Flight delays have returned

Another difficult summer lies ahead in terms of flight delays in Greece, with thousands of passengers expected to face long waits at the country’s airports. After a brief respite of a few months, during the winter period, traditionally characterized by reduced traffic and fewer routes, the familiar headache of delays is returning.

This is confirmed by the first data from the week of April 6-12, the Greek Easter period, when flight activity increased sharply and the issue returned to the fore. The problem of limited capacity of air traffic control systems, combined with the insufficient number of controllers, remains unresolved. These two factors mainly contribute to flight delays, which test the patience of passengers and burden the overall travel experience.

According to the latest report by Eurocontrol, Greece was ranked third among the countries that burdened the European network the most, behind Spain and France. This country contributed to 12% of the total delays, with the Athens Area Control Center as the main source. Of this percentage, 10% comes from delays at Athens airport and 2% concerns Thessaloniki airport.

The Athens Control Center, which falls under the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, is among the most burdened in Europe, with delays reaching 1.24 minutes per flight. All this while more than half of the flights to the Middle East are still not operating.

The lion’s share of delays was taken by Spain with 32% and France with 31%. However, these are comparatively much larger markets. This means that Greece’s contribution to the delays is not justified by its size or the volume of routes it manages.

Since March, the summer schedule has been gradually implemented, with additional flights by airlines. During the period under review, France ranked fourth among the European countries with the highest traffic, with the average daily number of flights reaching 4,300 (up 3% from the previous week), a rise largely due to the increase in flows to Greece, Spain and Switzerland.

In that category, Air France also emerged as a winner, moving up by 2%, also benefiting from the strengthening of routes to and from Greece.

Kathimerini