Safety - SES RP3

PRB monitoring

▪ Nine ANSPs did not achieve the RP3 targets for the effectiveness of safety management. Four of them failed to meet the target in Safety Risk Management (level D), while the other four did not achieve the target in Safety Risk Management as well as in at least one additional Management Objective (level C). One ANSP failed to achieve the target only on one additional management objective.

▪ Contrary to previous years, the Union-wide rates of runway incursions and separation minima infringements increased in 2024, countering the downward trend seen over the first four years of RP3.

Effectiveness of Safety Management (EoSM) (KPI#1)

Number of ANSPs on Target

By the final year of RP3, 28 ANSPs had achieved the RP3 EoSM target maturity levels set for the period. Among them, ten ANSPs demonstrated improvement and successfully reached the target levels in 2024. Eight ANSPs remain below their planned performance and did not achieve the RP3 target maturity. All eight will need to continue their efforts in the area of Safety Risk Management to meet the required maturity level. Additionally, four of these ANSPs must improve in at least one other management objective beyond Safety Risk Management.

Moreover, in 2024 three ANSPs showed the minimum maturity level degrading and no longer achieved the target for at least one Management Objective (Avinor for Safety Culture, CYATS for Safety Risk Management and skeyes for Safety Assurance). For all three ANSPs, the NSA downgraded the EoSM scores based on the verification.

Actual versus planned

According to the performance plans, all 36 ANSPs had planned to reach theRP3targetsin2024. Specifically, 15 ANSPs aimed to meet the target in the Safety Risk Management area during the final year of RP3; but only nine succeeded in doing so. For the other Management Objectives, only minor improvements were observed, with just one additional ANSP reaching the target Level C. Four ANSPs (Avinor, CYATS, DSNA, and skeyes) remain below the target, recording level B in at least one other Management Objective.

ANSPs achieving the targets and Score

• 28 out of 36 ANSPs achieved the 2024 RP3 target level D for Safety Risk Management.
• 32 out of 36 ANSPs achieved the 2024 RP3 target level C for all other MOs (the four management objectives other than Safety Risk Management).
• 28 out of 36 ANSPs achieved the 2024 EoSM targets for RP3 in full.

Number of ANSPs per Management Objective

Eight ANSPs did not reach the target level D for the Safety Risk Management objective, two ANSPs did not reach the Safety Culture and Safety Promotion. One ANSP did not reach target for the Safety Policy and Objectives and Safety Assurance Management Objectives. Significant progress was observed in particular in Safety Risk Management, with 9 ANSPs improved from level C to D compared with 2023.

Interdependency

The management objective “Interdependencies, Resilient System Performance, Buffers and Trade‐offs” proved particularly critical during RP3. ANSPs faced complex operational and strategic challenges arising from shifts of the traffic flows caused by the Russia’s war of aggression and the geo‐political situation in the Middle East as well as from the multi‐facetted impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Additionally, the Safety KPI, EoSM, was made more challenging for RP3. The latter however, can be viewed as a normal progression. The coincidence of these circumstances intensified pressures to reallocate limited resources to other organisational priorities, exacerbated by reduced traffic volumes and revenue losses.

The growing (high) number of ANSPs not achieving the RP3 target poses the question if interdependencies have been properly managed. Strengthening interdependency management during such periods has been essential to safeguarding both safety and overall system resilience.

In 2024, two ANSPs — Austro Control and ANA Luxembourg — demonstrated notable progress on the Interdependency Management Objective, advancing from maturity level B in 2023 to level C. With these improvements, 23 ANSPs are now assessed at maturity level C, while 12 have achieved level D.

Safety occurrences

Rate of runway incursions (RIs) (PI#1)

Rate of RI per 100,000 airport movements
TOP 10 APTs in terms of movements
TOP 10 APTs in terms of number of RIs
TOP 10 APTs in terms of rate of RIs
# Airport name APT mvts. Number of RI Rate RI per 100,000 mvts. # Airport name APT mvts. Number of RI Rate RI per 100,000 mvts. # Airport name APT mvts. Number of RI Rate RI per 100,000 mvts.
1 Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle 561,642 4 0.71 1 Warsaw 182,862 12 6.56 1 Bydgoszcz 4,700 5 106.38
2 Amsterdam - Schiphol 491,911 0 0.00 2 Barcelona 348,050 8 2.30 2 Zielona Gora - Babimost 1,217 1 82.17
3 Madrid - Barajas 420,326 2 0.48 3 Poznan - Lawica 30,425 6 19.72 3 Lodz - Lublinek 5,113 2 39.12
4 Frankfurt 401,548 0 0.00 4 Oslo - Gardermoe 220,370 5 2.27 4 Liepaja 2,781 1 35.96
5 Barcelona 348,050 8 2.30 5 Bydgoszcz 4,700 5 106.38 5 Poznan - Lawica 30,425 6 19.72
6 Rome - Fiumicino 314,976 2 0.63 6 Stavanger 66,267 4 6.04 6 Warszawa - Modlin 17,365 3 17.28
7 Munich 304,561 0 0.00 7 Gdansk 51,369 4 7.79 7 Lorient-Lann Bihoué 18,933 3 15.85
8 Athinai-Eleftherios Venizelos 273,688 2 0.73 8 Alicante 118,579 4 3.37 8 Cork 23,470 3 12.78
9 Zürich 258,182 1 0.39 9 Ibiza 86,420 4 4.63 9 Albert-Bray 8,171 1 12.24
10 Nice-Côte d’Azur 247,749 2 0.81 10 Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle 561,642 4 0.71 10 Istres-Le Tubé 19,506 2 10.25

RI rate

In 2024, the rate of runway incursions increased from 3.5 to 3.8 occurrences per 100,000 movements, countering the downward trend that had been seen since 2021.

RI 2023-2024

In 2024, the rate of RIs of all types increased by 7%, while the rate of RIs with ANS contribution increased by 25%. The absolute number of RIs increased by 11%, while the number of RIs with ANS contribution increased by 32%. When considering only RIs with ANS contribution, the rate increased from 0.7 to 0.9 occurrences per 100,000 flight movements over the same period.

RI with Safety Impact by State

Comparing absolute numbers and rates of occurrences between Member States and between airports must be done with caution. The number of occurrences reported is greatly dependent on the reporting culture of the organisation, the classification of occurrences, use of automated systems, etc. A high rate of occurrences in one Member State or airport is therefore not necessarily equal to a worsening performance compared with Member States or airports with lower rates.

With this in mind, the highest rate of RIs with safety impact was seen in Spain (11.9), followed by Estonia (11.5) and Sweden (10.5). As was the case in 2023, and in 2024, seven Member States were above the Union‐wide rate.

RI with Safety Impact by Airport

Out of 153 airports included in the performance plans, 47 airports reported RIs with ANS contribution.

Based on the data analysis, the five airports with the highest absolute numbers of runway incursion (RI) occurrences are led by EPWA (Warsaw Chopin, Poland) with 12 incidents, followed by LEBL (Barcelona, Spain) with 8, ENGM (Oslo Gardermoen, Norway) with 5, and both EPPO (Poznań, Poland) and LEIB (Ibiza, Spain) reporting 4 incursions each. These are largely major or medium‐traffic airports, where the volume of aircraft movements may contribute to higher absolute incident numbers. On the other hand, when analysing by RI rate (incidents per flight movement)—a measure of relative risk—smaller airports dominate. EPBY (Bydgoszcz, Poland) has the highest RI rate at 0.00106, followed by EPZG (Zielona Gora, Poland) with 0.00082, EPLL (Łódź, Poland) at 0.00039, EVLA (Liepāja, Latvia) with 0.00036, and LFRH (Lorient, France) at 0.00016. These airports handle significantly fewer flights, so even a single incursion dramatically increases the relative risk, thereby flagging them as safety hotspots despite lower traffic volumes. Notably, Poland appears in both categories, indicating a broader concern across multiple airports in the country.

Rate of separation minima infringements (SMIs) (PI#2)

Rate of SMI with ANS contribution per 100,000 flight hours
# State
Flight hours
Number of SMIs
Rate of SMI per 100,000 flight hours
% variation in rate of SMIs
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
1 Austria 155,355 202,666 317,434 359,408 377,098 7 9 14 4 11 4.5 4.4 4.4 1.1 2.9 NA -2% -1% -75% +163%
2 Belgium 55,762 134,413 97,089 100,450 100,314 1 5 6 13 18 1.8 3.7 6.2 12.9 17.9 NA +108% +66% +109% +39%
3 Bulgaria 127,863 174,114 290,422 342,298 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 NaN NA -100% 0% 0% 0%
4 Croatia 106,693 155,957 249,018 281,231 321,926 0 0 3 5 7 0.0 0.0 1.2 1.8 2.2 NA 0% 0% +48% +22%
5 Cyprus 78,614 116,453 167,670 191,955 181,263 0 3 6 5 8 0.0 2.6 3.6 2.6 4.4 NA 0% +39% -27% +70%
6 Czech Republic 113,261 135,047 178,983 194,893 225,125 7 11 8 6 6 6.2 8.2 4.5 3.1 2.7 NA +32% -45% -31% -13%
7 Denmark 98,936 99,279 183,043 200,904 206,447 0 2 0 2 6 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 2.9 NA 0% -100% 0% +191%
8 Estonia 33,558 37,464 48,360 50,258 61,600 4 5 3 5 3 11.9 13.3 6.2 9.9 4.9 NA +12% -54% +60% -51%
9 Finland 57,321 62,275 88,850 97,259 106,093 0 3 8 2 2 0.0 4.8 9.0 2.1 1.9 NA 0% +87% -77% -8%
10 France 1,051,941 1,415,222 2,178,853 2,368,932 2,493,094 133 272 304 226 360 12.6 19.2 13.9 9.5 14.4 NA +52% -27% -32% +51%
11 Germany 700,899 952,606 1,263,985 1,329,631 1,378,836 6 8 22 12 0 0.9 0.8 1.7 0.9 0.0 NA -2% +107% -48% -100%
12 Greece 276,276 418,381 650,415 738,472 773,456 24 31 42 51 70 8.7 7.4 6.5 6.9 9.1 NA -15% -13% +7% +31%
13 Hungary 116,008 149,648 259,939 313,567 368,164 2 7 6 6 7 1.7 4.7 2.3 1.9 1.9 NA +172% -51% -17% -1%
14 Ireland 131,294 105,105 288,261 331,211 343,533 2 7 8 13 8 1.5 6.7 2.8 3.9 2.3 NA +338% -58% +41% -41%
15 Italy 494,359 747,998 1,141,849 1,242,479 1,413,584 26 33 81 78 98 5.3 4.4 7.1 6.3 6.9 NA -16% +61% -11% +10%
16 Latvia 39,170 46,440 52,501 53,203 66,055 1 0 1 1 2 2.5 0.0 1.9 1.9 3.0 NA -100% 0% -1% +61%
17 Lithuania 36,493 47,794 47,286 48,220 52,207 1 0 2 2 2 2.7 0.0 4.2 4.2 3.8 NA -100% 0% -2% -8%
18 Luxembourg 5,067 11,425 17,665 11,608 11,410 0 3 4 3 5 0.0 26.3 22.6 25.8 43.8 NA 0% -14% +14% +70%
19 MUAC 289,985 311,843 545,651 605,633 634,951 5 0 8 17 14 1.7 0.0 1.5 2.8 2.2 NA -100% 0% +91% -22%
20 Malta 40,016 44,905 62,700 84,404 137,544 0 1 0 1 4 0.0 2.2 0.0 1.2 2.9 NA 0% -100% 0% +147%
21 Netherlands 88,456 101,649 155,388 169,414 170,879 31 47 33 37 36 35.0 46.2 21.2 21.8 21.1 NA +32% -54% +3% -4%
22 Norway 235,547 257,160 646,054 441,775 553,483 27 14 84 14 49 11.5 5.4 13.0 3.2 8.8 NA -53% +139% -76% +179%
23 Poland 221,029 278,330 361,376 386,507 415,612 8 15 39 34 61 3.6 5.4 10.8 8.8 14.7 NA +49% +100% -18% +67%
24 Portugal 175,009 215,958 406,816 854,121 924,446 10 13 30 22 14 5.7 6.0 7.4 2.6 1.5 NA +5% +22% -65% -41%
25 Romania 171,847 247,561 384,582 455,861 481,952 3 4 12 4 5 1.8 1.6 3.1 0.9 1.0 NA -7% +93% -72% +18%
26 Slovakia 41,055 54,376 86,171 100,173 112,204 0 2 0 1 3 0.0 3.7 0.0 1.0 2.7 NA 0% -100% 0% +167%
27 Slovenia 28,029 40,145 61,705 67,568 71,604 0 2 4 3 0 0.0 5.0 6.5 4.4 0.0 NA 0% +30% -31% -100%
28 Spain 741,278 954,783 1,632,981 1,820,236 1,959,781 25 59 89 127 168 3.4 6.2 5.4 7.0 8.6 NA +83% -12% +28% +23%
29 Sweden 199,288 218,597 333,262 352,610 358,344 2 19 31 16 5 1.0 8.7 9.3 4.5 1.4 NA +769% +7% -51% -69%
30 Switzerland 150,242 137,471 318,606 325,987 261,650 0 2 5 3 10 0.0 1.4 1.6 0.9 3.8 NA 0% +8% -41% +315%

SMI

As for RIs, comparing absolute numbers and rates of occurrences between Member States and ANSPs for SMIs must be done with caution. The number of occurrences reported is much dependent on the reporting culture of the organisation, the classification on occurrences, use of automated systems, etc. A high rate of occurrences in one Member State or ANSP is therefore not necessarily equal to a worse performance compared with Member States or ANSPs with lower rates.

A significant rise was observed in SMIs, with the absolute number of occurrences increasing from 1,072 in 2023 to 1,468 in 2024—an increase of 36%. The rate has increased from 7.7 per 100.000 flight hours in 2023 to 9.7 in 2024, countering the downwards trend of the rate seen since 2021. The higher rate is largely attributable to an increase of occurrences in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Norway and Poland. It should be noted that in 2024, Spain reported occurrences based on occurrence class A, B and C, whereas in previous years the RCS data classification was used.

SMI 2023-2025

In 2024, the rate of SMIs of all types increased by 24% from 7.8 to 9.7 occurrences per 100,000 flight hours, the highest rate seen during RP3. The rate of SMIs with ANS contribution increased by 31% from 5.1 to 6.7 occurrences per 100,000 flight hours. The absolute number of SMIs increased by 36%, while the number of SMIs with ANS contribution increased by 35%. At the Member State level, the management of risks associated with SMIs of all types showed a decline in 2024.

SMI by State

The five highest rates, amongst the listed air navigation service providers, show a significant variation between countries. Luxembourg stands out with the highest rate of 52.59, far exceeding others, which could explained by a small number of flight hours making the rate is more susceptible to variations caused by the number of occurrences. Spain follows with a rate of 29.13 however, Spain changed the SMI occurrences classification in 2024, which may result in a higher number of the occurrences being reported. France’s DSNA ranks third with a rate of 17.15. Poland takes fourth place with a rate of 14.08, reflecting moderate traffic levels compared to Spain and France. Norway completes the top five with a rate of 11.74, balancing a relatively high rate with mid‐range traffic volume. All four Member States saw an increase in the rate compared to 2023, in some cases an increase of more than 100%.

The rate excludes the Netherlands, which did not report any SMIs at a state level in 2024 (against the 65 occurrences reported in 2023). 26 ANSPs reported SMIs with an ANS contribution.

The highest number of SMIs with ANS contribution occurred in DSNA´s airspace (360) but, the high number of controlled flight hours resulted in a lower rate (13.9), despite being well above the Union average. The rate increased by approximately 50 % compared with 2023. DSNA should continue to assess occurrences and put in place appropriate mitigations according to their SMS, as necessary.

Similarly to the previous year, the highest rate of SMIs was in the ANA LUX airspace (43.8 SMIs per 100,000 flight hours), but with a very low absolute number of occurrences (5 SMIs). The rate increased compared to 2023.

A number of other ANSPs saw an increasing number of occurrences, showing increasing rates. The ANSPs should carefully monitor SMIs during the coming year, looking into the reasons contributing to this rate and take appropriate mitigating actions, as necessary.

Quality of occurences reporting

Occurrences reporting quality

For the calculation of the indicators related to SMIs and RIs, RP3 safety supporting material requires that occurrences data reported in the ECR under Commission Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 be used. ANSPs and NSAs should ensure that the information provided to the ECR contains the information needed to compute the performance indicators for monitoring SMIs and RIs. It was designed that EASA would extract the information needed to calculate the SPIs, which are then sent to Member States for verification and elaboration in their PMRs.

However, during every RP3 reporting year, EASA has not been able to extract data from the ECR containing all needed information to compute the SPIs. This is because of the overall poor quality of the data uploaded to the ECR: A significant part of occurrences extracted from ECR did not contain the information needed to compute the performance indicators for monitoring SPIs (Runway Incursions and Separation Minima Infringements), in particular, occurrence risk assessment and ANS contribution (“ATM involvement” in the occurrence Taxonomy). For the calculation of the indicators related to SMIs and RIs (SPI1a, SPI1b, SPI1c, and SPI1d), the occurrences that should be used in the computation of the different rates are only those that have a “safety impact”. Whether an occurrence has a safety impact or not should be determined by NSAs using the common European Risk Classification Scheme (ERCS), and by ANSPs through the severity classification using the Risk Analysis Tool (RAT) or similar appropriate tool. This information was not consistently found encoded in the ECR’s occurrences.

While there has been some improvement, it is not yet such that the values may be calculated using ECR data as planned. Member States are mandated by regulation to apply the European Risk Classification Scheme (ERCS) when assessing occurrences. It appears from the ECR occurrence data and monitoring reports received that there is a lack of/ incorrect/ inconsistent application of the ERCS across Member States. It is likely that some have not applied the ERCS and RAT resulting in greater subjectivity in ANSP and NSA interpretations as to what constitutes an occurrence with a safety impact. Nevertheless, this does not invalidate the analysis but, it should be taken into consideration when interpreting the data. As the same indicators will be applied during RP4, Member States should ensure that both the RAT severity and the ERCS risk score are encoded for each occurrence to allow EASA to compute independently the SPIs. Otherwise, they will have to extract and submit the occurrences used in the computation of the SPIs themselves.