Summer Flight Delays to be 'Worst Ever' Across France, Germany, Greece, Spain, and five More European Countries - Travel And Tour World

Published 9 hours ago• 4 minute read

Saturday, July 12, 2025

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This summer’s flight delays will be the worst for Europe’s airlines, industry experts say. The worst hit countries will beGermany (841 flights cancelled to date), Greece (358), Spain (294) and France (215) as walkouts by air traffic control, staff shortages and over capacity demand will drive airports to experience something they have never seen before. EU officials have said the air traffic control system has been operating a near capacity already, and flight delays could be even worse than those experienced by the industry during its worst year ago in terms of the pace of cancellations and disruptions.

Thistravel season’s flight disruption comes just when air traffic control (ATC) service across Europe is running to full capacity. Both staff shortages and enhanced post-pandemic demand are highlighted by Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic management agency, as the current reason behind the unavoidable delays. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also reduced airspace to further complicate capacities.
ATC strikes have already made a mark in Germany, Greece, Spain, and France, and extensive delays have been seen. The ATC strikes in France last week led to severe disruptions, and thousands of flights were cancelled. The flights got cancelled and stayed delayed extensively from major European busy airports like Nice Côte d’Azur and Paris Charles de Gaulle, which are among the busiest ones within Europe.
The EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas sounded a note of warning on increasing air travel disruption, which stated that Europe will not accept further disruptions. He elaborated that there are not sufficient controllers and resources in the air network, and this “threatens to overburden the system.”

Its busiest days during a summer season this year will comprise roughly 37,000 flights, which stands as the capacity that traffic control can currently manage, and this translates to long delays. The bad days will have longer lines, extensive security holds, and higher chances of missing connections.
The current French strikes have thus far cancelled more than 3,300 flights, according to Eurocontrol. Germany and Spain are reporting similarly large numbers of delays. Ryanair, which takes flight delays very seriously, named France and Spain the worst-performing countries thus far, and 15,634 flights this year alone have been delayed within France.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary stated that staffing shortages at ATC would cause record delays on the continent. He stated that while not all of those delays are preventable by circumstances, much of the disruption that exists was preventable if the ATC strike by France was handled better. “If there had been overflights through France, that would have prevented thousands of cancellations,” he stated.

What is clear is that passengers facing delays or cancellations this summer should brace themselves for additional time hanging out in European airports, particularly French, Spanish, German and Greek ones. Passengers need to know their rights, so says The Sun head of travel Lisa Minot, who provided the following breakdown:

If your flight was delayed, you should be familiar with your carrier policy and take care to document the incident so you get anything that’s coming to you in the form of compensation.

Nonetheless, there is no compensation if your flight cancellation or delay was caused by a condition beyond the airlines’ control. But airlines still have a duty to care, including food, hotel accommodations and other assistance.

If a flight is cancelled or delayed due to the fault of the airliner – such as crew shortages or a technical glitch – compensation is possible. Ryanair and other airlines can be forced to pay up to £520 per person, depending on circumstances.

Ryanair and other airlines are urging the EU to accelerate its ‘Single European Sky’ programme. The program is intended to integrate European air traffic control services into a simplified and more coherent airspace environment, which could help alleviate air space congestion and lineups in air traffic control.

Millions of tonnes of CO2 could be saved if Europe can further break down national barriers in the sky, and permit airlines to fly the most direct route possible across the EU. This will minimize detours and offer faster flight times, and more airspace capacity too.

Now, air traffic controllers must handle flights between several national boundaries, leading to unnecessary delays and higher costs. A harmonised air traffic control system would help to mitigate a number of strike and inefficiency-related problems, particularly during peak periods such as the summer.

Air traffic increased by 5% from the previous year, and over one third of flights saw a 15-minute or longer delay. As demand continues to build, experts expect this coming summer to face even more rigorous conditions.

Although airport personnel on the European continent work to cut back delays, travelers should expect busier terminals, longer waiting, and a higher chance of delays due to the ongoing issues within the air traffic control system.

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