Flight cancellations: Warning to prepare for another summer of travel chaos with cancelled flights and delays over ATC staff shortages

Ryanair has warned that its schedules are being “repeatedly delayed, flights cancelled, and passengers disrupted due to the mismanagement of European ATC” and it is calling on “Raul Medina, DG of Eurocontrol, to explain why Europe’s ATC centres are repeatedly short staffed”. It adds that the “repeated ATC delays and cancellations are unacceptable” and also demands EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “urgently reform the Europe’s shambolic ATC services.”

The airline previously warned passenger’s that that there may be "excessive delays" this summer due to European ATC staff shortages. A spokesperson from travel data firm OAG told NationalWorld that there is a “high degree of pressure on ATC resources in Europe and it is likely that they will continue to cause delays through the summer”.

The spokesperson said that “short-term sickness” in staff is “impacting the flow of traffic” and weather related events are also “impacting capacity” at the same time. The spokesperson added: “ATC controllers may have to restrict the number of movements to ensure safety etc so it is a very challenging situation. The issue is complex, air space in Europe is managed by each individual control with their own authorities with Eurocontrol providing an oversight role.

“Each of those areas have different levels of staffing and post the pandemic when many ATC controllers left the industry training replacements takes a long time. Those factors are placing pressure on a market where airlines are operating more flights than in previous years.”

The bleak summer outlook for travel comes after the chaos experienced last year due to extreme weather events, staffing issues in some air traffic control towers and strikes in Europe. In November last year strikes by air traffic controllers in France led to more flights being cancelled with some 10,000 passengers having their plans wrecked. Meanwhile in September an air traffic controller at London’s Gatwick airport went off sick causing thousands of passengers to face cancelled, delayed or diverted flights.

Air traffic control helps aircraft to move safely and efficiently through the sky. Controllers are in constant contact with pilots, giving them information and advice to make sure they take off and land safely and on time. They give the pilots permission to take off, approve the route they’ll take, and ensure that aircraft are kept a safe distance apart in the skies, tracking their progress as they go.

The pandemic has been partly to blame for the lack of ATC workers as health restrictions, low air traffic and uncertainty put training for many air traffic controllers on hold. Eurocontrol also blames the situation in Ukraine. A spokesperson told NationalWorld: “The pattern in June has continued into July, with very significant weather delay (typically convective weather) and also capacity/staffing issues. In part, these issues flow from the situation in Ukraine. For example, traffic in Budapest ACC so far this month has been 25% higher than in 2019 and this area has also been heavily impacted by weather this summer.” Strong demand this summer in flights and holidays is also adding to the problem. Britain’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, is expecting its busiest-ever summer, with 30 million passengers - sometimes over 260,000 per day.

A spokesperson from Eurocontrol said: “Large parts of the European air traffic network are experiencing between 10% and 20% more traffic than 2019 – which was the highest year ever in terms of air traffic in Europe. In June 2024, there were on average 33,671 daily flights, compared to 32,010 in June 2023 - a 5.2% increase.

“Delays were also up in June 2024 compared to June 2023 with 4.7 million minutes of delay, 1.1 million minutes more than June 2023. Weather has played a major part in this increase, with weather delays en-route having increased from 1.3 million minutes in June 2023 to 2 million minutes in June 2024.”

The spokesperson added: “Eurocontrol is closely co-ordinating with representatives of European air navigation service providers, aircraft operators , airports and ground handlers to address the soaring delays in the European air traffic control network and also to help them plan for the future. With the current traffic growth, it is absolutely essential to reinforce the network centric approach and the partnership among all operational stakeholders and with the Eurocontrol Network Manager as the only solution for sustainable growth.”