France, Spain, Germany & UK Still Have Europe’s Worst Air Traffic Control Systems

International

33 million passengers affected by mismanagement and staff shortages in 2025

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today called on European Commission President Ursula von der “Derlayed-Again” to urgently reform the EU’s failing air traffic control (ATC) systems after 33 million passengers have already been affected by ATC-related delays this year.

Releasing its October “ATC Delay League”, Ryanair reported that France, Spain, Germany and the UK continue to provide Europe’s worst-performing ATC services, suffering the highest number of delays and cancellations due to ongoing mismanagement and chronic staff shortages.

Some countries show it can be done

Ryanair highlighted that there is no excuse for these persistent failures, since Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark operate their ATC services efficiently – without mismanagement or staff gaps – and have recorded the lowest levels of delays and cancellations in Europe this year.

Despite repeated appeals from Ryanair and Airlines for Europe (A4E) for EU-wide ATC reform, Ursula von der “Derlayed-Again” has continued to ignore the issue. Ryanair urged all EU passengers to visit the website “Air Traffic Control Ruined Your Flight” and demand that the Commission finally act to fix the broken system by implementing two key measures:

National ATC providers must be fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights – with financial penalties for failure.

Overflights and the EU Single Market must be protected during national ATC strikes.

“EU passengers deserve better” – Michael O’Leary

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“It is unacceptable that Europe’s weakest ATC systems – in France, Spain, Germany and the UK – continue to inflict avoidable flight delays and cancellations on millions of EU citizens every month. Despite repeated warnings, performance is not improving because national ATC providers fail to staff and manage their operations efficiently.

The EU’s air traffic control system must be urgently reformed, because passengers are paying the price for this failure. This year alone, 33 million travellers have suffered ATC-related delays. France, Spain, Germany and the UK repeatedly fail to deliver reliable service.

Ursula von der Leyen has done nothing to address this ATC crisis. EU passengers deserve better. It’s time for the European Commission to act, end this chaos, and protect the freedom of movement for EU citizens.”