According to the latest report by Simply Flying, Ryanair and easyJet had the most delayed flights this summer and Mallorca was the worst route. Ryanair and easyJet had the most delays in flights to/from the UK this summer due to various challenges. Palma was the most affected destination, with routes to London Gatwick and Manchester facing the highest delays.
Other airlines like Thomsonfly and Jet2.com also experienced significant delays, with Heathrow airport ranking highest in cancelations. The flight disruptions were attributed to multiple challenges, including air traffic control restrictions and IT issues. EUclaim focused on flights that experienced delays of at least three hours. The most affected destination was Palma.
According to EUclaim, the Palma de Mallorca to London Gatwick Airport route saw the highest number of delays, with 45 in total. The second most delayed route was from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester Airport, with 28 delays. However, the fault does not down to the airlines, Ryanair and easyJet were not impacted by any specific issue, they faced multiple external challenges. These included airport staff shortages, air traffic congestion, and IT outages, primarily due to a malfunction in Crowdstrike/Microsoft software.
And Ryanair is not best pleased. It has Ryanair has called for reform to the region’s air traffic control. Since the pandemic, an acute air traffic controller shortage coupled with a surge in travel demand has led to flight disruptions across the region. French air traffic controllers also went on strike in April after failing to reach a deal with the country’s government, causing thousands of delays and cancellations.
In 2022, air traffic controller shortages led to chaos across multiple European airports during the summer. For example, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport had to implement capacity caps, prompting carriers to slash schedules. The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Association previously said the delays caused by the staffing shortages cost around 800 million euros.
The association partly attributed the staffing shortages to a reduction in hiring and training new air traffic controllers in an effort to cut down on costs. IFATCA executive vice president Frederic Deleau claims that too little recruitment in the past decade and early retirement packages offered to some air traffic controllers during the pandemic contributed to the shortage.