UK holidaymakers are experiencing what are said to be the worst air-traffic control (ATC) issues in 25 years – with 30 million passengers expected to be delayed this summer.
Airspace closures over eastern Europe and chronic staff shortages at air-traffic control have been exacerbated by strikes by controllers, notably in France.
One million airline passengers were hit by a strike by French air-traffic controllers in early July, according to the pan-European aviation coordinator Eurocontrol.
Ryanair is now running an online “ATC League of Delays” which is topped by France, Spain and Germany. The best-performing nation is Ireland, where the airline is based. Ryanair says: “ATC delays will now be even worse in summer 2025.”
What does this mean for your holiday schedule – and what are your rights if your flight is heavily delayed or even cancelled?
What’s the problem with air-traffic control?
Capacity is constrained like never before. The number of flights scheduled in Europe is almost back to pre-pandemic levels. According to figures released this month by Eurocontrol, the total is now 98 per cent of summer 2019 levels.
But the available airspace has been drastically reduced because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – whose skies are closed to passenger traffic. Western airlines are banned from Russian and Belarus airspace. As a result, hundreds of flights each day between Europe, the Gulf and Asia are routed through constrained airspace, competing with normal holiday traffic.
Summer storms make matters even worse, closing down yet more sectors of the sky.
An even bigger and wider problem is a shortage of controllers, especially at “area control centres” – which look after large chunks of European airspace.
Some air navigation service providers (ANSPs), especially in France and Germany, have one post in four unfilled.
What is the cause?
The Covid pandemic is mainly to blame. A series of issues combined to leave ANSPs chronically short of staff.
The deep slump in aviation during lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 hit providers hard. They earn money from each flight that uses their services. As aviation slowed to almost a standstill, revenue fell to a small fraction of normal times. With no clear end to the imposition of tight travel restrictions and consequent reduction in flying, many experienced staff…
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