Cost-efficiency - Spain

Download Report

En route charging zone - Spain Canarias

Unit cost (KPI#1)

Actual and determined data
Total costs - nominal (M€) 2020-2021 2022 2023 2024
Actual costs 186 113 112 115
Determined costs 188 98 100 102
Difference costs -2 15 13 13
Inflation assumptions 2020-2021 2022 2023 2024
Determined inflation rate NA 1.3% 1.5% 1.6%
Determined inflation index NA 104.9 106.5 108.2
Actual inflation rate NA 8.3% 3.4% 2.9%
Actual inflation index NA 114.4 118.2 121.7
Difference inflation index (p.p.) NA +9.5 +11.8 +13.5

AUC vs. DUC

In 2024, the en route AUC was -14.0% (or -7.55 €2017) lower than the planned DUC. This results from the combination of significantly higher than planned TSUs (+20.0%) and higher than planned en route costs in real terms (+3.2%, or +3.0 M€2017). It should be noted that the actual inflation index in 2024 was +13.5 p.p. higher than planned.

En route service units

The difference between the 2024 actual and planned TSUs (+20.0%) falls outside the +10% threshold foreseen in the traffic risk sharing mechanism. The resulting gain of additional en route revenues is therefore shared between the ANSP and the airspace users (see the main ANSP gain in Box 11).

En route costs by entity

The 2024 actual real en route costs are +3.2% (+3.0 M€2017) higher than planned. This is the result of higher than planned costs for the main ANSP, ENAIRE (+3.5%, or +2.5 M€2017), the NSA/EUROCONTROL (+18.5%, or +1.2 M€2017) and the MET service provider (+3.5%, or +0.2 M€2017) and lower than planned costs for the other ANSP (EA, -7.6%, or -0.9 M€2017).

En route costs for the main ANSP at charging zone level

Higher than planned en route costs in real terms for ENAIRE in 2024 (+3.5%, or +2.5 M€2017) result from:
- Significantly higher than planned staff costs (+6.2%), mainly due to “obligations derived by national laws on Public Employees salary and on Social Security Scheme National Law, (…) ”Special Active Reserve” introduced by a national Law 26/2022 of 19 December (…) Judgment 1225/2024 of 30 October 2024, from the Supreme Court (…), in which ENAIRE (has) to pay 12.1 M€ outstanding salaries to air traffic controllers (….) for year 2024”,
- Significantly lower other operating costs (-9.3%) in real terms due to the impact of the inflation index (+13.5 p.p.) since, in nominal terms, operating costs were above the plan (+2.0%),
- Significantly lower than planned depreciation costs (-5.6%),
- Significantly higher cost of capital (+10.0%), mainly due to higher than planned average interest rate on debts (2.9% vs 0.9% planned).

RP3 summary

When considering the whole of RP3 (2020-2024) for Spain Canarias en route charging zone, actual TSUs are +17.8% higher than planned, while actual costs in real terms are +2.3% higher than the determined costs (some +10.8 M€2017). As a result, the weighted average actual unit cost over RP3 (62.19 €2017) is -13.2% lower than planned in the PP (71.62 €2017).

Actual unit cost incurred by the users (AUCU) (PI#1)

AUCU components (€/SU) – 2024
Components of the AUCU in 2024 €/SU
DUC 57.20
Inflation adjustment 4.50
Cost exempt from cost-sharing 4.46
Traffic risk sharing adjustment -5.56
Traffic adj. (costs not TRS) -2.39
Finantial incentives -0.18
Modulation of charges 0.00
Cross-financing -9.62
Other revenues -0.39
Application of lower unit rate 0.00
Total adjustments -9.18
AUCU 48.03
AUCU vs. DUC -16.0%
Cost exempt from cost sharing by item - 2024 €'000 €/SU
New and existing investments -83.5 -0.04
Competent authorities and qualified entities costs 170.1 0.08
Eurocontrol costs 1,050.0 0.49
Pension costs 0.0 0.00
Interest on loans 0.0 0.00
Changes in law 8,362.0 3.93
Total cost exempt from cost risk sharing 9,498.7 4.46

The actual en route unit cost incurred by airspace users (AUCU) in respect of activities performed in 2024 (48.03 €) is -16.0% lower than the nominal DUC (57.20 €). The difference between these two figures (-9.18 €/SU) is due to:
- the positive inflation adjustment resulting from higher than planned inflation (+4.50 €/SU);
- the impact of adjustments resulting from the costs exempted from cost sharing mechanism (+4.46 €/SU);
- the deduction of the traffic risk sharing adjustments (-5.56 €/SU);
- the deduction of the traffic adjustment (-2.39 €/SU) for the costs not subject to traffic risk sharing;
- the financial incentives (-0.18 €/SU);
- cross-financing between Spain Continental and Spain Canarias charging zones (-9.62 €/SU); and
- the deduction of other revenues (-0.39 €/SU).
The share of the regulatory result (see items 10 to 14) in the AUCU (before the deduction of other revenues) is 12.6%.

Regulatory result (RR)

ENAIRE net loss on activity in the Spain Canarias en route charging zone in the year 2024

ENAIRE reported a net gain of +8.0 M€, as a combination of a gain of +5.0 M€ arising from the cost sharing mechanism, with a gain of +3.3 M€ arising from the traffic risk sharing mechanism and a loss of -0.4 M€ relating to financial incentives.

ENAIRE overall regulatory result (RR) for the en route activity

Ex-post, the overall RR taking into account the net gain from the en route activity mentioned above (+8.0 M€) and the actual RoE (+3.0 M€) amounts to +11.0 M€ (11.6% of the en route revenues). The resulting ex-post rate of return on equity is 31.7%, which is higher than the 8.6% planned in the PP.

RP3 summary

When considering the whole of RP3 (2020-2024), ENAIRE generated a cumulative gain in respect of cost sharing of +14.5 M€, as actual total costs for RP3 were lower than planned. The traffic risk sharing mechanism generated a gain of +13.2 M€. Adding the loss of -0.8 M€ to be retained by the ATSP in respect of financial incentives and the actual RoE (+13.2 M€ over RP3) leads to an overall regulatory result of +40.2 M€, which corresponds to an average ex-post rate of return on equity of 22.6% (compared to 7.5% initially planned in the PP).