EUROCONTROL released a new report on Monday detailing summer 2025 operations of its Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC). The pan-European control center manages airspace between 24,500 to 66,000 feet above Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and parts of northern Germany.
According to the report, MAUC safely handled 677,010 flights during the summer months, which it defined as June through September. This marked the highest number of summer flights handled through the airspace since the pandemic.
MAUC also set a new single-day record with 5,831 flights on July 4. July was the center’s busiest month, with nearly 174,000 flights, leading to a daily average of more than 5,600.
The report said that European air traffic rose by 3.3 percent in total compared to last summer, with multiple new network records including the busiest Saturday and Sunday on record. En-route delays decreased by 31 percent, while punctuality rose to 71.6 percent.
For now, the network’s average delay per flight is still higher than the EU’s target at 1.88 minutes. Even so, the report projects a decrease to 1.6 minutes by year-end. MUAC recorded no significant safety events.
Peggy Devestel, director of MUAC, credited the report’s results to “the dedication of the highly skilled team at MUAC working in close collaboration with our airspace users, partners and neighboring centers.”
Much as ATC recruiting remains a priority in the U.S., MUAC said it is currently in the process of recruiting more than 100 new air traffic controllers as its workload continues rising. In order to accommodate those new-hires, EUROCONTROL said it is working to expand training programs in partnership with ENAC in France and GATE Aviation Training in Copenhagen.
How does this compare with a Center in the USA (in terms of area and number of flights)?