Brussels, 22 July 2024– A4E, Europe’s largest airline trade association, today called on EU Transport Commissioner Hoekstra to take urgent action to address the crisis of Europe’s ATC capacity shortages. So far this summer, Europe’s airlines have been forced to delay or cancel thousands of flights, impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The most recent data from Eurocontrol for the week of 8-14 July, show that total Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) delays grew by 68% year on year for A4E airlines, with ATC capacity and ATC staffing issues causing 53% of these delays. The total amount of delays for the week was just under 700,000 minutes affecting over 34,000 flights which represents an average delay of 20 mins per flight.
Despite Europe’s ATC fees rising to record levels (up 15% in the last 3 years), ATC service levels continue to deteriorate even though traffic has not returned to pre-COVID 2019 levels. 2023 was one of the worst years for ATC performance in two decades according to the latest Eurocontrol performance report.
A4E is calling for a number of actions to help alleviate delays caused by ATC capacity issues:
· Despite the best efforts of airlines, coordination with Eurocontrol and ATC service providers (ANSPs) needs to be more effective to react to major weather or other disruptive events.
· There needs to be a better match between capacity and demand often resulting from controllers being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
· There needs to be better adaptability amongst the ATC workforce through improved rostering and through increased hiring in some areas.
· Longer term, European ATC providers need to ensure they are operating with the latest technology and operational concepts.
These improvements can go some way to addressing ATC capacity issues so that airlines can deliver the timely and efficient service their passengers expect and deserve.
ENDS
Media Contact:
Kevin Hiney: Communications Director, A4E
Tel: +32 499 828294
Email: kevin.hiney@a4e.eu
About A4E
Airlines for Europe (A4E) is Europe’s largest airline association. Based in Brussels, A4E works with policymakers to ensure aviation policy continues to connect Europeans with the world in a safe, competitive and sustainable manner. With a modern fleet of over 3,600 aircraft, A4E airlines carried over 718 million passengers in 2023 and served nearly 2,100 destinations. Each year, A4E members transport more than 5 million tons of vital goods and equipment to more than 360 destinations either by freighters or passenger aircraft. A4E is #Flyingforourfuture with our commitment to Europe and our call to action for incoming European policymakers. Find out more at Flyingforourfuture.eu