KOM (2013) 0130 - svar på MFU spm. 8 om, hvor mange minutter fly gennemsnitligt af forsinket i hhv. EU og Danmark

Udenrigsministeriet
Asiatisk Plads 2, 1448 København K Tlf.: +45 3392 0000 Fax: +45 32 54 05 33
E-mail: um@um.dk Web: UM.dk 1/1
Medlemmerne af Folketingets Europaudvalg Dato
28-05-2025
Bilag
2
Sag/ID Nr.
25/01477
Enhed
EUKOOR
SVAR PÅ UDVALGSSPØRGSMÅL
Til underretning for Folketingets Europaudvalg vedlægges Transportministeriet
reviderede besvarelse af spørgsmål 8 ad KOM (2013) 0130 af 15. maj 2025 vedrørende
forordning om flypassagerrettigheder.
Marie Bjerre
Offentligt
KOM (2013) 0130 - endeligt svar på spørgsmål 8
Europaudvalget 2013


Transportministeriets Logo
Transportministeren
Frederiksholms Kanal 27 F
1220 København K
Telefon 41 71 27 00
Europaudvalget
Folketinget
27. maj 2025
2025-968
Folketingets Europaudvalg har i brev af 15. maj 2025 stillet mig
følgende spørgsmål vedrørende KOM (2013) 0130 - Forslag til for-
ordning om kompensation og bistand til luftfartspassager vedboar-
ding afvisning og forsinkelser (Passagerrettighedsforordningen),
som jeg hermed skal besvare. Spørgsmålet er stillet efter ønske fra
Nick Zimmermann (DF).
Spørgsmål nr. 8:
EU-Kommissionen arbejder på en revision af forordningen om fly-
passagerrettigheder, hvor der er lagt op til flere forringelser af for-
brugerrettighederne. Ved behandling af forslaget i Europaudvalget
den 21. februar 2025 støttede ministeren en lang række af disse
forringelser. Ministeren bedes oplyse, hvor mange minutter forsin-
kede fly gennemsnitligt er forsinket i hhv. EU og Danmark.
Svar:
Transportministeriet og Trafikstyrelsen er ikke i besiddelse af op-
lysninger om, hvor mange minutter forsinkede fly i gennemsnit er
forsinkede i hhv. EU og Danmark.
Det kan i den forbindelse oplyses, at Eurocontrol, som er en paneu-
ropæisk organisation, der arbejder for at opnå sikker og gnidnings-
fri lufttrafik i hele Europa, frigiver rapporter med den gennemsnit-
lige forsinkelse samt forsinkelsesårsager.
Ifølge side 7-8 i Eurocontrol’s rapport ’Network Operations Report
2024’, var den gennemsnitlige forsinkelse pr. flyvning ved afgang i
2024 17,8 minutter. Rapporten er vedlagt nærværende besvarelse.
Med venlig hilsen
Thomas Danielsen
Offentligt
KOM (2013) 0130 - endeligt svar på spørgsmål 8
Europaudvalget 2013


NETWORK OPERATIONS
REPORT 2024
Final report
Edition: V1.0
Edition date: 12/05/2025
Classification: Green
Offentligt
KOM (2013) 0130 - endeligt svar på spørgsmål 8
Europaudvalget 2013
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DOCUMENT CONTROL
Document Title Network Operations Report 2024
Document Subtitle Main report
Edition Number 1.0
Edition Validity Date 12-05-2025
Classification Green
Status Draft
Author(s) NMD/ACD/PRF
Contact Person(s) Ged Boydell
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TABLE OF CONTENT
DOCUMENT CONTROL ...................................................................................................I
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................1
1.1 Key performance outcomes ............................................................................1
1.2 Main causes of delay ......................................................................................2
1.3 Network Manager measures and reinforced cooperation with operational stakeholders
3
1.4 Lessons learned..............................................................................................3
1.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................4
2 INTRODUCTION & SCOPE ...............................................................................5
3 NETWORK OVERVIEW.....................................................................................6
3.1 TRAFFIC .........................................................................................................6
3.2 ALL CAUSES DELAY........................................................................................7
3.3 NETWORK ON-TIME PERFORMANCE ..............................................................8
3.4 ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AIRPORTS ..............................................................9
3.5 NETWORK ATFM OPERATIONS.....................................................................10
En-route ATFM ......................................................................................................... 10
Airports ATFM.......................................................................................................... 12
Weather..................................................................................................................... 12
Regulated traffic volatility........................................................................................ 13
3.6 FLIGHT EFFICIENCY......................................................................................13
Horizontal flight efficiency ...................................................................................... 12
Vertical flight efficiency........................................................................................... 12
Scenarios.................................................................................................................. 12
4 TRAFFIC IN DETAIL.......................................................................................13
4.1 NETWORK CONTRIBUTORS ..........................................................................14
4.2 AIRPORT EVOLUTION ...................................................................................16
4.3 OUTSIDE EUROPE .........................................................................................16
4.4 AIRLINE INDUSTRY.......................................................................................18
5 EN-ROUTE ....................................................................................................20
5.1 ACC PERFORMANCE.....................................................................................20
Overview ................................................................................................................... 20
Major ATM changes................................................................................................. 21
ACC evolution........................................................................................................... 22
5.2 PLANNED EVENTS AND DISRUPTIONS..........................................................24
EN-ROUTE PLANNED EVENTS................................................................................ 24
EN-ROUTE DISRUPTIONS........................................................................................ 26
ACC ANALYSIS......................................................................................................... 28
6 AIRPORTS ....................................................................................................29
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6.1 Influences on punctuality ..............................................................................29
Punctuality 2023-2024............................................................................................. 29
Focus on peak-period .............................................................................................. 31
Focus on the first rotation (first wave departures)................................................ 32
TURNAROUND TIMES.............................................................................................. 32
AIRLINE SCHEDULE RESILIENCE............................................................................ 33
6.2 AIRPORT PERFORMANCE .............................................................................34
Global evolution ....................................................................................................... 34
Focus on peak-period 2024..................................................................................... 35
Delay cause at airport locations ............................................................................. 35
6.3 AIRPORT DISRUPTIONS................................................................................37
6.4 NM ACTIONS................................................................................................39
PRE-TACTICAL SUPPORT (AIRPORT BRIEFINGS)................................................. 39
TACTICAL SUPPORT (AIRPORT FUNCTION)......................................................... 39
OTHER SUPPORT ACTIVITIES ................................................................................ 39
7 FLIGHT EFFICIENCY......................................................................................40
7.1 AIRSPACE DESIGN........................................................................................41
7.2 AIRSPACES CHANGES VS FLIGHT PLANNING...............................................43
7.3 ACTUAL TRAJECTORY..................................................................................44
7.4 CONDITIONAL ROUTES (CDR).......................................................................45
7.5 FREE ROUTE AIRSPACE ................................................................................50
7.6 ROUTE AVAILABILITY DOCUMENT (RAD)......................................................51
7.7 FLIGHT EFFICIENCY PLAN ............................................................................53
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................57
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Monthly Network Traffic Evolution........................................................................ 6
Figure 2 Market segment 2024 traffic ................................................................................ 6
Figure 3 Non-Operated Scheduled traffic 2024 ................................................................... 7
Figure 4 Flow type traffic 2024 .......................................................................................... 7
Figure 5 average delay per flight comparison 2024 v 2023.................................................. 8
Figure 6 network punctuality 2024 ..................................................................................... 8
Figure 7 departure punctuality of top 20 airports in 2024 .................................................... 9
Figure 8 turnaround times 2023-2024 ............................................................................. 10
Figure 9 en-route ATFM delay per week day in summer 2024 ........................................... 10
Figure 10 ATFM delay reasons in 2024............................................................................. 11
Figure 11 Top 20 en-route reference location 2024........................................................... 11
Figure 12 Top 20 airport reference location 2024 ............................................................. 12
Figure 13 regulation volatility 2024.................................................................................. 13
Figure 14 NM area en-route fuel burn 2024 ...................................................................... 13
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Figure 15 Flight planning indicator................................................................................... 12
Figure 16 Actual distance flown indicator......................................................................... 12
Figure 17 non-adherence RFL indicator............................................................................ 12
Figure 18 : IFR Flights average per day in NM Area (all flights including overflights)........... 13
Figure 19 Main contributors to the flight growth (excluding overflights) in NM Area in 2024 (vs
2023)....................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 20 Top 50 airports per average daily departure traffic in 2024 (vs. 2023) ................ 16
Figure 21 Top six extra-NM partners: Average number of flights/day and flight growth vs. 2023
............................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 22 Left: Market segment’s share in 2024 Right: Market segment’s growth in 2024 (vs
2023)....................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 23 Jet fuel prices evolution ................................................................................... 19
Figure 24 Inflation and air ticket prices evolution in Europe............................................... 19
Figure 25 Share of en-route ATFM delays 2024 ................................................................ 20
Figure 26 En-route delays achieved vs guideline target..................................................... 21
Figure 27 Reasons of en-route ATFM delays 2024............................................................ 21
Figure 28 Network - monthly evolution of the arrival and departure punctuality in 2023 and
2024........................................................................................................................ 30
Figure 29 Network - monthly evolution of the average delays per flight in 2023 and 2024... 31
Figure 30 Network – summer average of the 4 causes of departure delay (ground delay,
reactionary, departure delays due to ATFM En-route and Arrival)................................ 31
Figure 31: Network - summer average departure delays of the first wave........................... 32
Figure 32 Network Turnaround Performance 2024 vs 2023............................................... 32
Figure 33 Block Time Overshoot (BTO) and Delay Difference Indicator - Flight (DDI-F) Network
January 2023 – December 2024................................................................................ 33
Figure 34. Airport departure(top) and arrival (bottom) punctuality in 2024 and 2023. Airports
are sorted depending on 2024 departure punctuality.................................................. 34
Figure 35. Airport departure(top) and arrival (bottom) punctuality in summers 2024 and 2023.
Airports are sorted depending on summer 2024 departure punctuality........................ 35
Figure 36. Airport average ground delay per flight in summers 2024 and 2023. Airports are
sorted depending on summer 2024 average ground delay .......................................... 36
Figure 37. Airport average departure delay due to ATFM regulation (En-route and Arrival) in
summers 2024 and 2023. Airports are sorted depending on summer 2024 average ground
delay. ...................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 38: KEA and KEP evolutions per month 2022-2024................................................. 41
Figure 39 : yearly evolution of the airspace design indicator (RTE-DES) ............................. 42
Figure 40: Potential yearly savings/ losses in nautical miles due to airspace design.......... 42
Figure 41: Yearly evolution of flight-planning indicator (KEP)............................................ 43
Figure 42 Yearly savings/ losses in nautical miles (NM) due to improved flight planning
efficiency................................................................................................................. 43
Figure 43: Yearly evolution of the actual trajectory indicator (KEA).................................... 44
Figure 44 Yearly savings in nautical miles (NM) due to improved flight efficiency .............. 44
Figure 45 ECAC map of published CDR1 and CDR1/3 for AIRAC 2412 (28 November 2024) 45
Figure 46 Evolution of CDR number 2020 - 2024............................................................... 46
Figure 47 Rate of CDR availability (RoCA) in 2024............................................................. 46
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Figure 48 RAI (%) 2024 per AIRAC cycle........................................................................... 46
Figure 49 RAU (%) 2024 per AIRAC cycle.......................................................................... 46
Figure 50 Five year RAI evolution..................................................................................... 47
Figure 51 Five year RAU evolution.................................................................................... 47
Figure 52 CDR availability vs. usage in 2023..................................................................... 47
Figure 53: Map of the RSAs from NM database (CACD) for AIRAC 2412............................. 48
Figure 54 Number of RSAs in CACD by AIRAC cycle for year 2024..................................... 48
Figure 55 Number of RSAs used in airspace reservations vs. total RSAs in CACD............... 48
Figure 56 Number of interested flights, flights planning via RSA (ARFL) and actual flights (AU)
............................................................................................................................... 49
Figure 57 ASM KPI for RSAs – RoAA, RAI, RAU................................................................. 49
Figure 58: ASM KPI for RSAs – ERSA............................................................................... 49
TABLE OF TABLES
Table 1 TOP 40 ACCs by ATFM delay in 2024................................................................... 23
Table 2 System Upgrade / Airspace related / Transition Projects....................................... 25
Table 3 Unplanned Events/Disruptions 2024..................................................................... 27
Table 4 shows the traffic growth, capacity /and delay for each ACC. Those ACCs that exceeded
their reference value are highlighted in “amber”......................................................... 29
Table 5 Network - annual averages of departure and arrival punctuality............................. 30
Table 6 Network - annual averages of departure and arrival delays [min per flight]............. 30
Table 7 Network - summer averages of departure and arrival delays [min per flight]........... 31
Table 8 Unplanned airport Events/Disruptions 2024.......................................................... 38
Table 7 Free Route Airspace Implementations.................................................................. 50
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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Network Operations Report 2024 provides a comprehensive overview of 2024
network performance, highlighting the key conclusions and the issues that the
EUROCONTROL Network Manager (NM) and the wider stakeholder community need
to address going forward.
Thanks to the significant efforts made by operational stakeholders – airspace users,
ANSPs, airports, military, ground handlers, States, and EUROCONTROL's Network
Manager – and considering the robust plan that had been agreed upon, there was an
increase in punctuality, stability, predictability, and capacity in the European aviation
network in the first part of the year. As a result of this joint work and cooperation, the
clear common objective of making 2024 a manageable year was on track. However,
Summer 2024’s operational complexities and the significant increase in traffic
proved to be very challenging.
The growth of European air traffic in 2024 was unprecedented and will continue
steadily throughout this decade. Traffic is rapidly growing and is expected to be
close, at the European ATM network level, to the volume of traffic reached during
Summer 2019. In many parts of the network, the traffic is already 20-30% (or even
higher) than the traffic in 2019. To this significant traffic increase, other complexities
are to be considered: the non-availability of Ukrainian airspace due to the war of
aggression in Ukraine, the significant increase in military requirements for more
intensive training, national and multinational military exercises, as well as the
requests for more airspace related to the introduction of 5th generation fighter
aircraft. In addition, weather evolutions are adding another layer of complexity in the
planning and management of European airspace.
1.1 Key performance outcomes
There were 10.7 million flights in the network in 2024, 4.9% more than 2023 (on
average 1,160 more daily flights). Traffic continued to recover from COVID-19
pandemic, although the network was still strongly impacted by the Russian invasion in
Ukraine and the conflict in Israel.
There were 5% more flights in summer 2024 than the same operational period in 2023.
Most ACCs were managing increases in traffic of more than 10% above 2023 levels,
notably in the south-east axis: Tirana (+23%), Zagreb (+15%), Ljubljana (+13%),
Makedonia (+13%), Athens (+13%) and Malta (+13%). The growth in traffic for Tbilisi
(+30%) and Baku FIRs (+40%) was partly due to a change in air operators routings
resulting from the situation in the Middle East.
During summer 2024, the south-east axis also had the highest ATFM delays of any axis
– 8.7 million minutes (+49.9%) - with 45% due to weather and almost half in three ATC
centres (Budapest, Karlsruhe and Zagreb.) The south-west axis had just over 1.3
million flights (+8.9%). It had 6.3 million minutes of ATFM delay with 40% due to
weather. Four ATC centres (Marseille, Reims, Karlsruhe and Barcelona) generated 40%
of ATFM delays on the south-west axis. The south-west axis saw better average arrival
on-time performance (by 5.3 p.p.) than the south-east axis.
The weather-related ATFM delay (at 1.93 minutes/flight) was 41.0% of total ATFM
delays and was over 48.7% more than in 2023. For safety reasons, aircraft avoid
convective weather, reducing the number of aircraft flying through the affected
airspace. As flights try to re-route into non-weather affected areas, there is a knock-on
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effect when these other areas are already operating in a saturated environment at the
limit of their capacity – resulting in additional ATC Capacity delays.
Airline schedule delay during 2024 was 17.4 minutes/flight decreasing by 0.1 minutes
when compared to 2023 where the average delay was also 17.5 minutes. Reactionary
(knock-on delay) saw an increase of 0.7 minutes; airline delays also saw a small
reduction of 0.1 minutes.
The network departure (66.2%) and arrival punctuality (71.9%) increased compared to
2023. First rotation departure punctuality was 79.1% and 84.8% for arrival. A key
objective for NM was to improve first rotation punctuality, as it sets the tone for the
rest of the day's operations.
Preparations for the winter season 2024/2025 were finalised towards the end of 2024
and preparations for the summer 2025 began, taking into consideration the priorities
agreed. The early preparation of the NOP 2025/2026-2029, of the consolidated
Transition Plan for Major Projects in Europe for Winter 2024/2025 will contribute to
mitigating structural capacity issues. In addition, detailed preparations are continuing
for major events and military exercises. Network impact assessments and mitigation
measures have been prepared for many military exercises, while cooperation has been
increased with NATO in the evaluation of possible training areas to meet the
challenging needs resulting from the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
NMOC's direct actions led to a reduction of 2,798,000 minutes of en-route ATFM delay
and 807,000 minutes of airport ATFM delay. It maintained its en-route ATFM delay
saving performance at 11.3% (target of >10%); and maintained airport ATFM delay
savings at 9.7% (target 5%).
1.2 Main causes of delay
It is essential to evaluate all the issues influencing 2024 performance to prepare for
summer 2025 and beyond.
En-route ATFM delay was 2.1 minutes per flight, which corresponds to, on average,
61,915 minutes of daily ATFM delays.
In 2024, 79.9% of en-route ATFM delays were concentrated on the Intra NM south-east
and south-west axes.
En-route ATC capacity (8.9 million minutes) was the major cause for delays in 2024
and represented 39.4% of en-route ATFM delay.
Weather also had a significant impact on operations during 2024, especially in July. At
8.1 million minutes, weather accounted for 35.9% of en-route ATFM delays.
Weather and ATC capacity are mutually dependent as flights try to re-route into non-
weather affected areas which are already saturated.
In summer 2024, delays were much higher than expected and well above 2023 levels.
During this period, some enhancements to the Cross-Border Weather (XBW) procedure
were introduced based on the application of playbooks with rerouting scenarios for
two main areas of Europe (Balkans and Reims/London/MUAC/KUAC- 4ACCs
initiative). Weather based NM RADs relaxation was also applied pre-practically.
These initiatives have had limited success for several reasons. First, the lack of
approval of some of these measures by some of the impacted ANSPs, whose
performance may have been adversely affected by their implementation. Secondly, the
lack of confidence in a forecast provided only twice a day, without sufficient continuity
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or granularity, which makes operational decision-making difficult. Finally, the lack of
anticipation in decision-making, a point also related to the lack of confidence in the
forecasts, which, combined with the fear of poor performance, leads ANSPs to delay
decisions until the latest possible moment, which contributed to the general volatility
of regulated traffic.
1.3 Network Manager measures and reinforced
cooperation with operational stakeholders
The NM Airport Function reinforced input, advice, and coordination from within the
airport community to the decision-making process of the NMOC in relation to flow
management and demand/capacity-balancing (DCB).
Flight efficiency results in 2024 were lower than 2023. The NM area, en-route fuel burn
per flight for narrow bodies remained stable around 4.3 tonnes. While KEP (planned
route extensions) improved significantly in 2024, KEA (actual route extensions)
remained flat overall, reflecting the constraints in the network during summer (KEA
was worse than 2023 during June-September months and better or flat the rest of the
year). The en-route Requested FL indicator increased again in 2024, 0.2pp over 2023,
getting back to level seen in 2019. This increase shows that it was a more complex
operational situation.
NM continued to support flexible RAD procedures whilst enhancing ATFM operations.
It supported ENAIRE’s use of scenarios to manage capacity problems, since NM
considers the approach does not undermine flight efficiency.
NM’s flight efficiency task force continued to support aircraft operators find best
available routes.
Operational volatility was slightly higher than in 2023. NM still needs to reiterate the
need for ATFM regulation discipline with FMPs. Several FMPs adjusted regulation
parameters too often and too quickly. It also needs to encourage airport adoption of
CDM processes which offer greater time predictability compared standard OBT update
methods.
1.4 Lessons learned
The poor summer performance demonstrates that there is a need to urgently introduce
further structural improvements. A strong commitment by all involved stakeholders
will be needed too.
The preparations for summer 2025 will build on lessons learned from summer 2024,
leveraging the strengthened cooperation within the Datalink Support Groups. NM will
continue to work alongside ANSPs, airlines, and service providers to ensure datalink
resilience, optimise performance monitoring, and refine operational procedures—
ensuring that datalink remains a key enabler of network efficiency and capacity.
In addition, detailed preparations are continuing for major events and military
exercises. Network impact assessments and mitigation measures have been prepared
for many military exercises, while cooperation has been increased with NATO in the
evaluation of possible training areas to meet the challenging needs resulting from the
ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Given the reluctance to act pre-tactically, NM will re-assess the weather procedure and
propose to develop further the “play-book” approach to tackle standard weather
scenarios when they materialise.
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Summer 2024 was managed with strong cooperation and partnership between the
NM, Member States and operational stakeholders.
The vast majority of the ANSPs fulfilled the commitments made in the NOP. With the
introduction of the Rolling NOP and four joint priorities, significant improvements were
achieved compared with the previous year. Airports and ANSPs should continue to
improve their flexibility mechanisms to better match the changes in the demand as the
traffic demand is more and more volatile. NMOC will also work with ACCs to improve
network ATFM capabilities in the FMPs.
Bad weather hit operations earlier in summer (July) and continued through July-
September.
There is still room for improvement as far as the network response to bad weather is
concerned.
The pivotal role in increasing airport-related sustainability of the whole ATM network
system and its resilience was played by the NM Airport Function. Flights identified for
curfew monitoring, were proposed slot improvements that avoided flight cancellations
and significantly reduced the delays. It created a permanent, collaborative interface
between the airport operations and NMOC.
The network encountered fewer industrial actions in 2024. However, considering the
current economic conditions, NM anticipates that industrial action will once again
pose a significant risk in 2025.
1.5 Conclusion
There were 22.7 million minutes of en-route ATFM delay in 2024 – a daily average of
61,915 minutes. This is 23.0% higher than 2023, but with 4.9% more traffic. En-route
ATFM delay per flight was 2.07 minutes, higher than 2023 (1.81 minutes).
Summer 2024 was very complex and difficult summer. Traffic was up by 4.9 % with
some ACCs experiencing double digit traffic growth due Ukrainian war and Middle East
situation.
NM has already started to prepare Summer 2025 tackling all the main complexities
described above. As a result, NM developed challenging actions in close cooperation
with the operational stakeholders to address the operational performance
complexities of the network in 2025 and beyond:
• Available capacity needs to be optimised and better managed.
o Every effort needs to be made to increase capacity specifically
regarding ATCO recruitment and improved rostering.
o Adaptations should be made to the Network Operations Plan (NOP) to
ensure better forecasting, more frequent updates and more granularity
on what resources are available in the ANSPs;
o All stakeholders must implement the operational actions commitments
in the NOP;
o Management of weather on a network-wide level needs to be improved
and the Network Manager needs to be resourced to provide this service;
o Flight plan adherence must increase;
o First rotation must continue to be prioritised;
o Sectorisation solutions should be put in place for saturated elementary
ATC sectors;
o Weekly NDOP teleconferences should be organised with participation
at the appropriate level operational executives.
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2 INTRODUCTION & SCOPE
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the European ATM network
performance in 2024 in the areas of traffic, punctuality, capacity / ATFM delays,
network and ground operations, and flight efficiency. The airspace users’ opinion on
the network performance is also included.
The report analyses the annual results considering the main events that took place in
the course of the year.
The document structure is as follows:
Section 1: Executive Summary.
Section 2: Introduction & Scope.
Section 3: Network Overview contains the annual performance of the European ATM
network: traffic, delays and punctuality, and flight efficiency.
Section 4: Traffic in Detail is a detailed analysis of traffic growth in 2024 in the NM
area and adjacent regions.
Section 5: En-Route Performance analyses the influence of events and disruptions;
capacity and ACC performance.
Section 6: Airports is an analysis of the performance of airport operations.
Section 7: Flight Efficiency looks at the progress of airspace design and flight planning
indicators
Section 8: References.
Annex I: Airspace Users’ View outlines the users’ perspective on how the network
performed in 2024.
Annex II: ACC contains a traffic and capacity evolution for each ACC in 2024.
Annex III: Airports contains capacity, delay, arrival/departure punctuality status and a
NM performance assessment of each of the significant airports in 2024.
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3 NETWORK OVERVIEW
3.1 TRAFFIC
Traffic in the NM Area continued to recover from COVID-19 pandemic and was higher
than in 2023, although the network was still strongly impacted by the Russian invasion
in Ukraine and the conflict in Israel/Gaza (see figure below). Network traffic in the 2024
was 4.9% higher than the same operational period in 2023 – on average 1,362 more
daily flights.
Figure 1 Monthly Network Traffic Evolution
Traffic reached 33,000 daily flights by the beginning of June and stayed at that level
through to end of September. Friday 14 June was the highest summer daily traffic at
35,713 flights.
The largest market segment over
2024 was Mainline. It averaged
10,395 flights/day, which was
+6.2% growth compared to the
same period in 2023. Low Cost
was 9,865 flights/day (+7.8%) and
Regional 3,700 flights/day
(+1.4%). The Business segment
averaged 2,065 flights/day, which
was 0.4% higher than 2023. The
other segments had similar levels
to 2023. The restrictions
following the invasion of Ukraine
particularly affected the Charter
market.
Figure 2 Market segment 2024 traffic
In 2024, Ryanair was the busiest carrier (3,052 flt/day), followed by easyJet (1,553
flt/day) and Turkish Airlines (1,436 flt/day).
22,853
24,038
25,458
29,105
31,222
33,672
34,382
34,066
33,581
31,000
25,778
25,194
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
AVG
DAILY
TRAFFIC
Traffic 2019-2024
2019 2023 2024
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The level of non-operated airline schedules was 6.0% for 2024. This indicator was
impacted by extreme weather events and ATC capacity shortages throughout the year.
Figure 3 Non-Operated Scheduled traffic 2024
Istanbul airport was the busiest airport in 2024 with, on average, 1,401 flights per day,
followed by Amsterdam/Schiphol (1,336) and London/Heathrow (1,302).
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent airspace and operator restrictions
continued to cause significant problems. Summer traffic levels in some ACCs, notably
in the south-east axis, had double-digit traffic growth compared to 2019.
The Intra-NM traffic flow was 55.3%
of the network traffic in 2024. Its
growth of 5.6% drove the network
growth along with the 7.2% increase
in out-of-area.
Together they added on average,
1,164 flights/day to the network
during 2024.
Domestic traffic decreased slightly
(–0.1%). Figure 4 Flow type traffic 2024
All Top 20 ACCs had more traffic than 2023. Roma, Zagreb and Zurich ACCs had
double-digit traffic growth. Roma ACC traffic increase was partially due to the transfer
of airspace from Brindisi ACC: the northern sectors of Brindisi ACC are under Roma
ACC control since 13 June 2024.
Double digit traffic growth in Cairo and Tirana was partially due to aircraft operators
avoiding routes through Teheran due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
3.2 ALL CAUSES DELAY
Airline schedule delay was 17.8 minutes per flight in 2024, the same as 2023 (Figure
4). Reactionary (knock-on) remained at 8.0 minutes; airline related delay decreased in
2024 to 4.3 minutes per flight. The main area of increase was in ATFM causes (3.7
mins per flight) with 0.3 minute increase in ATFM en-route causes. However, the
stability in the years average delay per flight, masks considerably worse summer
performance, where for example in July 2024 airline recorded ATFM delays increased
to 7.2 minutes per flight vs. 4.8 in July 2023.
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Figure 5 average delay per flight comparison 2024 v 2023
3.3 NETWORK ON-TIME PERFORMANCE
In summer 2024, network departure (60.1%) and arrival punctuality (66.8%)
deteriorated compared to 2023. This decrease was partially due to high traffic volume
which necessitated additional sectors and/or ATFM measures to handle the expected
overload, particularly on the south-east and south-west axes. Adverse weather
conditions also played a role in affecting punctuality.
In 2024, network departure (66.2%) and arrival punctuality (71.9%) increased
compared to 2023. First rotation departure punctuality was 79.1% and 84.8% for
arrival. A key objective for NM was to improve first rotation punctuality, as it sets the
tone for the rest of the day's operations. This includes increasing the number of open
sectors in the first rotation period during summer 2024. NM had highlighted several
ACCs which must increase first rotation opening sectors during summer 2024.
Moreover, it should be noted that the share of Out of Area arrivals is the highest during
the First Rotation phase; a flight will be exempted from ATFM regulations if departing
from outside the ATFCM area. This means that almost 1 in 5 flights arriving during the
first rotation phase is not impacted by ATFM delays.
Figure 6 network punctuality 2024
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3.4 ON-TIME PERFORMANCE AIRPORTS
In general, there was a mixed picture for 2024 airport departure punctuality.
Figure 7 departure punctuality0F1 of top 20 airports in 2024
Seven of the Top 20 busiest airports had departure punctuality below 60% in 2024 –
such as Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Rome Fiumicino, London/Gatwick, Zurich,
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Lisbon.
Four of the Top 20 had departure punctuality above 70% - Madrid Barajas, Athens,
Vienna and Oslo
Although traffic and delays increased, June and August departure punctuality stayed
at 59%, the same as in 2023. However, it significantly fell to 53% in July. Consequently,
the average departure punctuality from June to August dropped from 59% to 57%
compared to 2023.
Scandinavian airports like Trondheim, Stavanger, Stockholm, Bergen, Helsinki,
Copenhagen, and Oslo had the best departure punctuality, averaging over 75%. In
contrast, Napoli, Fiumicino, and Bergamo had poor records with less than 45%
punctuality.
Ground delays, especially during first wave operations, decreased compared to 2023
and was up to -18% in August. This offset the rise in ATFM delay, leading to a 1%
reduction in average departure delay during the first wave and contributing to an
overall 8% improvement in cumulative arrival delay later in the day.
The highest average departure delay per flight in the top 10 airports were observed in
Rome, Palma and Munich with Rome and Munich having around 30% of the delay
coming from the ground delay while only 12% in Palma.
Three of the airports continue to experience increased time to deliver ground services.
Net turnaround times were beyond scheduled times, and they also experienced
network ATFM delays – see example below of network turnaround times in 2024 vs.
2023, the impact of summer season ATFM delays can clearly be seen in the red
coloured peaks. (see example in Figure 7).
1 Operational estimate of departure punctuality from ETFMS and schedule data
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Figure 8 turnaround times 2023-2024
3.5 NETWORK ATFM OPERATIONS
En-route ATFM
En-route ATFM delay increased by 23.0% compared to 2023. En-route ATFM delay per
flight was 2.1 minutes, which corresponds to, on average, 61,915 minutes of daily
ATFM delays. July experienced the highest delays, averaging 5.7 minutes per flight.
In 2024 79.9% of en-route ATFM delays were concentrated on the Intra NM south-east
and south-west axes.
In the peak summer period, Fridays and Saturdays saw over 140,000 minutes of ATFM
delays (see Figure 8)
Figure 9 en-route ATFM delay per week day in summer 2024
En-route ATC capacity (8.9 million minutes) was the major cause for delays in 2024
and represented 39.4% of en-route ATFM delay.
Weather also had a significant impact on operations during 2024, especially in July. At
8.1 million minutes, weather accounted for 35.9% of en-route ATFM delays.
Weather and ATC capacity are mutually dependent as flights try to re-route into non-
weather affected areas which are already saturated.
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Figure 10 ATFM delay reasons in 2024
Karlsruhe, Marseille, Reims, Paris, Brest, Muenchen and Lisboa ACCs performed better
than last year.
Budapest experienced three times as many delays compared to 2023, due to a
combination of weather and staffing conditions and ATC capacity challenges. Weather
impacted strongly operations during summer with more than 250,000 minutes of
delays in June and in July. Capacity issues were mainly due to the increased traffic in
the south-east axis, where sectors were already operating at full capacity.
Zagreb ACC had a 12.8% traffic increase, which was higher than forecast. It had a
threefold increase in ATFM delays compared to 2023. ATC capacity issues in
conjunction with weather issues generated high delays from end of June.
Sevilla ACC experienced over three times more delays compared to 2023, primarily due
to the demand exceeding capacity to the Canary Islands. Barcelona ACC had ATC
capacity issues due to high demand, mainly from June to October.
Figure 11 Top 20 en-route reference location 2024
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The south-east axis had just over 2.0 million flights in 2024, an increase of 4.9%. It also
experienced the highest rise in ATFM delays among all axes, with a 33.5% increase,
totalling 10.4 million minutes. Almost half of these delays occurred in three ATC
centres: Budapest, Karlsruhe, and Zagreb. The south-west axis had just over 3.08
million flights (+6.7%) and 11.3 million minutes of ATFM delay. Four ATC centres
(Marseille, Reims, Karlsruhe and Barcelona) generated 30% of ATFM delays on the SW
axis.
Airports ATFM
Airport ATFM increased by 9% compared to last year and was at 0.71 minutes per
flight, corresponding to approximately 20,830 minutes of daily delay. Airport weather,
aerodrome capacity and airport ATC capacity were the main regulation reasons.
Figure 11 below shows the Top 20 airports for ATFM delay / flight. Operations were
primarily affected by weather conditions across Western Europe. London/Heathrow
was the most impacted airport with a total of 728,000 minutes followed by Porto,
Lisbon and London Gatwick. Heraklion recorded the greatest amount of delay minutes
attributed to aerodrome capacity constraints.
Airport weather, Aerodrome capacity, and Airport ATC Capacity and Staffing were the
main regulation reasons (Figure 9).
Figure 12 Top 20 airport reference location 2024
Weather
There were 9.2 million minutes of weather ATFM delay during the summer period,
+49.9% compared to 2023. The weather-related ATFM delay per flight from May to
September was 1.80 min/flight.
In summer 2024 some enhancements to the Cross-Border Weather (XBW) procedure
were introduced based on the application of playbooks with rerouting scenarios for
two main areas of Europe (Balkans and Reims/London/MUAC/KUAC - 4ACCs
initiative). Weather based NM RADs relaxation was also applied pre-tactically.
These initiatives have had limited success for several reasons. First, the lack of
approval of some of these measures by some of the impacted ANSPs, whose
performance may have been adversely affected by their implementation. Secondly, the
lack of confidence in a forecast provided only twice a day, without sufficient continuity
or granularity, which makes operational decision-making difficult. Finally, the lack of
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anticipation in decision-making, a point also related to the lack of confidence in the
forecasts, which, combined with the fear of poor performance, leads ANSPs to delay
decisions until the latest possible moment, which contributed to the general volatility
of regulated traffic.
Given the reluctance to act pre-tactically, NM will re-assess the weather procedure and
propose to develop further the “play-book” approach to tackle standard weather
scenarios when they materialise.
Regulated traffic volatility
Traffic count volatility for en-route
regulations in 2024 was slightly higher
than 2023 for capacity and staffing
regulations - the highest in the last 7
years. Similarly, the weather-related
volatility was joint highest with 2022.
With little ATC industrial action in 2024,
the volatility for disruption related
regulations was also much lower than in
any of the previous years.
Several FMPs adjusted regulation
parameters too often and too quickly.
This led to frequent updates to CTOTs
(via slot messages.)
Figure 13 regulation volatility 2024
Ukrainian airspace closure since February 2022 has impacted flight efficiency
significantly. In addition, political unrest in the Middle East, and the south
Mediterranean region created inefficiencies at the interface of NM.
3.6 FLIGHT EFFICIENCY
NM estimates that 35.3 million tonnes of
fuel were burnt in the en-route phase within
the NM area during summer.
Aircraft burned 3.2 million tonnes of fuel
within “NM area en-route” at the peak of
summer (July and August).
The average fuel burn per “narrow-body”
flight in the NM area was stable at 4.3
tonnes
Figure 14 NM area en-route fuel burn 2024
Ukrainian airspace closure since February 2022 has impacted flight efficiency
significantly. In addition, political unrest in the Middle East, and the south
Mediterranean region created inefficiencies at the interface of NM.
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
ER Capacity/Staffing ER Disruptions ER Events ER Weather
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Network volatility indicator per Regulation reason
ENR regulations
2019 - NB ENTRY HRS 2022 - NB ENTRY HRS
2023 - NB ENTRY HRS 2024 - NB ENTRY HRS
2019 - Count normalised volatility indicator 2022 - Count normalised volatility indicator
2023 - Count normalised volatility indicator 2024 - Count normalised volatility indicator
2.4 2.3
2.5
2.7
3.0 3.1
3.3 3.3 3.2
3.0
2.6 2.5
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Total
Fuel
burn
(million
tonnes)
En-route fuel burn within NM area (tonnes)
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Horizontal flight efficiency
While KEP improved significantly in 2024 over 2023, KEA remained flat overall,
reflecting the constraints in the network during summer (KEA was worse than 2023
during June-September months and better or flat the rest of the year).
Figure 15 Flight planning indicator Figure 16 Actual distance flown indicator
Vertical flight efficiency
The non-adherence RFL indicator1F
2
increased
again in 2024, 0.2pp over 2023, getting back to
level seen in 2019.
With the increase in traffic, non-adherence to
the RFL increased in 2024 over 2023, but it was
still better than the pre-pandemic years (see
Figure 16)
Figure 17 non-adherence RFL indicator
Scenarios
In 2018 and 2019, ANSPs implemented 8,600 and 7,500 scenarios, respectively. These
are daily airspace restrictions (zero rate regulations) that essentially encourage
aircraft operators to avoid specific airspace or incur high ATFM delays. In 2024, there
have been more almost 6000 scenarios, up from 5,000 scenarios in 2023. The ENAIRE
(50%), DSNA (28%) and NATS (13%) applied 91% of these scenarios.
NM has identified 19,300 flights in 2024 that re-filed to avoid a scenario at a cost of
1705 tonnes of extra fuel – around 88 kg of fuel per flight. Other flights may have
anticipated scenarios and filed an initial FPL avoiding the restriction. But overall, NM
considers the extra fuel burn as relatively low.
2 The non-adherence to RFL measures the proportion of the en-route distance that is flown at a different
flight level (at least 1,000ft difference) from the RFL in the flight plan. It captures both cases of (potentially)
non-optimal flight planning when the pilot asks for a different flight level, but also ATC tactical
improvements when restrictions in place at the flight planning stage are no longer needed. It also covers
situations where a different flight level is cleared due to separation issues.
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4 TRAFFIC IN DETAIL
Figure 18 : IFR Flights average per day in NM Area (all flights including overflights)
In 2024, the average daily traffic in the NM Area increased by 5.2% compared to 2023
(accounting for the leap day in 2024, the adjusted growth was 4.9%). The largest
contributor to this growth was flights within NM countries, which added 1,000 daily
flights (+4.4%). International departures and arrivals followed, with an increase of 319
daily flights (+6.4%), while overflights contributed an additional 44 daily flights
(+12.8%). The total number of flights was just below 10.7 million, with an average of
29,204 flights per day, peaking at 35,710 flights on Friday 14 June 2024. Compared to
pre-pandemic levels, total flights in 2024 reached 96% of 2019. Geopolitical tensions
– the conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza – continued to impose airspace restrictions
and impacted overflights in several countries in the network.
Lower flight volumes in January and February, a typical seasonal trend, were further
exacerbated in February by strikes involving ground staff at German airports and the
Lufthansa Group of airlines, resulting in approximately 2,450 fewer flights during the
month. The average growth rate compared to 2023 was +4.7% in January, +4.5% in
February (effect of the leap year removed) and +5.8% in March. The first quarter of
2024 saw an increase of 5.0% on the same period in 2023, reaching 91.3% of 2019
levels.
With the start of summer, popular tourist destinations such as Spain, Greece, and Italy
significantly boosted air traffic. April recorded the highest growth rate of the year at
+6.9%, followed by May at +6.5% and June at +5.2%, compared to the same months in
2023. Overall, the second quarter of 2024 saw a 6.2% increase compared to the same
period in 2023, reaching 97.1% of 2019 levels.
The summer months experienced the highest traffic volumes, with growth rates of
+4.6% in July, +4.4% in August, and +4.0% in September compared to 2023. The third
quarter recorded a 4.4% increase vs the same quarter in 2023, reaching 97.4% of 2019
levels.
In the fourth quarter, several airlines had to reduce capacity due to forced
maintenance on engine affecting the Airbus Neo fleet. Despite this, October traffic
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rose by 3.5%, November by 4.5% and December by 4.8% compared to 2023. Overall,
the fourth quarter saw a 4.2% increase, maintaining 97.4% of 2019 levels.
4.1 NETWORK CONTRIBUTORS
In 2024, 14 countries contributed to an increase of at least 50 daily flights to the
network's local traffic (excluding overflights), compared to 19 countries in 2023.
Conversely, local traffic declined in four countries in 2024, up from three in 2023.
Figure 19 Main contributors to the flight growth (excluding overflights) in NM Area in 2024 (vs 2023)
The top seven contributors to growth in 2024 (compared to 2023) were Spain-
Continental, Italy, UK, Germany, Poland, Türkiye and Greece.
Spain-Continental (+313 flights/day, +8.1%) was by far the top contributor owing to the
increase of its flows to and from Italy (+41 flights/day, +13.3%), UK (+34 flights/day,
+6.0%), Germany (+33 flights/day, +8.2%), Spain-Canaries (+25 flights/day, +13.9%).
Italy (+289 flights/day, +8.3%) was the second biggest contributor due to its flows to
and from Spain-Continental (+41 flights/day, +13.3%), its domestic flow (+25
flights/day, +3.1%) and Germany (+23 flights/day, +7.2%).
UK (+199 flights/day, +3.8%) ranked third owing to its flows to and from Spain-
Continental (+34 flights/day, +6.1%), Türkiye (+28 flights/day, +17.2%) and Spain-
Canaries (+20 flights/day, +11.0%).
Germany (+178 flights/day, +3.9%) came next owing to its flows to and from Spain-
Continental (+33 flights/day, +8.2%), Italy (+23 flights/day, +7.2%), Türkiye (+18
flights/day, +5.2%) and Greece (+14 flights/day, +8.9%).
Poland (+120 flights/day, +10.8%) was the fifth contributor owing to its flows to and
from Spain-Continental (+18 flights/day, +39.6%), Italy (+17 flights/day, +24.5%),
Türkiye (+12 flights/day, +23.5%) and Denmark (+10 flights/day, +40.8%). Poland had
the fastest growth amongst the top contributors
Türkiye (+113 flights/day, +3.7%) was the sixth contributor due to its flows to and from
UK (+28 flights/day, +17.2%), Germany (+18 flights/day, +5.2%), Poland (+12
flights/day, +23.5%) and the Russian Federation (+12 flights/day, +5.8%).
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Greece (+109 flights/day, +7.9%) was the seventh contributor owing to its domestic
flow (+23 flights/day, +6.5%), its flows to and from Germany (+14 flights/day, +8.9%),
Italy (+9 flights/day, +9.9%), Poland (+9 flights/day, +21.7%) and UK (+8 flights/day,
+4.3%).
In 2024, four countries experienced a decline in flights (excluding overflights)
compared to 2023. Israel saw the largest decrease (-126 flights per day, -29.0%) due
to ongoing airspace restrictions following the conflict in Israel and Gaza. Though not
shown on the graph, Sweden recorded a drop of 15 flights per day (-1.7%), primarily
driven by a weak domestic flow (-22 flights per day, -8.5%). Armenia and Norway also
experienced reductions, with declines of 13 flights per day (-10.5%) and 12 flights per
day (-0.9%), respectively.
Intra-European flights (within the NM area, excluding overflights) represented 80.6% of
total traffic in 2024, amounting to 8.6 million flights, while flows beyond Europe
accounted for 1.9 million flights (18.1%).
Regarding the recovery to 2019 flight levels (excluding overflights), 24 countries within
the NM area experienced an increase in daily flights compared to 2019. The most
significant increases were observed in Türkiye (+333 flights, +12%), Spain-Continental
(+270 flights, +7%), Greece (+221 flights, +18%), Italy (+194 flights, +5%), Spain-
Canaries (+141 flights, +17%), Albania (+109 flights, +140%), and Morocco (+100
flights, +18%).
In contrast, nine countries recorded at least 100 fewer daily flights compared to 2019.
The largest declines were seen in Germany (-923 flights, -16%), the UK (-366 flights, -
6%), Sweden (-261 flights, -24%), France (-236 flights, -5%), Israel (-175 flights, -36%),
Finland (-129 flights, -21%), Norway (-126 flights, -9%), and Austria (-114 flights, -12%).
In general, countries in the South-East and South-West axes recovered faster than
countries in the North-East and North-West axes.
Focusing on overflights (2024 vs 2023), ongoing airspace restrictions caused by
conflicts in Ukraine and the Middel East led to shifting patterns, significantly impacting
overflights in Georgia (+29%) and Armenia (+43%). Overflights in the Baltic countries,
Estonia (+15%), Latvia (+19%), Lithuania (+13%) increased due to the rise in flights
between Western Europe and Asia (China) by airlines unaffected by geopolitical
sanctions between Russia and Europe. Portugal overflights increased driven by the
recovery of South and Mid-Atlantic flows as well as increased use of western routes
between Spain-Continental and Spain-Canaries and UK and Spain-Canaries.
Constrained airspace in Central Europe in the summer led to a shift to the west of the
southeast bound flows and impacted overflights in the western Balkan countries, Italy
(+10%) and Switzerland (+12%).
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4.2 AIRPORT EVOLUTION
Figure 20 Top 50 airports per average daily departure traffic in 2024 (vs. 2023)
The Top 10 airports remained the same as last year. Istanbul was the busiest airport
for the third year in a row.
Six airports had double digit growth: Rome/Fiumicino, Athens, Warsaw, Prague,
Budapest and Alicante.
Amsterdam Schiphol outpaced London Heathrow for the second year.
Rome Fiumicino had the highest traffic increase in the top 50 with + 18.1%.
Traffic decrease at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport was due to the complex situation in
Middle East.
4.3 OUTSIDE EUROPE
Figure 21 Top six extra-NM partners: Average number of flights/day and flight growth vs. 2023
In 2024, the United States remained the leading destination for flights, averaging 1,088
flights per day (both directions). This marked a 3.3% increase (+35 flights/day)
compared to 2023. While the Mainline segment was the primary driver of growth (+38
flights/day, +4.4%), the Low-cost segment experienced the fastest expansion, rising by
17.2% owing partly to Norse Atlantic UK (+40.1%) and Condor (+37.8%).
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Morocco ranked second, with an average of 488 daily flights (both directions),
reflecting a 15.5% increase (+66 flights per day) from 2023. This growth was largely
attributed to the Ryanair Group, which added 26 flights per day (+23.3%), and the
easyJet Group, which contributed 17 additional flights per day (+59.7%). The Low-cost
segment led the expansion, accounting for 64 extra daily flights (+25.1%) with
increased capacity to France (+19 flights/day) and the UK (+13 flights/day).
The United Arab Emirates secured the third position among NM partners, registering
393 daily flights, a 10.3% rise from 2023. At country level, Poland, Spain-Continental,
UK and Greece added each four daily flights. Growth in this market was due by both
the Mainline segment (+21 flights per day, +9.9%) and the Low-cost segment (+11
flights per day, +11.8%).
Egypt ranked fourth, averaging 356 daily flights (both directions), reflecting a 12.1%
increase from 2023. This surge was primarily driven by Low-cost carriers, including
easyJet Group (+8 flights per day, +53.4%), Pegasus (+5 flights per day, +82.5%), and
Wizz Air Group (+5 flights per day, +21.0%). At country level, UK (+10 flights/day),
Türkiye (+9 flights/day), Germany (+8 flights/day) and Poland (+8 flights/day)
contributed the most to the flight growth.
Despite ongoing airspace restrictions due to the Russian war with Ukraine, the Russian
Federation ranked fifth, averaging 293 daily flights (both directions), recording an
increase of 7.1% compared to 2023. This was primarily due to a significant increase in
flights to and from Georgia (+18 flights per day, +279.1%) and Türkiye (+11 flights per
day, +5.8%).
Continental China was the sixth NM partner, averaging 204 daily flights (both
directions), marking a 56.3% increase from 2023. The Mainline segment was the key
driver of growth (+64 flights/day, +76.8%), with notable increases in flights to and from
the UK (+13 flights/day, +59.8%), Germany (+10 flights/day, +34.8%), and France (+8
flights/day, +71.2%). Additionally, the All-cargo segment expanded, adding 9 daily
flights (+20.4%), primarily due to increased flows to and from Georgia (+2 flights/day,
+678.0%) and Belgium/Luxembourg (+2 flights/day, +29.9%).
Apart from the Russian Federation (-68.2%), all NM partners surpassed pre-COVID-19
flight levels. Compared to 2019, the United States recorded a 7.2% increase, Morocco
(+27.8%), the United Arab Emirates (+22.3%), Egypt (+18.4%), and Continental China
(+7.6%).
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4.4 AIRLINE INDUSTRY
Evolution of the total flights by market segment compared to 2023.
Figure 22 Left: Market segment’s share in 2024 Right: Market segment’s growth in 2024 (vs 2023)
In 2024, the low-cost segment was the primary driver of the total flight growth in the
NM area, contributing an additional 905 flights per day, an increase of 10.1% compared
to 2023. The countries with the highest growth in daily low-cost carrier flights
(departures and arrivals) were Spain-Continental (+215 flights/day, +8.5%), Italy (+182
flights/day, +8.3%), the UK (+175 flights/day, +6.6%), Türkiye (+127 flights/day,
+11.9%), and Germany (+107 flights/day, +7.8%). The Low-cost share of all flights was
33.8%, reflecting a 1.6 percentage point increase from 2023. Compared to pre-
pandemic levels, the Low-cost segment surpassed 2019 flights by 3.0%.
The Mainline market segment more than halved Low-cost’s performance and reported
a 4.2% increase compared to 2023, adding 416 daily flights to the network. This can
be partly explained by the weakness of the domestic flows, particularly in Norway (-18
flights/day, -15.3%), Türkiye (-16 flights/day, -2.8%), France (-15 flights/day, -7.7%) and
Spain-Continental (-9 flights/day, -5.8%). Mainline’s share of total traffic stood at
35.6%, reflecting a 0.2 percentage point decline from 2023. Compared to pre-pandemic
levels, the Mainline segment stood at -5.6% below 2019 flight levels.
The business aviation segment grew by 1.4% compared to 2023 and added 29 flights
per day, although its market share declined from 7.3% in 2023 to 7.1% in 2024. Notable
increases in Spain-Continental (+10 flights/day) and Greece (+6 flights/day) were
counterbalanced by decreases in Germany (-17 flights/day, France (-11 flights/day)
and UK (-7 flights/day). Despite this, business aviation flights remained strong,
surpassing 2019 levels by 9.6%.
The Regional segment recorded a modest 1.3% increase compared to 2023, adding 49
daily flights to the network. However, its share of total traffic declined by 0.4
percentage points to 12.7%. In terms of recovery to pre-COVID-19 flight levels, the
Regional segment remained the most affected, standing -18.9% below 2019 levels.
The All-cargo performance fluctuated throughout 2024 compared to 2023, ranging
from a low of -12.6% in March to a high of +3.7% in October. For the year as a whole,
the segment decreased by -2.4%, with a 3.4% market share of total flights, down 0.2
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percentage point on 2023. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the All-cargo segment
was at -2.3% below 2019 flight levels.
Despite the ongoing negative impact of airspace restrictions following the Russian
Federation's war with Ukraine and the conflict in Israel, the Charter segment recorded
a total number of flights equal to those in 2023. In 2024, its market share of total flights
was 3.0%, down from 3.4% in 2023. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Charter
remained 16.1% below 2019.
Jet Fuel Prices Evolution in Europe
Figure 23 Jet fuel prices evolution
In 2024, European jet fuel prices averaged $2.4/gallon, a 10.2% decline compared to
2023 ($2.7/gallon). Jet fuel prices peaked in the first quarter at $2.6/gallon, dropped
to $2.3/gallon in the third quarter and hit their lowest at $2.1/gallon in the final quarter
of 2024, marking an 19% decline from January. Since September 2023, the 7-day
average fuel price has generally been decreasing, except for increases in January and
June 2024, following the new package of sanctions against Russia EU countries
agreed over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Moreover, OPEC+ members, responsible for
nearly half of global oil production, have agreed voluntary output cuts of 2.2 million
barrels per day since November 2023 to support market stability.
Inflation and air ticket prices evolution in Europe
Figure 24 Inflation and air ticket prices evolution in Europe
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Overall, all-prices inflation in 2024 was 2.5% higher than in 2023. Ticket prices
fluctuated significantly in 2024, they were volatile in January, dropped in February
before recovering and peaking in August and September. Prices declined again in
October before returning to their January levels by December. Air ticket prices were
slightly lower (-0.4%), in real terms in 2024 compared to 2023. The typical seasonal
increase in prices at the beginning of the summer period was more controlled in 2024:
limited air fares variation over the period May to July compared to August and
September hikes. Consequently, 2024 Summer air ticket prices were on average lower
than in Summer 2023. Nonetheless, air ticket prices (excluding the inflation) remained
12% higher than their pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
5 EN-ROUTE
5.1 ACC PERFORMANCE
Overview
There were 22.7 million minutes of en-route ATFM delay in 2024 – a daily average of
61,915 minutes. This is 23.0% higher than 2023, but with 4.9% more traffic.
In 2024, 79.9% of en-route ATFM delays were concentrated on the Intra NM south-east
and south-west axes.
Figure 25 Share of en-route ATFM delays 2024
The poor performance in Summer 2024 where en-route ATFM delay per flight reached
5.7 min was a combination of factors for these high levels of ATFM delay: saturation
and a lack of capacity in parts of the network, significant convective weather
(thunderstorms etc.), less airspace available for re-routings due to the war in Ukraine,
and increased military activity.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent airspace and operator restrictions
continued to cause significant deviations from the normal routings in the eastern part
of the network. Consequently, countries in the North-East (Baltic States, Finland,
Sweden, Poland) lost traffic, while countries in the South-East of Europe (Hungary,
Serbia, Albania, Greece) faced more traffic than expected.
SE Axis
43%
SW Axis
37%
NE Axis
4%
Other
16%
Share of en-route ATFM delays (% of minutes) - 2024
SE Axis SW Axis NE Axis Other
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Figure 26 shows the ACCs that had the biggest difference between the ATFM delay
achieved and the guideline target in 2024.
Figure 26 En-route delays achieved vs guideline target
Figure 27 Reasons of en-route ATFM delays 2024
As mentioned before, en-route ATC capacity (8.9 million minutes) was the major cause
for delays in 2024 and represented 39.4% of en-route ATFM delay.
Weather also had a significant impact on operations during 2024, especially in July. At
8.1 million minutes, weather accounted for 35.9% of en-route ATFM delays.
Weather and ATC capacity are mutually dependent as flights try to re-route into non-
weather affected areas which are already saturated.
ATC staffing issues increased due to lack of ATCOs in several ACCs, especially during
summer months.
On a positive note, there were few industrial actions during 2024. In addition, the
network prepared and executed successfully several events, most notably the summer
European football championships in Germany and the Paris Olympics.
Major ATM changes
The implementation of ICAS2 in Munich ACC was slower than planned, generating
35,600 minutes of ATFM delays from January to April 2024.
The 4Flight system implementation in Paris ACCs had notable impact on traffic and
delays. A six-week live trial happened from 09 January to 14 February. During this
period, sector capacities were generally reduced by 30%, with some sectors
experiencing up to 50% reductions. This trial generated 158,820 minutes of ATFM
delay. Another two-day live trial of the new ATM system in Paris ACCs (08-09 October)
generated 23,637 minutes of ATFM delay. In November, Bordeaux and Brest ACCs
24,404
22,217
7,978
2,991
2,184
1,541
599
0 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000 24,000 28,000
ER CAPACITY (ATC)
ER WEATHER
ER STAFFING (ATC)
ER DISRUPTIONS
ER DISRUPTIONS (ATC)
ER EVENTS
ER CAPACITY
Reasons for En-route ATFM delays 2024
2023
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started the training and live trial periods in preparation for the implementation of the
4-Flight system.
ACC evolution
Table 1 shows top 40 ACCs by ATFM delay 2024, excluding any delay re-attribution,
further details available in Annex II.
COUNTRY ACC ACC Code En-Route Delay
NETWORK NETWORK ALL_DNM 2.10
AUSTRIA WIEN ACC LOVVACC 0.58
BOSNIA BH ACC LQSBACC 0.54
BULGARIA SOFIA ACC LBSRACC 0.19
CROATIA ZAGREB ACC LDZOACC 1.66
CZECH REPUBLIC PRAHA ACC LKAAACC 0.14
FRANCE MARSEILLE ACC LFMMACC 1.28
FRANCE REIMS ACC LFEEACC 1.22
FRANCE PARIS ACC LFFFALL 0.65
FRANCE BREST ACC LFRRACC 0.49
FRANCE MARSEILLE TMA LFMMAPP 0.43
FRANCE BORDEAUX ACC LFBBALL 0.41
GEORGIA TBILISI ACC UGGGACC 0.33
GERMANY KARLSRUHE UAC EDUUUAC 1.59
GERMANY MUENCHEN ACC EDMMACC 0.48
GERMANY BREMEN ACC EDWWACC 0.40
GERMANY LANGEN ACC EDGGALL 0.34
GREECE ATHINAI ACC LGGGACC 0.82
HUNGARY BUDAPEST ACC LHCCACC 2.74
ITALY ROMA ACC LIRRACC 0.76
ITALY MILANO ACC LIMMACC 0.49
ITALY PADOVA ACC LIPPACC 0.22
KOSOVO KFOR SECTOR LHKRACC 1.04
MOROCCO CASABLANCA ACC GMMMACC 0.16
EUROCONTROL MAASTRICHT UAC EDYYUAC 0.20
NETHERLANDS AMSTERDAM ACC EHAAACC 0.08
NORTH
MACEDONIA
MAKEDONIA ACC LGMDACC 0.69
NORTH
MACEDONIA
SKOPJE ACC LWSSACC 0.55
POLAND WARSZAWA ACC EPWWACC 0.24
PORTUGAL LISBON ACC LPPCACC 0.43
ROMANIA BUCURESTI ACC LRBBACC 0.15
SERBIA /
MONTENEGRO
BEOGRAD ACC LYBAACC 0.75
SLOVAKIA BRATISLAVA ACC LZBBACC 0.13
SPAIN SEVILLA ACC LECSACC 1.26
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SPAIN BARCELONA ACC LECBACC 1.01
SPAIN CANARIAS ACC GCCCACC 0.37
SPAIN PALMA ACC LECPACC 0.35
SPAIN MADRIC ACC LECMALL 0.30
SWITZERLAND GENEVA ACC LSAGACC 0.37
SWITZERLAND ZURICH ACC LSAZACC 0.49
UNITED KINGDOM LONDON ACC EGTTACC 0.13
Table 1 TOP 40 ACCs by ATFM delay in 2024
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5.2 PLANNED EVENTS AND DISRUPTIONS
EN-ROUTE PLANNED EVENTS
Out of twenty projects and events in 2024 three generated notable ATFM delays during
implementation.
Table 2 shows the technical and the airspace related projects and events most of
which have imposed capacity reductions resulting in delays generated during their
respective implementation periods. Most of the listed projects, particularly those that
generated delays, have been included in the NOP Transition Plan for the seasons
2023/2024 and 2024/2025.
Major Projects / Special Events
2024
Jan -
March
April -
June
July -
Sept
Oct -
Dec
ATFM Delay
generated, min
France - Paris ACC
4-flight ATM system trials and implementation 354084 min
2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
16868 min,
Reduction flight programme
France - Marseille ACC
4-flight ATM system upgrade 4947 min
France - Reims ACC
4-flight ATM system upgrade 9972 min
Transfer of airspace below FL195 to Basel and Strasbourg
APPs
29340 min en-route,
1391 min Strasbourg airport
Germany - Munchen ACC
Transition to new ATM system (iCAS2) 35636
Germany - Bremen ACC
Operations on Phoenix fall-back ATM system 2021 min
Germany
UEFA Championship No significant delay
UEFA EURO2024 Final No significant delay
UK - London ACC
2024 UEFA Europa League Final No significant delay
UK - Edenborough airport
Implementation new Electronic Flight Progress Strips
equipment
3665 min
Albania - Tirana ACC
ATM System upgrade 3143 min
Belgium - Brussels ACC
ATM System upgrade 29264 min
The Netherlands - Amsterdam ACC
Skydiving Teuge 4266 min
Spain - Grand Canaria ACC
HERMES project 1942 min
China Presidential visit 3190 min
Switzerland - Zurich ACC
Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos 997 min
Switzerland - Geneva ACC
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Crans Montana Air Display 2783 min
Switzerland - Zurich and Geneva ACCs
ATM system instability & system upgrades 105827 min
Morocco - Marrakech air show 2024
Marrakech TMA/airport 2310 min
Table 2 System Upgrade / Airspace related / Transition Projects
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EN-ROUTE DISRUPTIONS
Table 3 shows an overview of the unplanned events or disruptions that imposed
capacity reductions in certain ACCs in 2024.
Date Location Event ATFM Delay Impact
02 – 09 January Langen Issue with ATCO system 24,448 minutes
14 to 17 January Bordeaux TMA ATC industrial action 2,642 minutes
07-08 February Reims Computer system failure 1,528 minutes
18 February Zurich FDPS failure 1,928 minutes
29 February Zurich Radio system issue 1,860 minutes
01-31 March
Zurich
Geneva
OPS system instability
16,711 minutes
18,729 minutes
08-09 April Marseille Upgrade to 4Flight system 4,947 minutes
15 April Oslo FDPS failure 8,954 minutes
25 April France ATC industrial action 31,181 minutes
16-28 May Lisbon TMA New point merge implementation 26,569 minutes
17 May Brest FDPS failure 24,849 minutes
17 May Madrid FDPS failure 2,207 minutes
22 May Madrid DURANDAL military exercise 2,135 minutes
23-31 May France ATC industrial action 13,464 minutes
01-30 June Brest ATC frequencies issues 22,204 minutes
02-13 June Karlsruhe New software release 4,615 minutes
01-30 June France ATC industrial action 15,517 minutes
10-20 June London OC CASA trial 1,988 minutes
19 June Tirana ATC system upgrade 3,143 minutes
25 June Geneva Flooding of the ops room 29,714 minutes
27 June Brindisi Data exchange system outage 2,521 minutes
26- 30 June Roma Data exchange system outage 47,962 minutes
27-28 June Maastricht UAC FDPS failure 52,675 minutes
28 June Marseille Radio frequency issue 1,822 minutes
01-31 July Bordeaux Radar issue 12,159 minutes
01-31 July Brest ATC frequencies issues 21,319 minutes
01-05 July Roma OLDI failure 8,147 minutes
11 July Paris Communication system failure 2,392 minutes
14 July Zagreb OLDI failure between Zagreb and Brindisi 3,359 minutes
16-17 July
Marseille
Roma
OLDI failure between Marseille and Roma ACCs
2,713 minutes
2,079 minutes
21 July Marseille ATC industrial action 3,142 minutes
30 July Maastricht UAC iFMP outage 1,719 minutes
01-31 August Skopje FDPS limitation 6,548 minutes
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Date Location Event ATFM Delay Impact
01-31 August Brest ATC frequencies issues 25,499 minutes
10 August
Reims
Bordeaux
Maastricht UAC
Vienna
CPDLC issue caused limited capacity in several ACCs
1,727 minutes
409 minutes
1,108 minutes
569 minutes
16-17 August Bodo Power failure 6,097 minutes
01 September Reims Data link issue 4,870 minutes
07 September Shanwick OACC Technical issue with Oceanic Center systems 1,321 minutes
10 September Zurich FDP maintenance 2,036 minutes
23 September Zagreb Communication system failure 1,113 minutes
24 September Marseille
Communication system failure.
Precautionary measures in neighbouring ACCs
6,888 minutes
Alger ACC: 1,492 minutes
Barcelona ACC: 1,345 minutes
Madrid ACC: 1,408 minutes
04 October
Karlsruhe UAC
Munich
Bremen
DFS control Center experienced technical issue
which led to capacity reduction in several German
42,161 minutes
04 and 15 October Bremen Communication system issue 2,266 minutes
20 October Milano FDPS failure 9,772 minutes
28–29 October Budapest Radar maintenance 14,465 minutes
22 November Karlsruhe UAC FDPS instability 4,152 minutes
23 November
Maastricht UAC
Bordeaux
Datalink system issues 1,523 minutes
01-31 December Reims
Transfer of airspace below FL195 from Reims ACC to
Basel and Strasbourg Approach sectors
29,485 minutes
01-31 Dcember Barcelona Local radar issues in Valencia TMA 11,537 minutes
04-06 December France ATC industrial action 58,582 minutes
12-13 December Marseille ATC industrial action 7,430 minutes
17-18 December Marseille ATC industrial action 7,654 minutes
Table 3 Unplanned Events/Disruptions 2024
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ACC ANALYSIS
The European Network Operations Plan (NOP) 2024–2029 has two delay values for
each ACC:
• The required en-route delay/flight performance to achieve annual network
delay target in 2024 (0.5 min/flight). This is also known as the “delay
breakdown”, or reference values.
• The forecast delay based on 2024 NOP capacity planning, excluding
disruptions such as industrial action and technical failures.
Country ACC
En-route delay Traffic 2024 vs 2023 Capacity 2024 vs 2023
Reference
value
Delay
Forecast Actual Weather Forecast Actual NOP Plan Actual
Albania Tirana ACC 0.06 0.08 0.08 0.06 11.2% 21.9% 5% 11%
Armenia Yerevan ACC 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.0% 18.0% 0% 0%
Austria Wien ACC 0.16 0.27 0.58 0.39 7.8% 4.8% 5% 0%
Belgium Brussels ACC 0.14 0.17 0.08 0.02 5.9% 4.3% 3% 2%
Bosnia &
Herzegovina BH ACC 0.06 0.25 0.54 0.19 6.7% 8.4% 8% 0%
Bulgaria Sofia ACC 0.10 0.02 0.19 0.18 8.0% 7.6% 10% 4%
Croatia Zagreb ACC 0.18 0.47 1.66 0.89 7.0% 12.8% 7% 6%
Cyprus Nicosia ACC 0.15 0.06 0.01 0.00 -5.7% -6.0% 11% -6%
Czech Republic Praha ACC 0.10 0.14 0.14 0.10 9.8% 14.4% 8% 5%
Denmark Kobenhavn ACC 0.04 0.27 0.05 0.00 5.3% 5.7% 3% 6%
Estonia Tallinn ACC 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.00 7.1% 14.6% 3% 0%
Eurocontrol Maastricht UAC 0.20 0.23 0.20 0.09 7.0% 4.6% 3% 3%
Finland Helsinki ACC 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 7.5% 7.8% 30% 15%
France
Bordeaux ACC 0.12 0.13 0.41 0.13 6.2% 5.3% 8% 2%
Brest ACC 0.13 0.25 0.49 0.03 6.9% 6.5% 5% -3%
Marseille ACC 0.18 0.65 1.28 0.36 7.8% 7.1% 10% 6%
Paris ACC 0.09 0.70 0.64 0.22 6.5% 2.3% 10% 5%
Reims ACC 0.20 0.55 1.22 0.42 7.0% 6.7% 10% 3%
Georgia Tbilisi ACC 0.01 0.00 0.33 0.05 12.4% 28.9% 5% 13%
Germany
Bremen ACC 0.12 0.72 0.40 0.10 6.8% 6.8% 2% 7%
Karlsruhe UAC 0.20 1.65 1.59 0.70 7.3% 4.8% 5% 4%
Langen ACC 0.15 0.45 0.34 0.11 6.6% 2.2% 3% 0%
München ACC 0.11 0.47 0.48 0.21 8.0% 5.2% 18% 12%
Greece
Athinai ACC 0.13 0.78 0.82 0.13 2.1% 6.3% 1% 0%
Makedonia ACC 0.11 0.36 0.69 0.12 1.5% 8.0% 1% 0%
Hungary Budapest ACC 0.13 1.47 2.73 0.63 8.1% 5.9% 0% -13%
Ireland
Dublin ACC 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.00 8.1% 1.1% 5% 4%
Shannon ACC 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.00 6.4% 2.7% 5% 3%
Israel Tel Aviv ACC 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 -36.9% -33.2% 6% -6%
Italy
Brindisi ACC 0.03 0.05 0.01 0.01 7.0% -4.6% 6% -2%
Milano ACC 0.09 0.10 0.49 0.34 8.2% 6.6% 5% -4%
Padova ACC 0.09 0.06 0.22 0.22 7.6% 10.9% 6% 3%
Roma ACC 0.07 0.01 0.76 0.25 7.4% 14.9% 9% -4%
Latvia Riga ACC 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 5.2% 14.2% 5% 0%
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Lithuania Vilnius ACC 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 5.3% 11.8% 5% 0%
Malta Malta ACC 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 9.1% 11.0% 2% 2%
Moldova Chisinau ACC 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.4% 43.8% 0% 0%
Morocco
Agadir ACC 0.01 0.03 0.16 0.00 8.7% 11.4% 2% 8%
Casablanca ACC 0.01 0.01 0.07 0.00 11.7% 14.5% 5% 11%
Netherlands
Amsterdam
ACC 0.10 0.10 0.08 0.03 8.1% 5.3% 2% 0%
North
Macedonia Skopje ACC 0.06 0.47 0.54 0.24 3.8% 6.4% 0% 1%
Norway
Bodo ACC 0.04 0.04 0.03 0.00 2.9% 1.4% 0% 0%
Oslo ACC 0.07 0.07 0.02 0.00 3.9% 1.6% 5% 0%
Stavanger ACC 0.07 0.03 0.02 0.00 3.1% -0.2% 15% 7%
Poland Warszawa ACC 0.13 0.21 0.24 0.05 7.2% 8.1% 6% 0%
Portugal Lisboa ACC 0.13 0.49 0.42 0.01 7.0% 7.4% 6% 15%
Romania Bucuresti ACC 0.07 0.08 0.15 0.15 8.7% 6.5% 7% 0%
Serbia Beograd ACC 0.07 0.41 0.75 0.59 6.9% 9.2% 5% 6%
Slovakia Bratislava ACC 0.07 0.05 0.13 0.05 7.9% 13.2% 5% 0%
Slovenia Ljubljana ACC 0.07 0.08 0.05 0.05 5.6% 8.3% 5% 6%
Spain
Barcelona ACC 0.18 0.44 1.01 0.29 7.6% 8.3% 4% -5%
Canarias ACC 0.20 0.18 0.37 0.09 6.9% 8.5% 4% 1%
Madrid ACC 0.13 0.36 0.30 0.03 7.5% 6.6% 4% 4%
Palma ACC 0.14 0.09 0.35 0.09 1.1% 5.9% 3% -2%
Sevilla ACC 0.09 0.28 1.25 0.13 8.8% 7.7% 7% -4%
Sweden
Malmo ACC 0.09 0.04 0.01 0.01 6.6% 4.2% 15% 2%
Stockholm ACC 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.01 4.5% 0.6% 24% 0%
Switzerland
Geneva ACC 0.16 0.19 0.36 0.10 7.4% 12.3% 5% 7%
Zurich ACC 0.16 0.27 0.49 0.20 7.0% 10.8% 5% 6%
Turkiye Ankara ACC 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.00 6.3% 4.1% 10% 5%
United
Kingdom
London ACC 0.20 0.17 0.13 0.04 6.5% 3.9% 7% 3%
London TC 0.11 0.09 0.04 0.03 6.0% 3.0% 5% 3%
Prestwick ACC 0.10 0.08 0.02 0.00 6.1% 2.7% 5% 4%
Table 4 traffic growth, capacity /and delay for each ACC. Those ACCs that exceeded their reference
value are highlighted in “amber”. The “actual delay” does not include any delay re-attribution.
6 AIRPORTS
6.1 Influences on punctuality
As previously illustrated in section 3.2 the average airline schedule delay remained at
17.8 minutes per flight, unchanged from 2023. Reactionary (knock-on) delays stayed
at 8.0 minutes, while airline-related delays remained an issue ranking second dropped
with 4.3 minutes. Although the yearly average delay appeared stable, summer
performance worsened significantly, with en-route ATFM delays in July 2024 rising to
7.2 minutes per flight compared to 4.8 minutes in July 2023.
Punctuality 2023-2024
Table 4 reports the annual departure and arrival punctualities in 2023 and 2024.
Despite higher traffic in 2024, departure and arrival punctualities show respectively
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improvements of 1% and 1.5%. Figure 28 shows that the monthly averaged
punctualities were higher in 2024 compared to 2023, except for January and the
summer months (from June to September).
Although the average departure punctuality was 66% in 2024, it significantly dropped
between June and September, mainly because of the three following reasons:
1 - WX conditions, e.g. strong winds;
2 – coinciding special events, e.g. EURO2024 Finals in Germany, at the same time as
Wimbledon finals in the UK, both on Sat 13th
Jul 24, and
3 – technical, e.g. Microsoft / Crowd Strike on Fri 19th
July 2024 affected several
Cloud based systems used by various European and US carriers. Several airports
were affected across Europe making passenger booking confirmation or check-in
impossible.
2024 2023
Departure punctuality 66% 65%
Arrival punctuality 72 71%
Table 5 Network - annual averages of departure and arrival punctuality
Figure 28 Network - monthly evolution of the arrival and departure punctuality in 2023 and 2024
Table 6 shows that the average departure and arrival delays in 2024 were lower
compared to 2023. Figure 29 indicates that average delays were lower in 2024
compared to 2023 except for January and the summer months (from June to
September).
2024 2023
Average departure delay 17.1 17.6
Average arrival delay 14 14.7
Table 6 Network - annual averages of departure and arrival delays [min per flight]
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Figure 29 Network - monthly evolution of the average delays per flight in 2023 and 2024
Focus on peak-period
This section provides insight into the busy June-August period. Table 7 shows the
summer average delays and indicates that higher delays were recorded during
summer 2024 compared to summer 2023. The traffic increased by 4% for the same
period. Figure 30 shows the evolution of the 4 causes of delay: ground delay, departure
delays due to en-route and arrival (airports) regulation, and reactionary. Ground delay
decreased by 7% while departure delay due to en-route regulation increased by 53%.
Departure delay due to arrival regulation and reactionary remain at the same level than
2023.
Summer 2024 Summer 2023
Average departure delay 23.4 21.8
Average arrival delay 19.5 18.4
Table 7 Network - summer averages of departure and arrival delays [min per flight]
Figure 30 Network – summer average of the 4 causes of departure delay (ground delay, reactionary,
departure delays due to ATFM En-route and Arrival)
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Focus on the first rotation (first wave departures)2F
3
First rotation delays have an operational knock-on effect that can propagate delays
through the day. Figure 31 shows average ground delay and departure delay due to
regulation (both en-route and arrival) for the first wave. Average ground delay for first
rotations decreased by 10% from summer 2023 to 2024 while average departure delay
due to ATFM increased by 31%.
It is worth noting that the impact of the ground delay on the network (knock-on effect)
was reduced by 7%. Indeed 1 minute of first rotation ground delay during Summer 2024
led to 2.5 minutes of cumulated arrival delay in the network while it was 2.7 minutes
during Summer 2023.
Figure 31: Network - summer average departure delays of the first wave
TURNAROUND TIMES
Figure 32 shows the scheduled turnaround time for a flight (the black dashed line), the
available turnaround time (the yellow line), the actual turnaround time (the top of the
grey area) as well as the ATFM delay (the red area).
At network level, scheduled, available and actual turnaround times were relatively
stable year on year. The delta between scheduled and available widened in peak
summer months as network effects (the increased volume of red from May to October
2024) saw reactionary (knock-on) delays increase. December for both years also saw
slight dips in turnaround performance, however this was more ground handling related
due to winter weather conditions.
Figure 32 Network Turnaround Performance 2024 vs 2023
3NM’s airport unit reports first rotation flights as departures between 3.00 and 10.00 UTC.
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AIRLINE SCHEDULE RESILIENCE
Scheduling correctly is a difficult art: if too long a time is blocked for a flight, the airline
will not be able to make best use of their resources - staff, airframes, infrastructure.
Too short a time can arguably be worse as late flights generate rotational delay with
late incoming aircraft and passengers from previous flights having to be
accommodated.
When flights leave on time but arrive after the scheduled time of arrival, they cause
reactionary (knock-one) delays. Consequently, schedule padding is essential for air
carriers to find schedules which work with the typical patterns of delay, so that they
can deliver passengers on time whilst getting maximum use out of their aircraft.
Consequently, when delays decrease it takes one or two (IATA) seasons for the airline
to adapt its schedule accordingly.
Two CODA scheduling indicators help airline schedulers determine the optimal
schedule based on historical flight data (see Figure 33).
The Block Time Overshoot (BTO) is the percentage of flights with an actual block time
that exceeds the scheduled block time.
The Delay Difference Indicator - Flight (DDI-F) or departure delay recovery is the
difference between departure and arrival punctuality expressed in minutes. This can is
indicated as a positive or negative figure, for example, a flight departing with 20
minutes delay and arriving with 30 minutes arrival delay will have a DDI-F of +10
minutes.
The European DDI-F in 2024 was -4.7 minutes, this an increase in comparison to 2023
where the DDI-F was -4.2 minutes. In essence translating, it was easier to recover
schedule delay compared to 2023.
The Block Time Overshoot (BTO) is the percentage of flights with an actual block time
that exceeds the scheduled block time. The European BTO in 2024 decreased to 25.6%
compared to 27.4% in 2023. This 1.8 p.p. difference shows that it was taking less time
than planned to complete flights.
In summary, given the increased delay in the network the changes in the BTO and DDI-
F indicate that airlines have added buffer to their schedules to absorb potential
disruption (knock-on delays).
Figure 33 Block Time Overshoot (BTO) and Delay Difference Indicator - Flight (DDI-F) Network
January 2023 – December 2024
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6.2 AIRPORT PERFORMANCE
This section shows 2024 punctuality and schedule delays at the busiest top 80
airports.
Global evolution
Figure 34 shows that departure punctuality between 2023 and 2024 varied from one
airport to another. The three airports with highest departure punctuality in 2024 were
Stavanger, Trondheim and Bergen, while Lisbon, Naples, and Rome Fiumicino
observed the lowest punctualities. Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Copenhagen and Istanbul
had the highest increase in departure punctuality compared to 2023 while Tenerife
Norte, Helsinki, and Budapest had the highest decrease. The highest arrival punctuality
was in Norway (same top 3 than for departure punctuality), while the three airports
with lowest arrival punctuality were Tel Aviv, Antalya and Belgrade. Those trends were
also reflected in the average departure and arrival delays. To note that London Gatwick
observed the largest reduction of departure delays between 2023 and 2024 benefitting
from completed works and collaborative efforts for increasing resilience and
punctuality.
Figure 34. Airport departure(top) and arrival (bottom) punctuality in 2024 and 2023. Airports are sorted
depending on 2024 departure punctuality.
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Focus on peak-period 2024
This section provides insight into the period between June and August. This period
sees increased traffic, higher delays and increased pressure on airport operations.
Figure 35 shows that many airports had lower punctuality during summer 2024 - some
like Budapest, Vienna, and Antalya saw a significant drop compared to 2023. The
reverse is true for Lisbon, Copenhagen and London Gatwick. Most airports also saw
their arrival and departure delays increase in summer 2024 compared to 2023.
Figure 35. Airport departure(top) and arrival (bottom) punctuality in summers 2024 and 2023. Airports
are sorted depending on summer 2024 departure punctuality.
Delay cause at airport locations
Figure 36 and Figure 37 show the average ground delay and departure delay related to
ATFM regulations at individual airports for summers 2024 and 2023. The three airports
with highest ground delay in 2024 are Rome Fiumicino, Casablanca and Munich, which
saw their ground delay increase compared to 2023. The decrease of ground delay from
summer 2023 to 2024 at Network level reported in Figure 35 is reflected in Figure 36
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for most airports. The airports that show significant improvements are Lisbon,
Belgrade and Gatwick.
Figure 37 shows that for most airports the departure delay due to ARRIVAL regulation
remained at same level between the two summers, while departure delay due to
ENROUTE regulation significantly increased. The airports with highest increase in
departure delay due to ENROUTE regulation are Ankara, Palermo, and Catania.
Figure 36. Airport average ground delay per flight in summers 2024 and 2023. Airports are sorted
depending on summer 2024 average ground delay
Figure 37. Airport average departure delay due to ATFM regulation (En-route and Arrival) in summers
2024 and 2023. Airports are sorted depending on summer 2024 average ground delay.
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6.3 AIRPORT DISRUPTIONS
A number of unplanned disruptions imposed capacity reductions at certain airports
(see Table 7)
Date Location Event ATFM Delay Impact
01-31 January Lanzarote &
Fuerteventura
ATC industrial action 7,691 minutes
23 to 24 January Rome/Fiumicino Single runway operations due to
ALCMS (Airfield Lightning Control
& Monitoring System) upgrade
4,492 minutes
07 February Athens ILS check 1,435 minutes
07 February Lyon Radar failure 1,269 minutes
19 & 21 February Gran Canaria ILS check 4,837 minutes
01-29 February Lanzarote &
Fuerteventura
ATC industrial action 12,749 minutes
01-31 March Lanzarote &
Fuerteventura
ATC industrial action 15,291 minutes
09 March Frankfurt/Main Lack of parking positions resulting
in two days of Industrial Action
1,940 minutes
15-19 March Naples Radar maintenance 11,386 minutes
18-31 March Eindhoven Communication system failure 1,893 minutes
01-30 April Lanzarote &
Fuerteventura
ATC industrial action 1,154 minutes
12 April Gran Canaria Drone intrusion 1,136 minutes
15 April Amsterdam/Schiphol Intervention on ATM system 1,558 minutes
25 April France ATC industrial action 4,577 minutes
01-08 May Antalya ASMGCS failure 24,729 minutes
28 May Tel Aviv/Ben Gurion Radar failure 1,380 minutes
08-31 May Pisa Radar maintenance 3,517 minutes
23-31 May France ATC industrial action 18,550 minutes
28 May Frankfurt Disposal of WW2 ordnance 2,293 minutes
06-28 June Pisa Radar failure and maintenance 7,161 minutes
01-30 June France ATC industrial action 5,054 minutes
14-27 June Paris/Orly ILS25 unavailability 1,671 minutes
18 June Barcelona ILS calibration 1,903 minutes
25 June Geneva Capacity reduction due to flooding
of the ops room
3,597 minutes
26 June Paris/Le Bourget ILS calibration 2,287 minutes
05 July Venice ATC industrial action 1,984 minutes
20 July Venice IT issues 3,228 minutes
25 July Naples IT issues 4,644 minutes
05 August Athens Radar issue 1,979 minutes
10 August Lisbon CPDLC issue 1,127 minutes
24 August Manchester FDPS failure 1,052 minutes
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11 September Antalya Electrical failure 2,944 minutes
04 October Frankfurt Datalink issue 1,773 minutes
13 October Athens Radar issue 1,169 minutes
19 October Amsterdam/Schiphol Communication system failure 1,582 minutes
29 October Malaga Communication system failure 2,220 minutes
01-05 November Porto Frequency issues 6,024 minutes
18 November London/Heathrow IT issue in British Airways 1,447 minutes
29 November Italy ATC industrial action 2,688 minutes
01-31 December Strasbourg Transfer of airspace below FL195
from Reims ACC to Basel and
Strasbourg Approach sectors
1,391 minutes
04-06 December France ATC industrial action 7,311 minutes
12-16 December Edinburgh New EFPS equipment 3,665 minutes
15 December Milano/Malpensa ATC industrial action 776 minutes
Table 8 Unplanned airport Events/Disruptions 2024
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6.4 NM ACTIONS
PRE-TACTICAL SUPPORT (AIRPORT BRIEFINGS)
The NM Airport Unit and the Airport Function holds a weekly briefing targeted to airport
operators, ANSPs and airlines, with the aim of sharing the results of post-operations
analysis and the foreseen matters that might impact them and the network during the
following weeks. These briefings cover the following topics: an outlook of the
operations the week before and week ahead, the weekly pre-tactical DCB hotspots,
traffic demand forecast, post-ops flight evolution, punctuality and ground delay,
passenger demand, events, and weather information. The NM Airport Unit and the
Airport Function release a written pack containing extended information weekly
published in the Airport Corner.
Once the summer season is over, the frequency of the live-presentations decreases to
bi-weekly meetings with a view to organise extraordinary live briefings when
circumstances require so. However, the written pack continues to be issued weekly via
the Airport Corner.
During the ski season, the Airport Weekly Briefing addressed the airports known for
being the gateways to the ski resorts and that might impact the network.
TACTICAL SUPPORT (AIRPORT FUNCTION)
The Airport Function of the NM is now a permanent position within the NMOC,
providing services to capacity-challenged regional and hub airports, supporting
resolution of demand-capacity balancing issues and facilitating operational exchange
between an airport operations centre (APOC) and the NMOC. The Airport Function
closely monitors Night Curfews (closures or night quotas) and endeavours to prevent
the need for diversions wherever possible.
OTHER SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
During 2024, NM continued the close and effective collaboration with airports for their
integration into the Network. Actions and elements are recorded in the 2024 Network
Operation Plan but also resulting from situations identified in the Rolling Network
Operation plan have been regularly taken in collaboration with the Airports. The range
of support in this context varied from the information publication and event
management to more long-term support and targeted solutions tailored to the local
needs.
Additionally, NM continued to further develop the Passenger Demand Support Service
with main focus to improve the reporting schema on the passenger demand during
Airport Briefings and NDOP meetings. The idea was to effectively replace the price
ratio indicator with a more concrete solution detecting potential overdemand of the
passenger volumes in reference to terminal capacities. On top of that, NM B2B Service
has been enhanced including the predictions, which are available for an automated
acquisition.
NM also responded to the request from regional airports and respective ANSPs to start
working on a cost-effective solution supporting safe ground operations in all weather
conditions. As such the Surface Movement Awareness System (SMAS) concept has
been developed while being consulted with EUROCAE, EASA and all the operational
stakeholders. Further works are expected to validate and standardize the solution.
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The landing and take-off emission estimator tool has been further re-adapted to meet
the operational needs of the concerned stakeholders such as airport operators, and air
navigation service providers. The tool responds to a growing demand and supports
our stakeholders in monitoring and management of the operations based on the
environmental metrics covering ground but also extends to wider area around the
airport with the aim to depict CO2, NOx, and the volumes of fuel burned.
NM remained active in training development and delivery while maintaining an agile
form of communicating on the most relevant developments and proceedings via the
EUROCONTROL Aviation Learning Centre’s portfolio of services.
7 FLIGHT EFFICIENCY
This chapter summarises progress on implementing the actions of the 2008 joint
IATA/CANSO/EUROCONTROL Flight Efficiency Plan and responds to the requirements
of the SES performance scheme.
The NM flight efficiency targets and objectives for 2024 included in the Network
Performance Plan (NPP) 2020-2024, in the Network Operations Plan (NOP) 2024-2029
and in the ERNIP Part 2 – ARN Version 2024-2030 are listed below:
Route extension – airspace design (DES)
Target:
• The NM objective is to reach a further reduction of 0.25pp from the 2019
reference value (an average of 0.05pp per year in RP3)
Route extension – last filed flight plan (KEP)
Target:
• achieve a KEP target of 3.73% for the NM area in 2024.
Route extension – actual trajectory (KEA)
Target:
• achieve a KEA target of 2.4% for both SES and NM areas in 2024.
Flight efficiency indicators are monitored for pure airspace design and for flight
planning. The trend evolution of those indicators since the beginning of 2022 is shown
on Figure 38.
The continued implementation of Free Route Airspace and the expansion of cross-
border Free Route Airspace had a positive effect on the airspace design route
extension indicator. The same applies for the last filed flight plan and the actual
trajectory indicators as the airspace design changes compensated to a large extent
the impact of the Ukrainian crisis and the avoidance routes that had to be operated as
a result of that. These positive effects have been also enabled by the Flight Efficiency
Implementation Network Strategic Project that accelerated the close cooperation
between NM, the airspace users and the computer flight plan service providers. This
evolution continues to demonstrate the necessity to continue the cooperative
approach towards airspace design and enhanced flight planning.
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Figure 38: KEA and KEP evolutions per month 2022-2024
A number of events in 2024 affected the network and had direct consequences on the
flight efficiency evolution:
• Flights avoided the entire Ukrainian, Belarus and Russian airspace moving to
neighbouring countries (Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary,
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, etc.); adjacent ACCs/ UACs were on-loaded by Far
Eastern traffic avoiding the Ukraine airspace leading to increased route
extensions.
• Avoidance of Belarus as a result of the EU sanctions.
• Strong economic recovery, especially in South and East Europe, has resulted in
increased demand for travel, particularly for leisure and tourism. This has led to
higher than expected flight numbers across Europe, especially in Southern and
Eastern regions.
• Flights avoided Syrian, Iraqi and Iranian airspace due to the security situation;
traffic between Europe, Middle East and Asia re-routed via Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan and/or Saudi Arabia, Egypt with additional impacts on the flows
from the Ukrainian crisis situation.
• Impacts of Israeli crisis led to a volatile situation in terms of airspace and routes
availability in the region throughout the year. Increased number of overflights in
the South Caucasus States was one result of the mentioned geopolitical event.
• During the summer the network operated with constrained airspaces in central
Europe (4-Flight system implementation in Paris ACC, Olympic games). This led
to a Southeast bound flows shift to the west, with notable increases in Italy,
Switzerland and western Balkan States
• Arrival trajectories in the terminal area of the Istanbul airport that sit outside of
the 40 nautical mile circle.
• A significant increase in military activity.
7.1 AIRSPACE DESIGN
As part of the Flight Efficiency Plan, States and ANSPs cooperated closely with NM to
develop and implement enhanced airspace design solutions. More than 100 airspace
improvement packages were co-ordinated at network level and implemented during
2024. As a result, the route extension due to airspace design (RTE-DES) continued its
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downward trend throughout the year, reaching its lowest ever average level in 2024, at
1.64%, further decreasing by 0.15 pp than in 2023, which is better than the targets in
the Network Performance Plan (0,25 pp decrease per year in RP3).
Figure 39 : yearly evolution of the airspace design indicator (RTE-DES)
The average route extension due to
airspace design decreased from 1.79% in
2023 to 1.64% in 2024 (Figure 39).
Figure 40: Potential yearly savings/ losses in nautical miles due to airspace
design
This represents a potential saving in 2024
of 5.558.000 nautical miles (Figure 40),
approximately 32.000 tonnes of fuel,
reduced emissions of 102.000 tonnes of
CO2, or ~23 M€ fuel savings
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7.2 AIRSPACES CHANGES VS FLIGHT PLANNING
The flight planning indicator (KEP) measures the length of the flight planned trajectory
compared to the great circle (route extension). It reflects inefficiencies in the use of
the airspace (due to RAD restrictions, CDR availability, inefficient flight-planning, no fly
areas etc.), but also user preferences for cheaper rather than shorter routes.
While KEP improved significantly in 2024 (4.59%) over 2023 (4.72%), KEA remained
flat overall, reflecting the constraints in the network during summer (KEA was worse
than 2023 during June-September months and better or flat the rest of the year).
(Figure 41) for the NM area. The achieved 2024 KEP of 4.59% remains above the KEP
2024 target of 3.73% for the NM area.
Figure 41: Yearly evolution of flight-planning indicator (KEP)
Figure 42 shows the annual miles flight planned in the period 2020-2024 and the
marginal change between years.
The average flight-planned distance in 2024 increased by 10 nautical miles compared
to 2023. With the traffic recovery, the flight plan route extension decreased in 2024 by
53.8 million nautical miles over 2023. The extra planned distance is mainly due to the
various network situations, in particular, the impact of the war in Ukraine that
materialised in 2023 figures. At the same time, the average city pair distance increased
in 2024 by 1.5% as more long and medium haul flights were operated. The cumulative
effect of both could not be eliminated by the significant improvement made in airspace
design. The 53.8 million nautical increase represents 32.2 kilotons more fuel burn
(101.8 kilotons of CO2.)
Figure 42 Yearly savings/ losses in nautical miles (NM) due to improved flight planning efficiency
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7.3 ACTUAL TRAJECTORY
Figure 43: Yearly evolution of the actual trajectory indicator (KEA)
The actual trajectory
indicator (KEA) remains
unchanged 3.19% in 2024 in
the NM area (Figure 43),
above the KEA 2024 target
of 2.4% set for both the NM
and SES areas. KEA
increased by 0.10pp in 2023
mainly due to the war in
Ukraine.
Figure 44 shows the annual miles actually flown in the period 2020-2024 and the
marginal change between years.
The average distance flown in 2024 increased by 9 nautical miles compared to
2023. With the traffic recovery, the actual route extension increased in 2023 by 2.59
million more nautical miles over 2023. The extra distance is mainly due to the various
network situations, in particular, the impact of the war in Ukraine that materialised in
2023 figures. At the same time, the average city pair distance increased in 2023 by
1.6% as more long and medium haul flights were operated. The cumulative effect of
both could not be eliminated by the significant improvement made in airspace design.
The extra 2.59 million nautical represents 15.5 kilotons more fuel burn (49 kilotons of
CO2).
Figure 44 Yearly savings in nautical miles (NM) due to improved flight efficiency
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7.4 CONDITIONAL ROUTES (CDR)
CDR availability is an important element when considering ASM in the network
operations context. Figure 45 shows the ECAC map of published CDR1 for the last
AIRAC of the year 2024 as they are stored in CACD.
Figure 45 ECAC map of published CDR1 and CDR1/3 for AIRAC 2412 (28 November 2024)
Figure 46 shows little changes in absolute figures for CDR numbers of segments in 2024 compared to
past five years. This is due mainly to transition to Single CDR as part of the continuous network
improvement process (covered by ERNIP part 2). Implementation of the Single CDR Category which
happened in most of ECAC states is already noticeable since CDR2 and CDR1/2 became either CDR1
or ATS routes. The process is practically finalised at the end of 2022.
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Figure 46 Evolution of CDR number 2020 - 2024 Figure 47 Rate of CDR availability (RoCA) in 2024
Figure 47 shows RoCA for CDR1. RoCA for CDR1 has high values (95.7% to 98%) over
the entire year.
The Rate of Aircraft Interested RAI (Figure 48)- flights planning the available CDRs is
relatively low (22.16% yearly average) with small variations between 20.0% to 23.9%
during summer.
The Rate of Aircraft Interested RAU (Figure 49) - has an average of 34.5% with values
between 32.0% and 36.3%.
Both indicators RAI and RAU have low values as a result of reduced potential of CDR
to offer better routing solutions with the expansion of FRA airspace, most of them being
contained in lower airspace below FRA.
Figure 48 RAI (%) 2024 per AIRAC cycle. Figure 49 RAU (%) 2024 per AIRAC cycle
This fact is clearly illustrated in the above charts of RAI and RAU evolution over the
past five years. They show the trend to use less the CDR even when planned since
there are today more and better options either in FRA or the significant number of
available DCTs. While in 2020 and 2021 due to the favorable environment for air
operations with fewer RAD restrictions the actual CDR utilisation for actual traffic
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
CDR number of segments 2024
CDR2
CDR1/2
CDR1
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2313
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2402
2403
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percentage
(%)
AIRAC cycle
RoCA: AIRAC values 2024
CDR1
0
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2313
2401
2402
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percentage
(%)
RAI (%) 2024 per AIRAC cycle
0
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2313
2401
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percentage
(%)
RAU (%) 2024 per AIRAC cycle
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increased significantly, the situation of 2022 to 2024 when traffic increased close to
2019 level reversed the trend.
Figure 50 Five year RAI evolution Figure 51 Five year RAU evolution
Figure 52 CDR availability vs. usage in 2024
Figure 52 shows the number of CDRs available for
flight planning (blue line), the number of those
actually used in flight plans (green line) and the
number of those that were actually flown (red line).
The values indicate that in 2024 63% of available
CDRs are used, while in 2023 the utilisation was
67%.
CDRs used and planned versus CDRs available
maintained an almost constant difference in 2024 –
the gap between availability and utilisation was 93%
to 96%. There is a room for improvement with
regards to airspace users utilization of available
CDR routes in flight planning and execution. Many
airlines have defined company routes in such a way
that if the flight planning system cannot create an
automated, optimized route, the route used shuold
be always available, regardless of AUP/UUP, and
therefore does not include CDRs.
On some city pairs this behavior results in lost route
savings of up to 40 NM.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
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2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
percentage
(%)
Year
RAI (%) 2020-2024
RAI_CDR
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percentage
(%) Year
RAU (%) 2020-2024
RAU_CDR
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Total CDR1 in AUP,UUP CDR1 used for planning CDR1 actually used
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RESTRICTED/SEGREGATED AIRSPACE (RSA)
The Free Route Airspace expansion means that flights can plan and fly far more
trajectories than in a fixed route network adapted to changing environment. As a
consequence, managing the access to areas with restrictions cannot simply be done
by opening and closing CDRs. The airspace management process should be based on
timely notification of airspace status by RSA availability. To reflect and assess this
aspect of ASM, specific RSA KPIs have been established similar to CDR FUA KPI.
Consequently, a comprehensive process for monitoring and analysis is in place and
the results are illustrated in this section. Figure 49 shows the ECAC map of published
RSAs for the last AIRAC of the year 2024 as they are stored in CACD.
Figure 53: Map of the RSAs from NM database (CACD) for AIRAC 2412
The evolution of the published RSAs in 2024 is
shown in Figure 54 23.0% of the RSAs have
established one or more Flight Buffer Zones (FBZ).
Figure 54 Number of RSAs in CACD by AIRAC cycle for year
2024
From the total number of RSAs existing in CACD
only 63% were used in 2024 for the daily airspace
reservation by AUP/UUP process, see Figure 55.
Figure 55 Number of RSAs used in airspace reservations vs.
total RSAs in CACD
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
2313 2401 2402 2403 2404 2405 2406 2407 2408 2409 2410 2411 2412
AIRAC
RSAs in CACD
RSA_CACD_clean
RSA with FBZ
0
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3000
4000
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6000
2313
2401
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RSAs utilisation for airspace reservation
RSA_CACD
RSA_AUP
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The evolution of the number of flights using the
available RSAs over the year 2024 is represented
in Figure 56, together with the traffic average
values for each AIRAC cycle.
Figure 56 Number of interested flights, flights planning via
RSA (ARFL) and actual flights (AU)
Availability of the airspace utilises a similar
indicator to CDR RoCA, called Rate of Airspace
Availability (RoAA). The Rate of aircraft interested
(RAI) and Rate of Actual Use of RSA (RAU) have the
same meaning as for CDRs only referring to RSAs
instead. ASM indicators for RSAs are defined in
ERNIP part 3, Section 7.
Figure 57 shows the evolution of these indicators
by AIRAC cycle in 2024.
Figure 57 ASM KPI for RSAs – RoAA, RAI, RAU
RAU follows the RAI trend at 30-40% higher values,
due to ATC civil-military coordination either by
relaxed FUA restrictions or by tactical coordination
allowing some flights to cross active areas under
certain conditions and agreements.
ERSA indicator stands for Effective RSA booking. It was introduced for RP3 reporting by the
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/317. The values calculated are the ratio between the actual
booking time at the end of the day of operation and the initial booking at the beginning of the day (the
last AUP/UUP from D-1). This indicator gives an indication of the effectiveness of rolling UUP process,
ultimately the dynamics of ASM during the day.
Figure 58: ASM KPI for RSAs – ERSA
ERSA values for 2024 are between 86.7% to 94.2% (Figure 58). Those values have been calculated for
manageable RSA, since for NAM RSA the values were confirmed measured of 100%
23,919
24,349
25,929
28,657
31,019
33,488
35,619 35,686 35,362 34,615
32,069
26,858 26,260
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
2313 2401 2402 2403 2404 2405 2406 2407 2408 2409 2410 2411 2412
RSA flights/day/RSA
Interested flights/day/ RSA Flights in RSA (FPL)/day/RSA Flights in RSA (actual)/day/RSA Traffic_IFPS
RoAA
RAI
RAU
0
20
40
60
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100
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(%)
AIRAC
RSA - RoAA, RAI, RAU (%)
80
85
90
95
100
2313 2401 2402 2403 2404 2405 2406 2407 2408 2409 2410 2411 2412
(%)
AIRAC
RSA - ERSA (%)
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7.5 FREE ROUTE AIRSPACE
The Free Route Airspace is a specified airspace within which users may freely plan a
route between a defined entry point and a defined exit point, with the possibility to
route via intermediate (published or unpublished) significant points, without reference
to the ATS route network, subject to airspace availability. Within this airspace, flights
remain subject to air traffic control.
The Free Route Airspace gives airspace users the freedom to plan a route in European
airspace.
Operating a FRA environment offers improved traffic predictability due to more stable
trajectories. At the same time, it enhances the use of conflict detection tools. The FRA
concept leads to a better spread of conflicts compared with the concentration of
conflicts generated by the former fixed ATS route network.
Free Route Airspace implementation within the European network started on 07th May
2009 by Portugal within the airspace of Lisboa FIR and is continuing in accordance
with ERNIP.
The ACCs listed below have implemented Free Route Airspace by the end of 2024.
H24
Free Route Airspace
implementation
FRA Portugal (Lisboa ACC)
BOREALIS FRA (Oslo, Stavanger, Bodo, Tampere, Tallinn, Riga,
Kobenhavn, Malmo, Stockholm, Shannon, Prestwick ACCs and
some sectors of Swanwick ACC)
BALTIC FRA (Warszawa and Vilnius ACCs)
SEE FRA (Budapest, Sofia, Bucuresti, Bratislava and Chisinau
ACCs)
SECSI FRA (Beograd, Zagreb, Wien, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Tirana
and Skopje ACCs)
FRA-IT (Roma, Padova, Brindisi and Milano ACCs)
FRA Malta (Malta ACC)
FRASC (Tbilisi and Yerevan ACCs)
DFS FRA (Karlsruhe UAC)
UKRNESFRA (Kyiv, Lviv and Dnipro ACCs)
FRAM (Maastricht UAC)
HISPAFRA (Canarias, Madrid and Barcelona ACCs)
FRACH (Geneva and Zurich ACCs)
UKODSFRA (Odesa ACC)
HELLAS FRA (Athinai and Makedonia ACCs)
LFFRASE (Marseille ACC)
LFFRAE (Reims ACC)
Non-H24
Free Route Airspace
implementation
DFS FRA (Bremen and Munchen ACCs)
NICFRA (Nicosia ACC)
FRA Morocco (Agadir ACC and Casablanca ACC)
Table 9 Free Route Airspace Implementations
NM is closely associated to the FRA implementation through airspace design, airspace
validations, definition of network airspace utilisation rules and availability, overall
network interconnectivity and interoperability, simulations, and NM systems upgrades.
During 2024 the following implementations were completed:
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• Improvement of flight planning options across the interface between London
ACC (Clacton and North Sea sectors) and Maastricht UAC.
• Implementation of South East FRA Cell (LFFRASE step 1) – H24 FRA above
FL195 in South Marseille ACC area.
• Implementation of East FRA Cell (LFFRAE) – H24 FRA above FL195 in Reims
ACC area, including cross-border FRA operations H24 with FRA Switzerland
and night cross-border FRA operations with Maastricht UAC.
• Improvement of FRAIT with the lowering of the FRA limit from FL305 to FL195,
as well as allowing cross-border FRA operations between FRA-IT and SECSI
FRA.
• Cross-border FRA operations between SECSI FRA and SEE FRA (between
Vienna CTA and Praha CTA/Bratislava CTA/Budapest CTA).
• Cross-border FRA operations between BALTIC FRA and SEE FRA (FRACZECH).
• Implementation of Night Free Route Airspace FL195 - FL460 within the AoR of
Casablanca ACC for overflights.
• Cross-border FRA operations for ARR/DEP EK/ES between FAB DK-SE and
Baltic FAB.
The map below shows the European Free Route Airspace deployment status at the end
2024.
7.6 ROUTE AVAILABILITY DOCUMENT (RAD)
The Route Availability Document (RAD) is a tool that addresses how the European
network airspace may be used. According to the Commission Regulation (EU) No
255/2010 the RAD is a common reference document containing the policies,
procedures and description for route and traffic orientation.
The Network Manager Implementing Rule (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU)
2019/123) makes a clear reference that the European Route Network Improvement
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Plan shall include route network and free route airspace utilisation rules and
availability.
The airspace design and airspace utilisation aspects were brought closer by the
established multi-disciplinary EUROCONTROL NM RAD Team guided by the
Operational Stakeholders RAD Management Group.
The actions performed by the NM RAD Team have facilitated a pragmatic refinement
of the RAD during 2024, with full cooperation of Operational Stakeholders, aiming to
overcome weaknesses in airspace design and ATM system functionality and to ensure
application of the remaining airspace utilisation rules and availability only where and
when required.
RMG/RNDSG/NETOPS/NDOP/NMB supported the proposals for amendment to ERNIP
Part 1 and Part 4 related to further improvements in RAD content, which are:
• Creation of Chapter 4 in ERNIP Part 4 defining in detail the agreed standardized
RAD Grammar.
• Creation of Chapter 5 in ERNIP Part 4 containing the RAD Data Content
definition for each RAD Annex.
• Clarification of the use of Flight Level (FL) and Requested Flight Level (RFL) in
the RAD supported by examples
• Definition of a Rolling RAD document, containing all the RAD data for a certain
AIRAC.
• Definition of RAD Significant Dates and change of the timeline for RAD Data
Provision and Publication in order to allow more time to NRCs and align the
process with the AIP data provision.
o The RAD cut-off date (AIRAC publication date - 42 day before the
RAD/AIRAC effective date), i.e. the latest date for traffic flow rules
and/or flight planning facilitation options to reach the NM RAD Team.
o b) The RAD publication date (AIRAC latest reception date - 28 day
before the RAD/AIRAC effective date), i.e. the date at which the NM RAD
Team sends out the RAD.
o c) The RAD effective date (AIRAC effective date), i.e. the date at which
the RAD takes effect.
o d) The RAD switch date (AIRAC last day)
The major RAD evolutions and developments in 2023 focusing particularly at network
level and covering the entire NM area of responsibility were as follows:
• NM RAD Team supported the National RAD Coordinators in the work of
converting the Traffic Flow Rules and Flight Planning Facilitation Option to the
new RAD Grammar, in order to reduce their workload and ensure a smooth
transition.
• Development and deployment of a new RAD Application as part of the iNM
Wave O.
• Further improvements and simplification in the RAD Application to manage the
Annex for Special Events and Crises.
• Proposals for structural airspace changes to eliminate the need for RAD TFRs.
• Definition of requirements and gradually implement an enhanced pre-validation
process supported by automation to allow better validation and flight planning.
• Gradual improvement in RAD utilization definition, adaptation of the
expressions in the RAD and harmonisation in entire RAD.
• Continuation of harmonisation of terminology and definitions of TFRs and
flight planning facilitation options.
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• Continuation of improvements in RAD availability (publication) to users. New
Rolling RAD document allows for a better and more consolidated overview of
the RAD changes.
• Continuation of rationalisation of TFRs expression.
• Termination of the pdf RAD publication. This has been replaced by a
consolidated excel version containing all the RAD Data.
• Continuation of improvements in coordination of RAD airspace data reference
versus airspace changes.
• Adaptation of RAD Documentation.
In 2023 Technical changes have been implemented to introduce improvements for a
more efficient management of Dynamic RAD. Due to the necessary changes required
for local systems, a transition period until the end of 2024 was agreed among the
different partners. The stakeholders agreed as well to continue with live trials on
selected RADs by volunteers ANSPs using the initial solutions used to validate the
Dynamic RAD concept, still compatible with the technical changes introduced.
Gradually ANSPs started to apply the dynamic RAD concepts, while Aos/CFSPs are
continuing the update of their system. Possibility to use different solutions will grant a
smooth operational evolution in 2025.
7.7 FLIGHT EFFICIENCY PLAN
As part of Flight Efficiency Plan, intensive work has been undertaken by States and
ANSPs in close cooperation with NM to develop and implement enhanced airspace
design solutions, airspace improvement.
These improvement measures reduced significantly the actual losses recorded as a
result of number of events which had direct consequences on the flight efficiency
evolution. The list below provides an overview of the major enhancements
implemented in 2024:
• Albania
(1) ATM system improvements Tirana ACC.
• Austria
(1) Airspace organisation in Wien ACC
• Austria/Czech Republic/Slovak Republic/Hungary
(1) Cross-border FRA operations between SECSI FRA and SEE FRA (between Vienna
CTA and Praha CTA/Bratislava CTA/Budapest CTA).
• Belgium
(1) EBCI Procedures.
• Croatia
(1) Removal of conventional routes.
• Denmark
(1) VOR stations closure Denmark - Phase 1 and Phase 2
(2) RNAV 1 Helicopter Routes.
(3) Areas over the High Seas.
(4) Division flight level change in EKDK and FIR sector split.
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(5) New TRAs.
• France
(1) VOR/NDB stations rationalization France - Phase 2.
(2) Free Route Airspace France SE step1 - Marseille ACC.
(3) Free Route Airspace France E - Reims ACC.
(4) Cognac Fighter School Airspace Improvement - Phase 1.
(5) D54 reorganization.
(6) Paris ACC re-organisation - Phase 3a.
(7) Paris ACC re-organisation - Phase 3b.
(8) Reims - Strasbourg - Bale interface.
(9) ZENA military areas - Phase 1.
• Germany
(1) AIP publication adaptation.
(2) New PBN STARS Frankfurt (EDDF).
(3) CB FRA operations Germany - MUAC - Phase.
(4) 5LNC replacement by Germany.
(5) PBN procedures at Heringsdorf (EDAH) Airport.
(6) PBN procedures at Kassel-Calden (EDVK) Airport.
(7) PBN procedures at Friedrichshafen (EDNY) Airport.
• Greece
(1) Extension of IRAKLION TMA.
(2) PBN SIDs/STARs Athens TMA.
(3) Implementation of new 5LNC point SIRIO - New FRA(I) points SIRIO, PERIM,
EKTOS.
• Italy
(1) FRA vertical limits improvement.
(2) NC sector transferred from Brindisi to Rome ACC.
(3) Removal of conventional routes with France.
(4) Cross-border FRA operations between FRAIT and SECSI FRA.
• Lithuania
(1) Lithuania Airspace reconfiguration project - Step 2.
(2) LT-PL interface for Vilnius and Kaunas flights reorganisation.
• Lithuania/Czech Republic/Poland/Sweden
(1) Cross-border FRA operations between BALTIC FRA and SEE FRA (FRACZECH).
• Montenegro
(1) Removal of conventional routes.
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• Morocco
(2) Improvement of available capacity.
(3) FRA Morocco (MORFRA) - Casablanca FRA area, Step 1a.
(4) Radar approach Fes (GMFF) airport.
(5) New TMA Nador (GMMW) airport.
(6) New TMA Tetouan (GMTN) airport.
(7) Single CDR Category (SCC) - Morocco.
(8) New sectorisation project in GMMMCTA.
(9) PBN RNP procedures in GMTN.
(10) RAD promulgation in ENR 1.10.
• Norway
(1) AMC-areas Northern Norway.
(1) MØRE TMA airspace re-organization.
(2) Low level Helicopter routes Norway.
• Poland
(1) New TMA Rzeszów entry/exit points and new SIDs/STARs procedures
connected to new points.
(2) FAB DK-SE - Baltic FAB Cross Border FRA.
• Portugal
(1) STAR redesignation.
(2) Lisboa TMA Point Merge System.
(3) New SID and STAR structure in Cascais.
(4) FRA AIP Publication.
• Republic of North Macedonia
(1) TMA extension.
• Republic of Serbia
(1) Conventional routes – removal.
(2) IFP implementation at LYUZ - Phase 1.
(3) Consolidation of Beograd ACC sectorisation.
(4) IFP implementation at LYUZ - Phase 2.
• Romania
(1) Implementation of new 5LNC point: EFJAS.
• Slovak Republic
(1) Conventional routes - removal.
• Spain
(1) SUR sector split - Sevilla ACC.
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• Switzerland
(1) Introduction of Minimum Obstacle Clearance Altitudes (MOCA) in AIP
Switzerland ENR 3.
(2) Modification of Area Designators.
• Türkiye
(1) New ATS route in Istanbul FIR.
(2) Çukurova Regional Airport (LTDB).
• United Kingdom
(1) Edinburgh Airport RNAV.
(2) Gatwick RNAV Substitution - Part 2.
(3) Heathrow RNAV Substitution - Part 2.
(4) London Healthcare Bridge (Trial).
(5) PINs - King’s College Hospital, London.
(6) PINs - Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.
(7) PINs - William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.
(8) PINs - Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Outmarsh.
(9) RAF Fairford RPAS Operations (High Altitude).
(10) RNP Procedures - Redhill Aerodrome.
(11) Shetland Space Centre Satellite Vertical Launch Safety Area.
(12) Special Use Airspace for RPAS Diversion (Trial).
(13) Flight Planning Improvements London AC / Maastricht UAC.
(14) Amendment of UK Danger Area IDs.
(15) Future Combat Airspace (Permanent).
• United Kingdom & MUAC:
(1) Operational Service Enhancements (OSEP) Project- OD8.
• United Kingdom & Ireland:
(1) Operational Service Enhancements Project- OD10 Swanwick ACC Lakes Sectors
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References
[1] EUROCONTROL Air Navigation Inter-site Acronym List (AIRIAL)
http://www.eurocontrol.int/airial/definitionListInit.do?skipLogon=true&glossary
Uid=AIRIAL
[2] Reporting Assumptions and Descriptions Document
https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/reporting-assumptions-and-
descriptions
[3] European Network Operations Plan 2019_2024
European Network Operations Plan 2019-2024 | EUROCONTROL
[4] Flight Efficiency Plan
https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/flight-efficiency-plan
SUPPORTING
EUROPEAN
AVIATION
© EUROCONTROL - MAY 2025
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modified without prior written permission from EUROCONTROL.
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