost (183.14€2017).
▪ The en route 2024 actual service units (11.7M) were +4.0% higher than the determined service units (11.3M).
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs were -58M€2017 (-8.8%) lower than determined. This is mainly driven by lower staff costs than planner for ENAV (-31M€2017, or -9.2%), as well as other operating costs (-19M€2017, or -20%). However, staff costs in nominal terms were higher than planned (+1.6%), due to higher traffic than expected and salary increases. With respect to other operating costs, the NSA explained that the reduction compared to the plan is mainly due to cost containment measures introduced during the pandemic years.
▪ ENAV costs of investments were 140M€2017 in 2024 for both en route and terminal charging zones, -1.3% less than determined (142M€2017).
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 65.42€ (+7.1% above the 2024 DUC), while the terminal actual unit cost incurred by users for zone 1 was 157.77€ (+5.9% above the 2024 DUC), and 205.35€ (+6.0% above the 2024 DUC) for zone 2. The differences were mainly driven by positive inflation adjustments.
▪ The en route regulatory result for ENAV amounted to +116M€, or 18% of the 2024 revenue.
▪ Italy 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.