Air transport in Europe was smoother in the summer of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, despite a 3% increase in the number of flights, Eurocontrol announced.
According to the organization’s data, in the period from June 1 to August 31, an average of 35,122 flights were recorded per day, a number that increased by 1% compared to the summer of 2019, before the pandemic.
Delays due to air traffic control decreased by 27% year-on-year, from 5.4 to 3.9 minutes per flight, while route punctuality improved by 6.5 percentage points, with 71% of flights arriving on time (with a deviation of up to 15 minutes). This improvement is partly due to better weather conditions compared to last year.
However, Eurocontrol notes that the results remain worse than those of 2019 and “below targets”, highlighting shortages of controller personnel in some countries and the need to modernize equipment.
The organization identified eight “pressure points” where in-flight delays exceed one minute per route. At the top is the area managed by DSNA in France, with 3.6 minutes of delay per flight, compared to a European average of 3.1 minutes. The causes are related to insufficient staffing, adverse weather conditions and, to a lesser extent, strike action.
The July 3 and 4 strike by two small air traffic controller unions in France resulted in the cancellation of an average of 1,422 flights per day and delays on 3,713 routes per day, with the cost to airlines estimated by Eurocontrol at 120 million euros.
