This photograph taken on December 6, 2023, shows a sign with the logo of International Air Transport Association (IATA). AFP
According to IATA’s latest report, delays in managing European air traffic increased by 114 percent between 2015 and 2024, despite the number of flights rising by only 6.7 percent over the same period.
The figures exclude weather-related delays and do not account for cancellations due to air traffic controller strikes.
The report attributes the majority of delays to a shortage of air traffic controllers and inadequate capacity—chronic problems that have not been adequately addressed, particularly in France and Germany.
According to IATA, Air navigation service providers in these two countries are responsible for over half of all delays in Europe.
Willy Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), noted that Europe is now paying the price for its inability to control its air traffic control system. He added that the slight improvement in 2025 compared to the "very bad" 2024 does not change the fact that the situation continues to deteriorate.
Walsh further stated that airlines and travellers had been promised a unified European sky that would increase efficiency and reduce delays and fuel consumption.
Instead, airlines and travellers have experienced increasingly frequent delays, while policymakers continue to debate increasing passenger compensation burdens under European Regulation 261, without addressing the root cause of the crisis.
Unacceptable situation
According to IATA data, Europe recorded 7.2 million delayed flights between 2015 and October 2025, of which 6.5 million were delayed by 30 minutes or less, and roughly 700,000 were delayed by more than 30 minutes.
In 2024 alone, total flight delays reached 30.4 million minutes, a nearly 114 percent increase from 14.2 million minutes in 2015, with 38 percent of delays occurring in July and August.
The report attributes 87 percent of all air navigation service delays in 2024 to “employment and airport capacity issues,” noting that delays caused by staff shortages (excluding strikes) have surged 201.7 percent since 2015.
Strikes and industry actions have also become more prevalent in recent years, accounting for 8.8 percent of all air navigation service delays.
Air traffic controller strikes alone caused 9.8 million minutes of delays over the past decade—a period that includes the pandemic years, which saw a near-complete halt to air traffic.
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