This summer should see no repeat of last year’s volume of flight delays and cancellations, say airline bosses, but they fear air traffic control delays around Europe will be worse.
Speaking at the Airlines for Europe Summit in Brussels last week, Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary warned “air traffic control will be significantly worse than last year” although airports and ground handling “will be significantly better”.
He blamed the impact of strikes, especially at French air traffic control (ATC), in addition to constraints on airspace due to the war in Ukraine.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr noted “20% of airspace is closed due to the war” and warned: “Summer 2023 will be a summer of delays.”
EasyJet chief Johan Lundgren agreed, saying: “We’re ready, but airlines are only part of the aviation sector. We’ve gone through every part of the operation – pilot and crew availability, suppliers’ capability. We’ve finished recruiting.
“We’re confident we’ve addressed everything we can control. Everyone is much better prepared. But if something happens anywhere in the ecosystem, it has an impact.”
He noted: “There will be 50% more passengers [this summer] with reduced airspace [and] it will be a challenge. Air traffic control delays will be worse.”
French ATC strikes hit UK flights “very badly”, Lundgren added, noting: “Half our operations fly across French airspace.”
O’Leary said: “Customers don’t understand why flights from the UK to Spain are cancelled because of strikes in France.” But he warned: “It’s not going to stop.
We got a note last night to cancel 60 flights tomorrow.”
EU transport commissioner Adina-Ioana Valean warned returning air traffic itself “increased” delays, saying: “Travel is likely to reach 95% of the 2019 level this summer. As the skies become more crowded, this will only increase the risk of delays.”
Despite the concerns, the Easter school holiday began with few reports of flight delays. The problems were all at Dover where coaches were delayed for up to 24 hours at the weekend.
The Port of Dover blamed “lengthy French border processes and sheer volume” of traffic, on top of “challenging weather conditions and high seasonal volumes”, and suggested: “Additional coach bookings taken by ferry operators for Easter impacted operations.”