Annual Monitoring Report RP3 - Denmark
Contextual information
National performance plan adopted following Commission Decision (EU) 2022/770 of 13 April 2022
List of ACCs 1
Copenhagen ACC
No of airports in the scope of the performance plan
≥80’K 1
<80’K 0
Share of Union-wide traffic (TSUs) RP3 1.2%
Share of Union-wide en route costs RP3 1.6%
Share en route / terminal costs RP3 80% / 20%
En route charging zone(s)
Denmark
Terminal charging zone(s)
Denmark
Main ANSP
• NAVIAIR
Other ANSPs
–
MET Providers
• DMI
Traffic (En route traffic zone)
▪ Actual IFR movements for Denmark fell on average by -2.4% per year between 2019 and 2024.
▪ In the RP3 revised performance plan IFR movements were forecasted to remain stable (-0.2% per year). Planned traffic was in line with the STATFOR October 2021 base forecast.
▪ Over RP3, IFR movements for Denmark remained below the 2019 pre-pandemic level.
▪ Actual en route service units for Denmark fell on average by -2.5% per year between 2019 and 2024.
▪ In the RP3 revised performance plan service units were forecasted to remain stable (+0.0%per year). Planned traffic was in line with the STATFOR October 2021 base forecast.
▪ A total of 5,814K actual service units were recorded over RP3, -8.9% below the aggregated planned value (6,384K).
Safety (Main ANSP)
▪ NAVIAIR achieved four out of five Management Objectives targets, but lacked sufficient improvement in safety risk management causing NAVIAIR to miss the RP3 targets in 2024.
▪ Denmark did not record any runway incursions (RIs) in 2024 and has seen a very low rate since 2022. The rate of separation minima infringements (SMIs) increased but remained below the Union-wide average.
▪ Denmark should ensure that the ANSP implements, in a timely and cost-efficient manner, the necessary additional measures such as enhanced processes, improved allocation of resources, targeted training, and systematic reviews. Without such actions, the achievement of the RP4 targets could be jeopardised.
Environment (Member State)
▪ Environmental performance in Denmark deteriorated during RP3. KEA increased from 1.12% in 2020 to 1.24% in 2024.
▪ Denmark achieved the KEA target in two years of RP3, in 2020 and 2021, during the low-traffic Covid-19 period.
▪ The NSA noted that the main factor contributed to KEA deteriorating during the period was the staffing challenges.
▪ KEP improved from 2.73% to 2.35% and SCR improved from 2.26% to 2.13% during RP3.
▪ The share of CDO flights remained stable during RP3.
▪ Additional taxi out time deteriorated from 1.40 to 2.53 min/flight and additional time in terminal airspace deteriorated from 0.90 to 0.96 min/flight during RP3.
Capacity (Member State)
▪ Denmark accumulated a total of 85,226 en-route ATFM delay minutes within the RP3 timeframe, reaching the highest level of total delay minutes generated in 2023. During RP3, Denmark accounted for 0.15% of the total delays at Union level. Compared to RP2, total delay minutes increased by 1067%.
▪ Denmark met its en-route ATFM delay targets in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024, and failed to meet them in 2023.
▪ In RP3, the main drivers of en-route ATFM delays in Denmark were ATC staffing (54%) and ATC capacity (31%).
▪ Over RP3, 31% of delayed flights in Denmark experienced delays longer than 15 minutes, representing a decrease of 7 percentage points compared to RP2.
▪ In Denmark, the total number of ATCOs in OPS over the RP3 period increased by 12 FTEs, representing a 11% decrease compared to 2019. Denmark exceeded the planned ATCO numbers by 2 FTEs by the end of RP3.
▪ Denmark accumulated a total of 414,026 arrival ATFM delay minutes within the RP3 timeframe, reaching the highest level of total delay minutes generated in 2023. Compared to RP2, total terminal delay minutes increased by 1656%.
▪ In RP3, the leading drivers of arrival ATFM delays in Denmark were ATC Staffing and ATC Capacity, representing 62% and 17% of total delay minutes.
Cost-efficiency (En route/Terminal charging zone(s))
▪ Over RP3, the en route actual unit cost of Denmark was lower than the determined unit cost for two years (the combined year 2020-2021 and 2022), and higher in 2023 and 2024. The second half of the reference period has been marked by reduced traffic caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, resulting in higher actual unit costs. Total actual SUs were -8.9% lower than determined over the period.
▪ En route actual total cost for RP3 (483M€2017) were higher than determined (by +13M€2017, or +2.8%). The difference in total costs is mainly driven by higher staff costs (+14M€2017, or +5.8%) recorded by NAVIAIR, partially compensated by lower other operating costs and depreciation costs. The NSA states that the increase in staff costs is mainly attributable to a high level of extra shifts, as well as new collective agreements. The NSA did however not provide sufficient information on the reason for these additional shifts, which contrasts with the significant reduction in service units compared to the plan.
▪ The total RP3 en route regulatory result for NAVIAIR amounted to -4.0M€, while the ex-ante regulatory result amounted to +33M€. The difference is mainly attributable to the application of the cost sharing mechanism, due to a negative difference between determined and actual costs to be borne by the ANSP, as well as to the application of the traffic risk sharing mechanism.
▪ Over RP3, the terminal actual unit cost of Denmark was higher than determined in three out of four years (2022, 2023 and 2024), mainly due to lower traffic levels than expected.
▪ Terminal actual total costs for RP3 (118M€2017) were in line with determined costs.
▪ The total RP3 terminal regulatory result for NAVIAIR amounted to 4.8M€, or 3.9% of total revenues. This is -3.8M€ lower than the ex-ante regulatory result (8.6M€ or 7.1% of the terminal revenues).