Annual Monitoring Report 2024 - Poland
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/779 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 1
Warsaw ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 1
<80’K 14
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 4.25483 PLN
2024: 4.30147 PLN
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2024 2.9%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2024 3.3%
Share en route / terminal costs 2024 79% / 21%
En route charging zone(s)
Poland
Terminal charging zone(s)
Poland EPWA
Poland Others
Main ANSP
• PANSA
Other ANSPs
• Warmia i Mazury sp. z o.o.
• Port Lotniczy Bydgoszcz S.A.
MET Providers
• Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute (IMWM)
• Radom Meteo sp. z o.o.
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Poland recorded 758K actual IFR movements in 2024, +8.8% compared to 2023 (697K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements were -17.6% below the plan (920K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements represent 83% above the actual 2019 level (912K).
▪ Poland recorded 3,824K actual service units in 2024, +8.1% compared to 2023 (3,537K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were -25.5% below the plan (5,130K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units represent 77% of the actual 2019 level (4,972K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ PANSA exceeded the RP3 targets in 2022 and successfully maintained those performance levels. In 2024, PANSA adopted a revised approach to self-assessment by relying on evidence from non-collaborative sources. This methodological shift resulted in the degradation of 16 questions to maturity level C. Despite this, PANSA continued to achieve RP3 targets. PANSA remains committed to enhancing its safety function and continues to implement improvements, in line with its safety management system strategy established in 2024.
▪ Port Lotniczy Bydgoszcz S.A. improved in the area of Safety Risk Management in 2024, achieving the RP3 targets for all management objectives.
▪ Warmia i Mazury sp. z o.o. achieved its RP3 EoSM targets levels already in 2022 and maintained these levels through the remaining years of the period.
▪ Poland recorded a significant increase in the rates of runway incursions (RIs) and separation minima infringements (SMIs) in 2024 at a Member State level.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Poland achieved a KEA performance of 4.49% compared to its target of 1.65% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that the worsening environmental performance was largely due to external factors linked to the geopolitical situation (Belarus and Ukraine), leading to route extensions and increased military activities, and weather conditions.
▪ Both KEP and SCR improved in comparison with 2023. Despite the KEA target being missed, KEA improved in 2024. Additionally, the improvement in SCR shows that Poland has enhanced the environmental efficiency of its airspace when accounting for impacts outside of its control.
▪ The share of CDO flights increased from 42.78% to 43.99% in 2024.
▪ Additional taxi out time increased from 2.59 to 2.78 min/flight, while additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.19 to 1.33 min/flight in 2024 compared to 2023.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Poland registered 0.23 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which remained 0.23 after the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.12. Delays in Poland increased by 0.03 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Most of the delays accumulated between May and July, mainly driven by ATC Capacity and Staffing issues and adverse weather conditions.
▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Poland increased by 1 percentage point compared to 2023 and was lower than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 16% below 2019 levels in Poland in 2024.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 173.17, being below the 2024 plan in Warsaw by 21 FTEs.
▪The yearly total of sector opening hours in Warsaw ACC was 35,467, showing a 1.3% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 17.2% below 2019 levels.
▪ Warsaw ACC registered 18.17 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 5.4% below 2019 levels.
▪ Poland registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 0.49 minutes per flight in 2024, thus not achieving the local target of 0.23 minutes.
▪ Compared to 2023, average arrival ATFM delays in Poland were 165% higher in 2024, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 10%.
▪ The main drivers of delays were other, non-ATC related causes, accounting for 59% of delays, and weather, responsible for 21%.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Poland was 52.20€2017, +36% higher than the determined unit cost (38.35€2017). The terminal zone 1 2024 actual unit cost was 110.06€2017, +5.7% higher than the determined unit cost (104.10€2017), while the terminal zone 2 2024 actual unit cost was 223.66€2017, +3.5% higher than the determined unit cost (216.11€2017).
▪ The en route 2024 actual service units of Poland (3.8M) were -25% lower than the determined service units (5.1M), mainly due to shifted traffic flows caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs were +2.9M€2017, (+1.5%) higher than determined. This difference is driven by higher staff costs for PANSA (+6.4M€2017, or +6.1%) than determined. The NSA noted that it is mainly due to higher salaries driven by changes to remuneration regulations.
▪ PANSA costs of investments were 49M€2017 in 2024 for both en route and terminal charging zones, almost in line with the determined (-0.8%). This small difference is mainly due to the postponement and revision of some projects.
▪ The en route actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 61.69€ (+43% higher than the 2024 DUC), while the terminal zone 1 actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 130.59€ (+10% higher than the 2024 DUC) and 228.69€ (-6.8% lower than the 2024 DUC) for terminal zone 2. The differences between the AUCU and the DUC for en route charging zone can be primarily attributed to lower traffic than expected. For terminal zone 1 charging zone, it is mainly resulting from the positive inflation adjustment.
▪ Poland’s RP3 performance plan included justifications for a deviation to achieve the RP3 capacity targets. The main measures included recruiting of new ATCOs. Poland has not submitted a detailed report of the capacity-related measures implemented. However, the number of ATCOs in operation at the end of RP3 is below the plan. Poland should reimburse to airspace users the excess funds received by ANSPs for measures not implemented.