Airlines are demanding action to overcome European air space bottlenecks as new data revealed that delays have more than doubled so far this year compared to 2017.
Air traffic management delays more than doubled to 47,000 minutes per day, 133% more than in the same period last year, according to Eurocontrol.
Most of the delays were caused by staffing and capacity shortages as well as weather delays and disruptive events such as strikes.
The average delay due to air traffic control limitations reached 20 minutes in July, with the longest delay reaching 337 minutes.
As a result Iata called for urgent action by governments and air navigation service providers but warned that there was no “quick fix” for this year.
The airline trade body put forward four-point plan:
1. Modernise the infrastructure and implement the Single European Sky ATM Research – something airlines are already paying for.
2. Reform outdated work practices so that staff are deployed when they are required and, where justified, recruit additional staff.
3. Empower the European network manager to plan and configure the network to meet the demands of air travellers.
4. Strengthen a performance and charging scheme so that air navigation providers not delivering agreed capacity are subject to “meaningful” penalties.
Iata director general and chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said: “We are in the summer season in Europe. Travellers want to get to their holidays on time. And too many will be disappointed because of air traffic delays.
“We should be making progress, but delays are double those of last year. There is no quick fix for this year. But the needed solutions are well-known.
“With the correct investment and planning by governments and air navigation service providers we can, and must, make next year better.”
He added: “The impact of ATC delays ripple throughout the economy. At a time when Europe’s competitiveness urgently needs to be improved, increasing air traffic management delays is totally unacceptable.
“Travellers are fed-up. Change must start now.”