European Air Traffic Delays Rise, Cost Billions

Report attributes majority of delay impact to capacity and staffing constraints across key air navigation providers.

Matt Ryan

Tuesday, December 09, 2025 at 12:14 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: Ryan Ewing

[Photo: Fraport AG]

Key Takeaways:

Air traffic management delays in Europe have risen significantly faster than flight activity over the past decade, costing airlines and passengers an estimated EUR 16.1 billion between 2015 and October 2025.
More than 70 percent of these costs stem from shortages in air traffic control capacity and staffing, with a small group of providers, notably France and Germany, responsible for most of the disruption.
Between 2015 and October 2024, flights increased by only 6.7 percent, while delay minutes more than doubled from 14.2 million to 30.4 million.
Seasonal delays have intensified, with 38.3 percent of all delays in 2024 occurring in July and August, despite those months accounting for less than 20 percent of annual flights.

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Air traffic flow management delays in Europe have risen far faster than flight activity over the past decade, according to a new analysis by the International Air Transport Association. The report draws on operational data from the intergovernmental air navigation organization Eurocontrol.

Between 2015 and October 2025, delays caused by air navigation service providers in Europe generated an estimated EUR 16.1 billion in costs for airlines and passengers, measured in 2024 values. The study found that more than 70 percent of these costs stemmed from shortages in air traffic control capacity and staffing. A small group of providers accounted for most of the disruption, with the French service provider responsible for 33 percent of delay minutes and the German provider responsible for 19 percent.

The analysis showed a widening gap between traffic growth and delay growth. In 2015, European data recorded 9.9 million flights and a total of 14.2 million minutes of delays. By Oct. 2024, flights increased by a modest 6.7 percent to 10.5 million. Delay minutes, however, more than doubled to 30.4 million.

Seasonal delay patterns also intensified. In 2024, 38.3 percent of all delays occurred in July and August, although those months accounted for just under 20 percent of annual flights.

Between 2015 and October 2025, 7.2 million flights experienced navigation-related delays totaling 111.5 million minutes and impacting an estimated 1.1 billion revenue passenger seats. Of the EUR 16.1 billion in associated costs, EUR 9.7 billion was borne by airlines and EUR 6.4 billion reflected the value of passengers’ lost time. Capacity-related delays represented 48 percent of total costs, staffing-related delays 23 percent, and delays linked to ATC industrial action 15 percent.

Cost impacts varied significantly across providers. When comparing delay-related costs with the number of flight hours handled by each organization, the IATA analysis shows EUR 313 in delay costs per controlled flight hour for the Greek service provider, EUR 258 for the French provider and EUR 222 for the Hungarian provider, compared with a European average of about EUR 95.