Delays, cancellations: French airports struggling in 2023

As 2023 draws to a close, Flightright takes stock of the disruptions encountered by business and leisure travellers when travelling in Europe. And the conclusion is clear for the passenger compensation specialist: " the year 2023 has been a period particularly complicated for European travellersthousands of flights delayed and cancelled across the continent "The authors of the study sum up. In particular, they point to " factors such as strikes by air traffic controllers, flight crew movements and difficult weather conditions ". Against this backdrop, according to Flightright, French airspace is coming to the end of a relatively chaotic 2023. Indeed, the France was this year's second most affected country by these air travel problems. Only Germany has a weaker performance.

In detail, it should be noted thata quarter (24,31%) of 605195 thefts recorded suffered delays. And the cancellation rate reached 1.75%. What's more, the situation is worse than in the previous year, as Imane El Bouanani points out: " France saw an increase in delays in 2023, with a significant number of flights cancelled and delayed. These delays had a direct impact on passengers, resulting in financial losses for those who had planned their journeys. "notes Flightright's spokeswoman for France.

Symbol of this observation, Orly is designated by Flightright as the worst performer in Europe. Between January and the beginning of December, the Paris airport recorded a total of 2,188 cancellations and no less than 15,846 delays. " A hub for international travel, this unenviable position underlines the challenges the airport has had to face throughout the year, causing major disruption for travellers. "insist the authors of the study.

Two other major French hubs also feature in Flightright's top 15 worst airports: Nice (1,016 cancellations and 15,725 delays) and Paris CDG (2273 and 63300). According to this "top 30" of the most affected airports, only Heathrow and Lisbon are worse than the Paris hub for delays, both in terms of number of flights affected and percentage.

What about the airlines? Flightright draws a - slightly - more flattering balance sheet for the French players in the sector. Indeed, with 1.73% of cancellations and 29.28% of delays, Air France (7th) is doing better than the incumbent European carriers according to this 2023 ranking.