Summer 2024 saw challenging conditions for European aviation, with a 5% increase in traffic compared to 2023, resulting in widespread delays. Over a third of flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes, with an average delay of 21.4 minutes per flight.
Contributing factors included en-route delays caused by a shortage of air traffic controllers, capacity shortfalls among air navigation service providers (ANSPs), unexpected traffic surges, and frequent disruptive weather.
EUROCONTROL calls for stronger collaboration and structural reforms to improve performance for summer 2025 and address future demands from ongoing traffic growth and climate-related disruptions.