A new report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) paints a damning picture of Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays in Europe, showing they have more than doubled over the last decade, causing what IATA calls “significant disruption” for passengers.
Despite a rise of only 6.7% in flight numbers over the same period, IATA notes that Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) delays increased by 114%, even excluding incidents caused by poor weather and industrial action. That means that problems such as limited capacity and staff shortages are behind the majority of delays, known issues, IATA says, that have been “inadequately mitigated.”
France and Germany come in for particular criticism for failing to act to improve the situation, though their Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) are responsible for more than 50% of all delays, the IATA report highlights. France’s provider DSNA alone was responsible for 33%, while Germany’s DFS originated the “second most delays at 19% of all minutes and was responsible for 24% of all delayed flights.” That concentration of responsibility indicates “that targeted improvements in a few key areas should be prioritised to deliver meaningful benefits,” IATA claimed.
IATA released a report revealing that air traffic control delays in Europe have more than doubled over the last decade, causing significant disruption for passengers.
— IATA (@IATA) December 9, 2025
Additional analysis from the report: https://t.co/adE48ae4jx#IATAGMD pic.twitter.com/knjdHWZ90f
In a statement, Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said: “We’re now seeing the consequences of Europe’s failure to get a grip on air traffic control. A small, expected improvement in 2025 from a very bad 2024 does not change the deterioration that we have seen over the last decade.”
Walsh also criticised European legislators who promised “a Single European Sky that would cut delays and reduce fuel burn through more efficient navigation and routes,” but instead have presided over a doubling in delays and are putting more burdens on airlines, Walsh argued, by seeking to increase EU261 passenger compensation. “Europe’s connectivity and competitiveness suffer from schedules that must accommodate ATC inefficiency. It is completely unacceptable,” he said.
In the ten years from 2015 to October 2025, 7.2 million flights were delayed, 89% of which by 30 minutes or less, while just under 10% were late by at least 30 minutes. Over 1.1 billion passengers were affected. The “very bad 2024” that Walsh referred to saw delays add up to a total of 30.4 million minutes (up 114% compared to 14.2 million minutes in 2015), of which 38% occurred in the peak summer travel months of July and August.
Staffing-related delays (not including strikes) have increased 201.7% since 2015 – a figure IATA called “astonishing.” And looking at strikes, they were responsible for 8.8% of overall ANSP-caused delays.
Financially, IATA says, the impact of the decade’s “sharp” growth in ATFM delays is “considerable,” having cost airlines and passengers an estimated €16.1 billion since 2015.
