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  1. Capacity
  • Year report
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  • Portugal
  • Overview
    • Contextual information
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  • Safety
    • PRB monitoring
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  • Environment
    • PRB monitoring
    • En route performance
      • Horizontal flight efficiency
    • Terminal performance
      • AXOT & ASMA
      • CDO
    • CIV-MIL

  • Capacity
    • PRB monitoring
    • En route performance
      • En route ATFM delay
      • Other indicators
    • Terminal performance
      • Arrival ATFM delay
      • Other performance indicators

  • Cost-efficiency
    • PRB monitoring
    • En route CZ
      • Unit cost
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      • Regulatory Result
    • Terminal CZ
      • Unit cost
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      • Regulatory Result

Capacity - Portugal

Download Report

PRB monitoring

▪ Portugal registered 0.39 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which remained 0.39 after the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.13. Delays in Portugal decreased by 0.09 minutes per flight year-on-year.

▪ Most of the delays were generated in March and between October and December, mainly driven by the lack of ATC Capacity.

▪ The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Portugal decreased by 2 percentage points compared to 2023 and was lower than 2019 values.

▪ The average number of IFR movements was 11% above 2019 levels in Portugal in 2024.

▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 160, being below the 2024 plan in Lisbon by 22 FTEs.

▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Lisbon ACC was 69,059, showing a 1.3% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are in line with 2019 levels.

▪ Lisbon ACC registered 9.69 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 10.5% above 2019 levels.

▪ Despite investments into the new ATM system, a capacity gap in Portugal remains. Portugal should continue to expedite the training and recruitment of controllers and improve the allocation of ATCO resources to ensure that the capacity gap is closed. Actual 2025 figures up to August indicate a performance improvement.

▪ Portugal registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 2.70 minutes per flight in 2024, thus not achieving the local target of 2.00 minutes.

▪ Compared to 2023, average arrival ATFM delays in Portugal were 4% higher in 2024, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 2%.

▪ The main drivers of delays were weather, accounting for 53% of delays, and other, non-ATC related causes, responsible for 36%.

En route performance

En route ATFM delay (KPI#1)

Focus on en route ATFM delay

Summary of capacity performance

Portugal experienced an increase in traffic from 677k flights in 2023 with 327k minutes of en route ATFM delay, to 723k flights in 2024 with a reduced level of 282k minutes of en route ATFM delay.

There were an addition <1k minutes of en route ATFM delay, originating in Portugal, that were re-attributed to the DSNA in France, in accordance with the NM post operations delay reattribution process, endorsed by the NMB, due to eNM/S24 measures to mitigate the capacity shortfalls in France.

NSA’s assessment of capacity performance

After a very healthy recovery in traffic in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 traffic levels continued to grow. Specifically, in Lisbon FIR, traffic increased 7%, when compared to 2023, and is 11% above 2019 levels.

Continued growth in traffic in 2024 took a toll regarding capacity targets, as elementary sectors reached maximum capacity. Accordingly, in 2024 an airspace restructuring started to be studied, and is expected to be in place by the end of 2025. This structural measure combined with the continued efforts to train and recruit ATCOs are expected to have a positive impact in the available capacity, and compliance with performance targets.

Monitoring process for capacity performance

NAV Portugal and ANAC have a capacity monitoring process in place that consists of quarterly reports and follow-up meetings to monitor and present corrective measures whenever necessary.

Capacity planning

In 2024, the primary cause of enroute delays was ATC Capacity, accounting for a total of 257,469 minutes, representing 91% of the overall delay on elementary sectors. To address the limitation of opening more enroute sectors in the Lisbon ACC, three measures are being implemented.
- In the short term, dynamic sectorization of the West Sector provides more options in terms of sectorization.
- Medium-term plans include opening two middle sectors in the WEST and CENTRO sectors to increase capacity during peak periods.
- Long-term solutions involve a complete restructuring of the Lisbon Airspace with Eurocontrol’s support, which is already underway.

NAV Portugal remains committed to recruiting 24 new Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) annually. These new ATCOs are allocated to the ACC with 5 ATCOs for Approach Control Service (APS) and 8 ATCOs for ACS qualification each year.

Finally, it is important to note that NAV Portugal has offered to the network an 8.0% increase in capacity (131 movements per hour) in 2024 compared to the initial reference value indicated by NM (126 movements per hour). This reflects a 15% increase in capacity compared to 2023.

Application of Corrective Measures for Capacity (if applicable)

The NSA corroborates the analysis presented by NAV Portugal, included in the “capacity planning” item above, and, moreover, we consider that it is also worth mentioning the sharp increase in traffic in 2024, and the fact that it was considerably above expectations for the year.

In view of the above, and with regard to the mitigation measures being implemented, NAV Portugal is working on three different axes so that this situation can be reversed or at least mitigated from 2025 onwards:
▪ Recruitment and training of ATCOs;
▪ Airspace Optimisation;
▪ Increasing Sector Capacity.

With regard to the first point, and as already mentioned, NAV Portugal aims to reduce the current number of ATCOs gap. Therefore, efforts continue in the area of ATCO training, both in initial training (ab initio) and in operational training in ATC units, with a view to sustainably reducing the gap in the number of ATCOs. Specifically, NAV Portugal’s training center continues to train 24 new trainees every year for initial training, the maximum annual capacity. Specifically, at the Lisbon ACC, 7 OJT ACS and 5 OJT APS operational trainings took place, with another 6 ACS and 5 APS operational trainings having been completed in 2024, meaning a total of 23 new ATCOs at the Lisbon ACC by 2024. On the other hand, the extension of the operational age limit from 58 to 60, is also a measure that will promote an increase in the availability of human resources (ATCO).

With regard to the second point, there are two lines of work being pursued:
▪ One which involves to vertically divide the West and Centro sectors and making them more flexible, which consists of creating new volumes of airspace with increased efficiency. This issue is already being addressed by NAV Portugal together with the NM. Once validated, these new airspaces volumes will make it possible to choose a more efficient and less penalising sectorisation.
▪ NAV Portugal is developing an airspace restructuring study with the aim of increasing total airspace capacity in the Lisbon FIR and thus mitigating some of the situations described above regarding the West sector and other sectors. This study is being liaised with the Network Manager with a view to being analyzed, simulated and validated.

En route Capacity Incentive Scheme

NAV Portugal (Continental): Portugal uses an incentive scheme based only on delays attributed to C,R,S,T,M & P delay codes. The CRSTMP target was set at 0.12 minutes per flight and the actual performance is reported as 0.39 minutes per flight (CRSTMP only). This results in a reported penalty of €669 201
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

Focus on ATCOs in operations

It should be borne in mind that 10 new ATCOs entered service in Q1 2025 in the ACC ( 6 ACS e 4 APS), making a total of 26 new ATCOs. This planning gap is mainly the result of qualification times (on average 8 to 9 months), but due to various circumstances the respective qualifications may take place in the first few weeks of the year after.

Terminal performance

Arrival ATFM delay (KPI#2)

Focus on arrival ATFM delay

The scope of RP3 monitoring for Portugal comprises 10 airports in 2020, However, in accordance with IR (EU) 2019/317 and the traffic figures, only two of these airports (Lisbon (LPPT) and Porto (LPPR)) must be monitored for pre-departure delays. The Airport Operator Data Flow, necessary for the monitoring of these pre-departure delays, is correctly established where required and the monitoring of all capacity indicators can be performed. Traffic at these 10 airports in 2024, after an increase of 2% versus 2023, was 9% higher than in 2019.

Average arrival ATFM delay in 2024 was 2.70 min/arr, compared to 2.59 min/arr in 2023. The national target was not met. Average ATFM slot adherence for the Portuguese airports was 97.1% in 2024.

The national average arrival ATFM delay at Portuguese airports in 2024 was 2.70 min/arr, again higher than the previous year. The deterioration this time is driven by the increase of delays at Porto (LPPR: 2023: 0.88 min/arr; 2024: 3.02 min/arr) resulting in the 4th highest arrival ATFM delays in the SES area.

Lisbon, regardless of a reduction of the delays in 2024 compared to 2023 (LPPT; 2019: 4.13 min/arr; 2020: 1.72 min/arr; 2021: 0.28 min/arr; 2023: 4.88 min/arr; 2024: 4.2 min/arr) showed the highest arrival ATFM delay across the SES monitored airports. 53% of the arrival Portuguese delays were attributed to Weather, followed by 30% due to Aerodrome Capacity issues.

According to the Portuguese monitoring report: Significant increases in weather-related delays at Porto Airport (LPPR) led to a substantial rise in overall delays from 2023 to 2024. Weather-related delays surged by 6.5 times, from 18,091 minutes in 2023 to 116,801 minutes in 2024. Had these delays remained at 2023 levels, the average delay per flight at LPPR in 2024 would have been 1.18 minutes, well below the PP target of 1.70 minutes. NSA Recommendations: Cooperate with the Airport operator (APO), in order to look for solutions that could contribute to reduce the current level of delays.

Portugal’s performance plan sets a national target on arrival ATFM delay for 2024 of 2 min/arr. This target, with an actual performance of 2.70 min/arr, was not met. The incentive scheme uses modulated pivot values limited to CRSTMP delay causes. According to the Portuguese monitoring report, this pivot value for CRSTMP is 0.34 min/arr in 2024 and based on the attribution of the regulation reason, the actual CRSTMP value for 2023 was 0.476 min/arr. The NSA calculates a penalty of € 126 572.

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
Cascais NA NA 0.36 3.48 0.92 82.6% 88.9% 94.6% 97.5% 97.9% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Faro 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.06 95.8% 94.3% 95.3% 96.1% 96.6% 0.09 0.58 0.57 0.50 0.44 8.2 8.5 19.6 19.4 16.5
Horta NA NA NA NA NA 93.8% 90.9% 96.1% 97.3% 97.2% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Lisbon 1.72 0.28 3.96 4.88 4.20 96.5% 98.8% 98.7% 98.8% 98.1% 2.14 1.22 3.22 5.66 4.59 12.0 11.0 25.2 26.4 23.4
Madeira NA 0.03 0.11 0.10 0.14 93.2% 93.7% 92.9% 97.4% 97.8% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Montijo NA NA NA NA NA 0.0% 50.0% 37.5% 61.1% 16.7% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Ponta Delgada NA NA NA 0.00 NA 98.2% 97.6% 97.1% 95.0% 92.2% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Porto 0.77 2.14 1.89 0.88 3.02 93.4% 93.5% 94.1% 95.6% 96.2% 0.26 0.25 0.44 0.44 0.69 9.2 10.7 18.4 17.8 20.1
Porto Santo NA NA NA NA NA 92.9% 97.4% 90.5% 96.7% 97.8% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Santa Maria NA NA NA NA NA 100.0% 100.0% 92.0% 86.7% 91.4% NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Focus on performance indicators at airport level

ATFM slot adherence

All Portuguese airports showed adherence around or above 90%. The national average was 97.1%. With regard to the 2.8% of flights that did not adhere, 2.2% was early and 0.7% was late.

ATC pre-departure delay

All Portuguese airports showed adherence around or above 90%. The national average was 97.1%. With regard to the 2.9% of flights that did not adhere, 2.2% was early and 0.7% was late.

The performance at Lisbon improved in 2024 although still exceeded the delays of 2019 (LPPT; 2019: 4.16 min/dep.; 2020: 2.13 min/dep.; 2021: 1.22 min/dep.; 2022: 3.22 min/dep.; 2023: 5.66 min/dep.; 2024: 4.59 min/dep.) Like in previous years this delay is the highest in the SES area.

All causes pre-departure delay

The total (all causes) delay in the actual off block time in 2024 decreased at Lisbon (LPPT: 2020: 12.02 min/dep.; 2021: 11.03 min/dep.; 2022: 25.21 min/dep.; 2023: 26.37 min/dep.; 2024: 23.35 min/dep.) and increased at Porto (LPPR: 2020: 9.15 min/dep.; 2021: 10.70 min/dep.; 2022: 18,40 min/dep.; 2023: 17.77 min/dep.; 2024: 20.13 min/dep.). Regardless the decrease, these average delays at Lisbon are the 3rd highest amongst the SES monitored airports.

 
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