Air traffic in July affected by Europe’s extreme weather

Over 1 million flights in July but traffic affected by Europe’s extreme weather

July 2023 saw air traffic up by an average of 7%, compared with July 2022, with total flights in the month exceeding one million for the first time since September 2019. In fact, in around half of EUROCONTROL’s Member States, traffic levels are at or above those of July 2019 – particularly in south-east Europe.

Europe experienced extreme weather in July and weather-related ATFM delay during this month was over two and a half times the 2022 figure. The main impact has come from convective weather (thunderstorms etc.), notably in Germany, Hungary and Serbia. At airports, the largest weather delays have been at Frankfurt, Gatwick and Munich.

Overall, without the weather element, ATFM delays per flight reduced by nearly a quarter to 2.5 minutes per flight (despite traffic growing 7%). When the impact of the adverse weather is included, they increased marginally from 3.9 to 4.1 minutes per flight.

ATFM delays make up only a small part of the total delays experienced by the passenger. Looking at overall punctuality (which also reflects reactionary (knock-on) delays, airline scheduling delays and delays on the ground), this was slightly better than in July 2022, despite more traffic and the impact of adverse weather – albeit still below the 2019 level.

The improvements in network performance in July show that close cooperation between all operational partners is delivering good results. Looking to August, EUROCONTROL will continue to do its utmost in full partnership with operational stakeholders to minimise delays and improve overall punctuality.