the traffic starts again… and the delays with

While European air traffic has not yet returned to its pre-Covid-19 crisis level, delays are already exceeding 2019 figures. According to data from Eurocontrol, the European organization for the safety of air navigation , the number of flights delayed in European skies was up 5.4% in the last week of August compared to the same period in 2019.

In detail, from August 24 to 30, nearly 40% of flights (38.7% precisely) were delayed by more than 15 minutes on departure, and more than 30% of arriving flights (31.4% ). “Flight punctuality remains an issue“, reacted on Twitter Eamonn Brennan, director general of Eurocontrol.

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“Departures on time vary considerably (34-83%) between airports“, he also underlined. Among the best students in terms of punctuality, we find the airports of Oslo (83%), Helsinki (83%) or Stockholm (78%). In France, Orly airport has a rather high punctuality rate (70%), higher than that of Roissy (60%). At the bottom of the ranking, we find the airports of Lisbon (42%), London-Gatwick (42%) and Tel Aviv (34%).

This surge in air delays this summer is to be found in particular on the side of the glaring lack of personnel in the airports, and a resumption of traffic faster than expected. In the last week of August, the number of flights in European skies rose to nearly 88% of its 2019 level. At the end of July, the CEO of Groupe ADP Augustin de Romanet also questioned the war in Ukraine: “The European skies are congested, the European skies are a victim of the war in Ukraine which means that very many flights have to divert from flying over Ukraine, and therefore the delays in Europe have never been so important“, he explained on Radio Classique.

The situation is also contrasted depending on the country. Last week, Norway had a punctuality rate of almost 87%, compared to 61% for France, 60% for Germany and 38% for Serbia.