Annual Monitoring Report 2024 - Spain
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/776 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 5
Barcelona ACC
Madrid ACC
Palma ACC
Sevilla ACC
Canarias ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 6
<80’K 1
Exchange rate (1 EUR=)
2017: 1 EUR
2024: 1 EUR
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) 2024 10.2%
Share of Union-wide en route costs 2024 12.1%
Share en route / terminal costs 2024 89% / 11%
En route charging zone(s)
Spain Continental
Spain Canarias
Terminal charging zone(s)
Spain
Main ANSP
• ENAIRE
Other ANSPs
• FERRONATS
• ANSP EA
MET Providers
• AEMET
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Spain recorded 2,632K actual IFR movements in 2024, +7.7% compared to 2023 (2,194K).
▪ Actual 2024 IFR movements were +10.4% above the plan (2,139K).
▪Actual 2024 IFR movements are +9.8% above the actual 2019 level (2,152K).
▪ Spain recorded 15,527K actual service units in 2024, +7.5% compared to 2023 (14,442K).
▪ Actual 2024 service units were +9.4% above the plan (14,197).
▪ Actual 2024 service units are +15.3% above the actual 2019 level (13,439K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ ENAIRE exceeded the RP3 EoSM targets during the first year of RP3, achieving maturity level D in all five Management Objectives, and has remained on this high level since then. ENAIRE implemented a continuous monitoring process to ensure maintaining high safety performance.
▪ SKYWAY achieved the RP3 EoSM targets in 2023 with maturity level D on three of five Management Objectives, including Safety Risk Management. SKYWAY remained above target in 2024.
▪ Spain recorded an increase in the rate of separation minima infringements compared with 2023. The rate of runway incursions increased slightly between 2023 and 2024.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Spain achieved a KEA performance of 3.30% compared to its target of 3.08% and did not contribute positively towards achieving the Union-wide target.
▪ The NSA states that main factors for not meeting the KEA target were increased traffic demand leading to congestion in key airspace sectors, sector staffing and adverse weather conditions.
▪ Both KEP and SCR remained stable in comparison to 2023.
▪ The share of CDO flights increased from 40.67% to 41.68% in 2024.
▪ Additional taxi out time increased from 2.24 to 2.40 min/flight, while additional time in terminal airspace increased from 1.11 to 1.32 min/flight in 2024 compared to 2023.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Spain registered 1.02 minutes of average en route ATFM delay per flight during 2024, which remained 1.02 after the post-ops adjustment process, thus not achieving the local target value of 0.19. Delays in Spain increased by 0.55 minutes per flight year-on-year.
▪ Most of the delays accumulated between June and November, mostly driven by ATC Capacity issues.
▪The share of delayed flights with delays longer than 15 minutes in Spain increased by 3 percentage points compared to 2023 and was higher than 2019 values.
▪ The average number of IFR movements was 10% above 2019 levels in Spain in 2024.
▪ The number of ATCOs in OPS is 353, being over the 2024 plan in Barcelona by 15 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 430, being over the 2024 plan in Madrid by 32 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 134, being over the 2024 plan in Palma by 13 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 161, being over the 2024 plan in Sevilla by 28 FTEs. The number of ATCOs in OPS is 176, being over the 2024 plan in Canarias by 14 FTEs
▪ The yearly total of sector opening hours in Sevilla ACC was 43,649, showing a 8.9% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 6.7% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Barcelona ACC was 65,819, showing a 6.6% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 9.0% above 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Madrid ACC was 96,591, showing a 0.8% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 6.4% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Palma ACC was 35,603, showing a 2.4% decrease compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 8.1% below 2019 levels. The yearly total of sector opening hours in Canarias ACC was 29,562, showing a 3.3% increase compared to 2023. Sector opening hours are 5.6% above 2019 levels.
▪ Madrid ACC registered 13.15 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 15.2% above 2019 levels. Barcelona ACC registered 16.09 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 3.4% above 2019 levels. Palma ACC registered 10.32 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 23.6% above 2019 levels. Sevilla ACC registered 12.26 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 17.3% above 2019 levels. Canarias ACC registered 13.99 IFR movements per one sector opening hour in 2024, being 9.5% above 2019 levels
▪ There was a significant deterioration in capacity performance in 2024 in Spain compared to 2023, mostly due to ATC capacity problems. Spain should ensure that additional capacity improvement measures are defined and implemented in order to prevent further deterioration of the performance and to close the capacity gap. Actual 2025 figures up to August indicate that issues are still present.
▪ Spain registered an average airport arrival ATFM delay of 1.10 minutes per flight in 2024, thus not achieving the local target of 0.57 minutes.
▪ Compared to 2023, average arrival ATFM delays in Spain were 56% higher in 2024, while the number of IFR arrivals increased by 8%.
▪ The main drivers of delays were weather, accounting for 65% of delays, and other, non-ATC related causes, responsible for 21%.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Spain Continental was 47.95€2017, -0.5% lower than the determined unit cost (48.19€2017). The en route 2024 actual unit cost of Spain Canarias was 46.38€2017, -14% lower than the determined unit cost (53.93€2017). The terminal 2024 actual unit cost was 93.28 €2017, -12% lower than the determined unit cost (106.28€2017).
▪ The en route 2024 actual service units of Spain Continental (13.4M) were +7.9% higher than the determined service units (12.4M). The en route 2024 actual service units of Spain Canarias (2.1M) were +20% higher than the determined service units (1.8M).
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs of Spain Continental were +44M€2017 (+7.3%) higher than determined. The gap is mainly driven by higher than expected staff costs for ENAIRE (+32M€2017, or + 9.1%). The NSA explains that this is “mainly due to obligations derived by national laws on Public Employees salary and on Social Security Scheme National Law”, as well as the recruitment of new ATCOs and a court ruling mandating ENAIRE to pay back salaries related to promotions.
▪ The en route 2024 actual total costs of Spain Canarias were +3.0M€2017, (+3.2%) higher than determined. As for the Continental charging zone, the differences mainly resulting from ENAIRE staff costs (+3.2M€2017, or +6.2%).
▪ ENAIRE costs of investments were 149M€2017 in 2024 for both en route and terminal charging zones, +8.5% higher than determined (137M €2017). This is mainly due to higher cost of capital (+10M€, or + 31%), which the NSA attributed to a higher WACC rate than planned, and an increase in the total asset base.
▪ The en route Spain Continental actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 57.26€ (+12% higher than the 2024 DUC), while the en route Spain Canarias actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 48.03€ (-16% lower than the 2024 DUC). The terminal actual unit cost incurred by users in 2024 was 30.61€ (-73% lower than the 2024 DUC). The difference between the AUCU and the DUC for the en route charging zones is primarily attributed to the cross-financing adjustment of 20M€ from Spain Canarias to Spain Continental. For the terminal charging zone the difference between the AUCU and DUC is mainly due to adjustment of other revenues.