Budget airline Ryanair has scathed a cluster of European countries in what it describes as a ‘scandal’ of understaffing and mismanagement responsible for thousands of delayed flights
Ryanair has unleashed a savage attack on five European countries, including the UK, over thousands of delayed flights. The budget airline has slammed France, Spain, Germany, Greece, and the UK for having the ‘worst’ Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays in 2024, based on Eurocontrol data.
It is a drum Ryanair has long banged, and comes shortly after it published its name-and-shame ‘ATC League of Delays’. ATC delays can be caused by a plethora of reasons, including unavoidable factors such as the weather or military activity.
However, Ryanair argues a huge ‘majority’ of these delays are directly caused by understaffed airports and ‘mismanaged ATCs’. “Despite 20 years of investment in SESAR (Europe’s failed ‘Single Sky Project’) no progress has been made,” the airline fumed.
“The new Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has committed itself to delivering competitiveness and efficiency in Europe. Yet, it continues to allow the mismanagement and staff shortages in French, Spanish, German, Greek and UK ATC services.”
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According to Ryanair’s latest press release, in 2024, France experienced a staggering 35,1000 flight delays – impacting some 6.3 million passengers. Spain came a close second, with 32,700 delayed flights affecting 5.9 million passengers. Germany (18,700 delayed flights), Greece (5,000), and the UK (3,380) were also cited in the top five worst ATCs.
“If the Danes, the Belgians, the Dutch, the Irish and the Slovakians can properly staff their ATC services and eliminate ‘ATC capacity’ delays, then why can’t we expect a similar service from the very well-funded (by airlines), but hopelessly mismanaged French, Spanish, German, Greek and UK ATC providers,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said. “The difference is that these are protected State Monopolies, who don’t care about customer service.
“They don’t care about passengers, and they don’t care about their airline customers either. Every year they are short-staffed and they are responsible for over 90 per cent of Europe’s flight delays, which adds an extra 10 per cent to aviation emissions in Europe.”
The boss described the data as a ‘scandal’ of short-staffing and mismanagement, arguing it is now time for the European Commission to ‘intervene and demand an efficient, competitive ATC service’ from all of Europe. “Ryanair, our customers, and our passengers are fed up with these avoidable ATC delays, which are imposed on us every Summer by the French, the Germans, the Spanish, the Greeks and the British,” he added.
Christian Petzold a travel expert and Marketing Director over at BCN Travel, echoed Ryanair’s sentiment – arguing ATC delays continue to ‘frustrate’ both passengers and airlines every summer. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, he said: “Ryanair are right to point out the contrast with high-performing ATC services in countries like Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Slovakia.
“These countries have managed to staff their control centres and keep operations smooth even in peak summer. For example the Irish Aviation Authority is consistently one of the best for punctuality and minimal en-route delays, due to proactive recruitment and training pipelines for air traffic controllers. In contrast strikes, understaffing and bureaucratic inertia cripple ATC in France and Germany – two of the busiest airspaces in Europe.”
Christian added that the European Commission must take “action and demand accountability” as well as push for competition. Otherwise, passengers will see no ‘real change’ in European aviation.
The Mirror has approached the European Commission for comment.
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