When the Association of European Airlines (AEA) issued its punctuality report for the first quarter of the year, it warned that delays in 1999 were shaping up to be worse even than the infamous summer of 1989 when European delays last hit a peak. The prediction was on target.
Delays in March had already hit a new historic high, but that record has not had long to stand. The latest second quarter report shows that delays have indeed continued to deteriorate into the summer, hitting a new record in June, with 37.3% of all intra-European flights departing more than 15 minutes late.
"There is already enough evidence to hand, to mark down 1999, not only as the worst year on record, but the worst by a very long way," claims the AEA. It was exactly a decade ago when delays first breached the 30% mark and had not returned to that level until the first half of this year.
The AEA goes on to highlight the growing proportion of departure delays that can be attributed to infrastructure issues - effectively aircraft forced to wait for departure clearance from Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management Unit (CFUM). In the second quarter, these slot delays roughly doubled.
Overall, airport and air traffic control accounted for over 45% of departure delays at the airports listed. Late arrival was at just under 40%, handling/flight operations 9% and equipment failures down at a steady 5%.
Source: Airline Business
