EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht centre more than halves summer air traffic delays

EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) handled 842,259 flights between May and September 2026, with traffic broadly unchanged from a year earlier, while reducing MUAC-attributable delays by more than half.

Some 98.4% of flights crossed its airspace without any delay attributable to the centre. Most affected flights experienced delays of less than 15 minutes. MUAC credited coordinated traffic management, improved traffic distribution, workforce planning and generally favourable weather, and expects to finish the year comfortably within its EU delay target.

July was the busiest month, with 174,056 flights. The busiest day was 10 September, when controllers managed 5,619 flights. MUAC reported no severity A or B safety events so far this year.

The centre also highlighted reliable technical systems and controller–pilot datalink use, with log-on rates reaching up to 80%. More direct routings offered through its ATM Portal generated an estimated saving of approximately 512 tonnes of CO? during the peak season.

MUAC said its controller-training programme, developed with GATE Aviation Training in Copenhagen, was progressing and supporting its longer-term staffing needs.