Last year's headline figures may have looked a little better on the surface, but few are in any doubt that the underlying trend for European air traffic delays remains stubbornly upward. And as delays mount, Brussels is pushing ahead with plans to set up a new regulator for Europe.
The apparent improvement in delays for 2000 comes from comparison with the disastrous performance in 1999, when war in Kosovo helped the statistics soar. So, although the number of departures delayed by more than 15min climbed above 30% for the first time in 1999, that included the Kosovo effect. With that conflict resolved, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) estimates that delays should have fallen by around a third last year. In fact over a quarter of flights were again delayed, arguably giving 2000 the worst underlying performance on record.
For its part, Eurocontrol points out that there has been a considerable increase in traffic over the last two years. There is also disagreement over what constitutes an acceptable level of delay. While Eurocontrol describes its target of 3.5min delay per flight as "realistic", the AEA dismisses it as "inadequate".
| Intra-European delay rates | ||||
| % of departments delayed by over 15min | ||||
| Year | Full year | Peak summer month | ||
| 1988 | 19.0 | 22.2 | ||
| 1989 | 23.8 | 30.8 | ||
| 1990 | 20.0 | 24.5 | ||
| 1991 | 18.8 | 25.9 | ||
| 1992 | 16.6 | 22.6 | ||
| 1993 | 12.7 | 15.3 | ||
| 1994 | 13.3 | 17.9 | ||
| 1995 | 18.4 | 20.0 | ||
| 1996 | 18.5 | 18.6 | ||
| 1997 | 19.5 | 24.1 | ||
| 1998 | 22.8 | 29.2 | ||
| 1999 | 30.3 | 37.5 | ||
| 2000 | 25.5 | 30.4 | ||
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| Top 10 airports by delays - full year 2000 | ||||
| Departure delays over 15 minutes | ||||
| Airport | % of flights delayed | Ave delay (mins) | ||
| Milan Malpensa | 36.6% | 39.2 | ||
| Madrid | 36.4% | 40.9 | ||
| Brussels | 33.3% | 40.7 | ||
| Istanbul | 32.1% | 45.4 | ||
| Zurich | 32.0% | 38.9 | ||
| Barcelona | 31.5% | 41.8 | ||
| Paris CDG | 31.3% | 42.8 | ||
| Athens | 30.1% | 46.7 | ||
| Lisbon | 29.1% | 46.0 | ||
| Rome | 29.1% | 42.9 | ||
| Note: This data is extracted from a 14 page analysis of airport delay results by airline. Peak summer months are from June, July, August. Source: AEA | ||||
The European Commission (EC) is also unhappy with the figures. "The underlying problems haven't been solved," says one official close to the high level group set up to look into a reform of Europe's air traffic management (ATM). The EC is now working on the draft legislation setting out the legal framework for its European single sky project, which will be presented to the Council of Ministers in Stockholm at their meeting in March.
As expected, this will propose giving regulatory powers to a new EC body, likely to be known as the Single Sky Committee. This would be made up of two members from each member state, one civil and one military. Civil representation will be the prerogative of the transport ministry, although they can delegate this power if they so wish.
However, Brussels insiders say that the atmosphere surrounding the project is not good, pointing to a lack of concrete action. Practical proposals are not expected to be seen until the autumn at the earliest.
Source: Airline Business