Staffing is thought to be the most critical problem. Bad weather is another cause; one which accounted for around forty percent of all delays in 2024. This summer, weekends are thought to be some of the busiest times for airports.
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00:00So I'm afraid it is likely there will be some delays due to airport traffic control in Europe
00:06this summer. There's a shortage of air traffic controllers in Europe. Happily, the delays
00:11are unlikely to be evenly distributed, and what travellers can do most to prevent themselves
00:17being delayed is pick destinations and times where they'll see the least possible delays.
00:23So for example, we know that 25% of air traffic control delays last year were caused by France.
00:29And you won't have that problem. It also clusters somewhat towards some particular airports.
00:36So Zagreb and Budapest and Rheims and Karlsruhe have particular problems with air traffic
00:41control delays. It also tends to cluster when flights are busiest. So if you're going to
00:46fly out on the first Friday of the summer holidays, obviously that's when you're most
00:51likely to see a delay. If you can wait until a Tuesday afternoon, or if you can fly outside
00:56of peak season, you're much less likely to see those delays. So there's lots of things
01:00people can do to avoid the very peak times when those delays are most likely to be experienced
01:05and those destinations, which we already know have seen the biggest delays due to air traffic
01:10control problems in the past.
01:12According to the new Eurocontrol report, holiday destinations which are reported to be the
01:17worst for flight delays include Budapest, Zagreb and Rheims in France. It's thought
01:23that France, Germany and Hungary perform poorly when it comes to air traffic control
01:28delays.
01:29UK air travel has recovered to pre-COVID levels last year and it's likely to exceed them
01:34for the first time this year. We're seeing a number of airports reporting record passenger
01:38numbers for the first time this year. Almost every major UK airport has just had new runways
01:45approved. You'll have seen Luton's approved. So no, there's an enormous appetite for air
01:49travel still, even while people are often going by train or going by boat, which is
01:54a great way to get a holiday. If there's more people than ever flying out of the UK for
01:58the holidays, because we love our holidays, I love my holidays, people are going to keep
02:01flying.
02:02Now, there are some tips if you find you do encounter a flight delay this summer. TravelUp.com
02:08suggests to stay as informed as you can. It's suggested to sign up for flight notifications,
02:14to use tracking apps and to follow airlines on social media for real-time updates. Contacting
02:20your airline is another necessity and it's recommended to stay calm during these inquiries.
02:25The travel website also recommends to keep all of your important documents with you in
02:30case of a flight delay.