Willie Walsh, Managing Director of IATAis not known for speaking out of turn. And for vilifying the institutions that impede the smooth running of air transport. In the crosshairs of the former CEO of British Airways: air traffic control. " Last month, I expressed my concerns about the performance of air traffic control (ATC) in Europe and the United States. Both countries are disappointing" he says.
An "unacceptable" situation
According to Willie Walsh, the ATC environment facing all carriers in Europe remains complicated. " Airlines and airports have been working hard to ensure that sufficient resources are provided to minimise disruption and enable passengers to reach their destinations on time. The lack of ATC resources at national level, particularly in Germany and France, makes it impossible to achieve this objective. Although some areas of ATC performance have improved compared to 2022, we are still below 2019 levels.. This is unacceptable" he explains. Out of 3.1 million delay minutes accumulated, Eurocontrol indicates that 1.5 million came from ATC or staffing issues.
Increasing departure delays according to Eurocontrol
Eurocontrol states thatin April 2023 15.9% of all departures were late compared with 14.6% in April 2022. On arrival, the percentage of delayed flights was 13.5%. However, this figure is half a point lower than in April 2022.
The most serious impacts are observed at the most congested airports in Europe. According to Eurocontrol statistics, the airports with the highest level of delayed arrivals between January and June 2023 are Copenhagen, Athens, Lisbon, Bordeaux, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Paris Orly and London Gatwick. Surprisingly, Eurocontrol is also seeing major delays at smaller French airports such as Chambéry and Tours.
All these airports have a double-digit percentage of flights delayed on arrival for the first half of 2023. Copenhagen thus flirted with 25% of delayed flights, followed by Athens (24.66%) and Lisbon (23.83%). The major hubs performing well were Madrid (4.62% of delayed flights), Brussels (4.6%), Istanbul (2.26%) and Vienne (1.36%).
This performance does not satisfy IATA. " It is disheartening that politicians who have been quick to criticise airlines over the past year have been silent about the disruption caused by government-controlled or regulated ATC service providers.adds Willie Walsh.
" What can these politicians do to sustainably improve the performance of European ATC? To begin with, they must be held responsible for the economic and environmental costs of ATC's failures.. And finally make the right decisions" says Willie Walsh.
He continued: " This summer has shown us that the measures to be taken are already well known. Such as adequate staffing levels, the implementation of the Single European Sky and finding ways to maintain essential ATC services during strike periods, while respecting workers' rights." .
| Airport | Share of aircraft delayed on arrival 01-06-2023 |
| Copenhagen | 24,98% |
| Athens | 24,66% |
| Lisbon | 23,83% |
| Bordeaux | 12,16% |
| Luxembourg | 11,21% |
| Amsterdam | 10,87% |
| Paris Orly | 10,63% |
| London Gatwick | 10,15% |
| Frankfurt | 8,11% |
| Zurich | 7,45% |
| Basel-Mulhouse | 5,9% |
| London Heathrow | 5,72% |
| Marseille | 5,08% |
| Brussels | 4,6% |
| Nice | 3,61% |
| Geneva | 2,98% |
| Paris CDG | 1,26% |
(Source: Eurocontrol)
