European air traffic exceeded its 2019 level this summer, before the health crisis, while suffering less delays than last year despite black points such as in France, Eurocontrol said Monday.
According to an evaluation of the Paneuropea Surveillance Organization, from June 1 to September 15, the sky of the former continent saw the traffic on average 35,127 flights per day, an increase of 3.3% for a year and 1% compared to the same period six years before. The increase in traffic was even clearer in certain regions of Europe, particularly in the southeast zone (Albania, ex-yugoslavia, Turkey …), where it exceeded 5% for a year, according to Eurocontrol.
The Absolute Registry of Daily Flights, which dates back to June 2019 (37,228) was not broken, but by little since 37,034 aircraft movements were recorded on July 18. Despite this increase, and the “complexities” born from the closure of the air spaces linked to war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, air, air traffic more fluid than in the same 2024 season, welcome to the war in Ukraine.
France “suffers from operational difficulties”
The organization indicated a 26% drop in delays due to air traffic control, 3.87 minutes per flight. The deadlines caused by air traffic control, that is, outside the take -off and approximation phases, have fallen from 24% to 1.88 minutes per flight. This last figure remains “much higher” to the European target of 0.9 minutes this year, Eurocontrol said.
The organization mentioned, among the weaknesses of the European air traffic control network, the case of France, which “continues to suffer operational difficulties due to the capacity of air traffic control, staff and strikes.”
A social movement of two minority unions of Aigitores from the French sky, on July 3 and 4, caused the cancellation of 1,422 flights and delays of 3,713 trips on average per day, and cost around 120 million euros to European companies, they had already indicated Eurocontrol. During the summer of 2025, “the delays linked to air traffic control on the road were 50% higher in France to those of the same period of 2024,” summarized the organization, believing that this low performance had consequences “in the complete (European) network.”
Source: BFM TV
