Senior aviation figures warn that air traffic control delays across Europe may worsen this summer, with summer flight numbers expected to exceed last year by over 5pc.
Eurocontrol’s Steven Moore noted that last summer experienced a 47pc increase in delays, despite a 4.7pc rise in air traffic.
Ryanair report that between 8pc and 11pc of flights are already being delayed across Europe because of staff shortages across Europe. Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, has cautioned that summer 2025 will likely be worse than 2024, particularly at weekends, with ATC delays having risen 50pc over the past five years.
He points to a “perfect storm” of increased demand, insufficient staffing, and external pressures like adverse weather and the ongoing rerouting of flights due to closed airspace over Ukraine.
Forecasts predict a 5.2pc increase in traffic this summer, marking a challenge in a constrained network where delays are anticipated.
The issue stems from a combination of growing air traffic demand, chronic understaffing, and the long training periods required for new controllers, which cannot keep pace with the industry’s needs. As of early 2025, Europe faces a deficit of approximately 700 to 1,000 ATCs, a gap that is expected to exacerbate delays during the peak summer travel season.
Airlines for Europe (A4E) and EUROCONTROL, have highlighted the potential for a repeat—or worsening—of the severe disruptions seen in previous summers, such as 2024, when ATC capacity and staffing issues contributed to 53pc of air traffic flow management (ATFM) delays. Across Europe, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts 5.2 billion passengers globally in 2025, a 6.7pc increase from 2024, placing further strain on an already stretched system.
Eurocontrol’s 2024 data showed an average ATFM delay of 20 minutes per flight during peak weeks, and projections for 2025 suggest this could climb to 25–30 minutes per flight if staffing shortages persist. For a typical day with 34,000 flights in Europe, this translates to 850,000–1,020,000 delay minutes, or roughly 14,000–17,000 hours of cumulative delays.
Airlines and analysts have calculated the ripple effects: a single delayed flight can disrupt connections, erode holiday time, and increase operational costs. Each Ryanri aircraft tkes off and lands six times a day.
Air France-KLM’s CEO, Ben Smith, noted a 20–25pc ATC shortage in France, predicting significant delays at hubs like Paris CDG, where tight connection windows of an hour or less amplify the impact. If one in three flights arrives 15 minutes late, as occurred in summer 2024, and traffic increases by 5–10pc in 2025, the number of affected passengers could swell to 40–50 million across Europe.
What to do? Remedies such as improved rostering, hiring initiatives, and technology upgrades, are underway but won’t fully address the shortfall by summer 2025. Training an ATC takes at least 2.5–3 years, meaning recruits hired in 2025 won’t be operational until 2027 or later. Without urgent action, experts warn that Europe’s aviation network faces a summer of gridlock, with safety remaining the priority but efficiency severely compromised.
Kenny Jacobs of Dublin airport shared: :we’ll keep adding improvements for passengers services. Will passengers be delayed for delays? Hopefully not. For weeks? Hopefully never. Hours? I would expect so this coming summer with the delays to air traffic controls that are expected this summer.”
“There’s a summer of bad delays expected, so you prepare for that by making sure people are comfortable at the airport. We’ve been investing heavily to make sure everything is comfortable at the airport. That’s toilets, seating, Wi-Fi, more fast-track, improving the lounges we have, the food and beverage facilities.”
Steven Moore of Eurocontrol shared “a small number of air navigation service providers responsible for most delays. A 5.2pc increase in traffic this summer posed “a significant challenge in a constrained network. It’s plain we won’t have a summer without delays.”
EasyJet’s David Morgan shared: “There has been a 41pc increase in delays in early 2025, as staffing issues significantly impact operational efficiency across Europe. The southeast axis across Europe remains one of the biggest concerns. I can hardly remember a year when we’ve not had staffing issues. The cost of delays is eye-watering – it’s costing hundreds of millions to airlines. Delays are getting worse. They are part and parcel of summer, but staffing delays should be exceptional. Every year in peak summer period we’re struggling with staffing.”
Jesus Garcia of Spanish air traffic management body Enaire, shared: “It’s a multi-phased problem, not [due to]a single problem or actor. We’re suffering a perfect storm with unpredictable and volatile traffic flow. Growth after Covid has not been uniform. In addition, we’re suffering geopolitical conflict with increased miliary action and flight restrictions and increasing extreme weather phenomena. Together, it places a strain on capacity.”
Not to be outdone, Michael O’Leary suggests that air traffic controller should be fired and Flightradar24 will do the job for free.
