Half of all flights in Europe were delayed in summer 2022 and nearly 2.000 flights were cancelled every day last year, according to a report. These airports had the most delays.
Last summer was particularly tough on the aviation industry. The lack of preparedness resulted in unacceptably high delays for passengers and flight cancellations due to unavailability of staff to provide the service, even though traffic was still below 2019 levels.
This is evident from data by Eurocontrol – an organization working on aviation safety and aviation analysis in Europe. In the report Eurocontrol ranks the largest 20 European airports according to their arrival and departure punctuality.
According to Eurocontrol more than one in three flights, or 34.1 percent, were delayed during 2022 – a clear increase compared to 2019 average of 27 percent. However, things got worse during the summer months, when half of flights in Europe were delayed and nearly 2,000 were cancelled every day in 2022.
6.9 percent of all scheduled flights were cancelled for various reasons – almost twice as many as the 2019 average of 3.5 percent.
However, not all European countries and airports performed equally poorly.
WHICH AIRPORTS HAD THE MOST DELAYED DEPARTURES IN 2019?
Lisbon Airport experienced the lowest rates of on time departure among Europe’s biggest airports. Just over half, 54 per cent, of flights last year were on time, whereas Frankfurt Airport experienced the second lowest rates of on time departure with 56 per cent flights on time.
In third place among airports with the most delayed departures in 2022 was Paris-Charles de Gaulle, which was hit by strikes last summer. Only 56.8 percent of flights were leaving on time.
London’s two major airports Gatwick and Heathrow were fourth and fifth respectively with 57.5 and 60.8 percent flights on time. Amsterdam Schiphol round out the bottom six with a departure punctuality of 61 percent.
Wizz Air and British Airways were the least punctual of Europe’s top-10 airlines. However, Turkish Airlines cancelled more flights than other leading carriers.
Which airports performed best?
The best on time European airports was Oslo Gardermoen Airport, where 76.2 percent of flights departed on time.
In second place was Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas in Madrid with 75.6 percent of departures on time, ahead of Vienna International Airport in Vienna in third place, Athens International Airport in fourth place, Istanbul Airport in fifth place and Kastrup in Copenhagen in sixth place – all with a departure punctuality of over 72 percent.
Read also about fear of summer holiday chaos at European airports.