Latest news with #Eurocontrol
Bloomberg
28-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Europe's Skies Busier Than Before Covid in Boon for Fuel Demand
Europe's skies are busier than before the Covid pandemic, a boon for the region's fuel-supplying oil refiners. Flights averaged almost 33,000 a day last week, a 2% increase on 2019, according to a report from Eurocontrol. That comes amid a slump in oil prices as the OPEC+ alliance adds supplies to the market and US tariffs threaten the global economy.
Gulf Today
28-04-2025
- Climate
- Gulf Today
Massive blackout disrupts flights, subway trains in Spain and Portugal
A massive blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday, halting subway trains, cutting phone service and shutting down traffic lights and ATM machines for the 50 million people who live across the Iberian Peninsula. The power cut also disrupted air traffic, affecting flights to and from Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, European air traffic organisation Eurocontrol said. The organisation said it was still too early to say how many flights would be affected. Utility operators sought to restore the grid but Spanish electricity transmission operator Red Eléctrica said the outage, the cause of which was not immediately known, could last from six to 10 hours. Officials said the possibility that it was caused by a cyber attack had not been ruled out. The outage caused chaos in parts of Portugal and Spain as traffic lights stopped working, causing gridlock. A view of empty hospital emergency beds at a hospital during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain, in Barcelona. Reuters Transport networks were halted, hospitals were left without power and people were trapped in the metro and in elevators. In Madrid, hundreds of people stood in the streets outside office buildings and there was a heavy police presence around some important buildings, with officers directing traffic as well as driving along central atriums with lights. People leave the Atocha train station in Madrid after its closure as a massive power outage hits Spain. AFP The Spanish and Portuguese governments met to discuss the outage, which also briefly affected parts of France, and a crisis committee was set up in Spain, sources familiar with the situation said. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited electricity transmission operator Red Eléctrica's control centre. "The government is working to determine the origin and impact of this incident and is dedicating all resources to resolve it as soon as possible," the Spanish government said. Passengers stand next to a stopped RENFE high-speed AVE train near Cordoba during a massive power cut. AFP Red Electrica said it was working with regional energy companies to restore power. Portuguese utility REN said it had activated plans for the phased restoration of the electricity supply. POWER CUT INTERRUPTS PLAY AT MADRID OPEN Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the court as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power. The European Commission said it was in contact with the authorities in Spain and Portugal and the European network of transmission system operators ENTSO-E to try to establish the cause of the outage. GRIDLOCK Power outages on this scale are rare in Europe. In 2003 a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused a major outage across the whole Italian peninsula for around 12 hours. In Madrid, the air was filled with the sound of police sirens and helicopters clattered overhead. The towering Torre Emperador skyscraper in the Spanish capital was evacuated via stairs. Worried people tried desperately to reach their children's schools as the cell signal came and went. Customers buy gas bottles in a petrol station during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula. AFP In a video posted on X, Madridi Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged the capital's residents to minimise all travel and stay at their current locations if possible. Airports reported delays. AENA, which manages 46 airports in Spain, reported flight delays around the country. Portugal's airport operator ANA said airports activated emergency generators which for now allows essential airport operations to be maintained at Porto and Faro airports. "In Lisbon, operations are ongoing but with limitations. So far, there have been no impacts on Madeira and Azores airports," it said. Agencies
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
It could be air travel's most chaotic summer ever. Here's how to bypass it
British holidaymakers are facing the worst summer for flight delays in decades due to a perfect storm of air traffic control issues. Last year, European air passengers suffered the worst flight delays since 2021, primarily due to air traffic control staffing issues and routing complications caused by the war in Ukraine. A new Eurocontrol report shows that in 2024, one in three European flights were delayed on departure and 27.5 per cent arrived more than 15 minutes late (the accepted threshold for a flight to be considered 'delayed' in the aviation industry). In the summer months (June to September), only 58 per cent of flights departed on time. Aviation insiders aren't optimistic about the summer ahead. Brian Smith, a pilot with decades of experience in commercial aviation, says: 'Delays are going to get worse this year as airline expansion is outstripping the pace of change in the European air traffic management environment.' This echoes the words of Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary, who recently told The Independent: 'It will be worse than last summer, particularly at weekends. Europe needs to fix what is a broken air traffic control system, which we pay ridiculously expensive fees for.' The author of the new Eurocontrol report, Dr Peter Whysall, has also said airline punctuality is 'likely to get worse unless structural issues are addressed'. According to the new Eurocontrol report, the worst Area Control Centres for delays are Karlsruhe in Germany (responsible for 13.1 per cent of air traffic delays in Europe), Budapest (12.9 per cent), Marseille (7 per cent), Zagreb (6.5 per cent) and Reims in France (6 per cent). To zoom out and look at the worst countries for air traffic control delays, France (21.2 per cent), Germany (17.8 per cent) and Hungary (12.9 per cent) are the poorest performers. This includes flights that are flying over these zones, not just ones that originate within them. Of the 30 biggest European airports in Europe, Lisbon had the worst arrival delays of 4m 12s per flight, followed by Amsterdam (3m 48s), Gatwick and Heathrow (3m 36s) and Athens (3m 27s). Lisbon, Gatwick and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport all performed under the Europe-wide average flight punctuality rate of 67.2 per cent. There are several factors causing air traffic control issues across Europe. Staffing is the most critical problem, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Zagreb's Air Control Centre, for example, cites 'very high unpredicted traffic growth' making it difficult to offer adequate service with existing staffing levels. Bad weather is another cause, accounting for 40 per cent of all delays in 2024. However, the Eurocontrol document highlights an interesting nuance where air traffic control bodies can be penalised for delays due to capacity or staffing, but not due to weather. This means if 'weather' is put down as a cause for delay (but the underlying cause is, in fact, staffing) the controlling body will face no penalty. 'Attributing all ATFM delays to weather, whilst ignoring the underlying capacity constraints that could be mitigated and resolved, diverts attention, and resources, from finding solutions to the actual problems,' the report reads. Historically, industrial action – particularly in France – has caused widespread air traffic control problems across Europe. Some frequent flyers may remember that 2023 was a particularly bad year for this. However, a new law in France requiring air traffic control officers to register their absence before an industrial dispute has allowed French air traffic control providers to plan ahead more effectively. In terms of traffic volume, Heathrow is the busiest two-runway airport on the planet, and Gatwick is the busiest single-runway airport. So capacity is, unsurprisingly, a problem. Heathrow and Gatwick have the longest queues for aircraft waiting to land of the top 30 airports in Europe: an average of 7m 26s at Heathrow, and 5m 58s at Gatwick. Weather is also a challenge. The south-east of England has between 15 and 19 days of thunder per year, according to Met Office data (the north of England, by comparison, has just 5), and both Gatwick and Heathrow suffer from problems with fog. Delays can happen at any time, so there is no fool-proof way to game the system. However, frequent flyers know that reactionary delays are one of the largest contributors to punctuality; this might be due to the late arrival of an aircraft or waiting for crew or baggage. The upshot is that flying earlier in the day could reduce your chances of suffering knock-on delays. You could also consider the destinations that had the best on-time performance records in 2024. Take Spain, for example. It is worth noting that Barcelona and Madrid actually saw increased arrival punctuality in 2024 compared to 2023. The Spanish air traffic control zone (ENAIRE) also generated just 10.7 per cent of en-route air traffic delays in 2024. However, when you consider that France generated 21.2 per cent (and your flight will, almost definitely, fly over France) the reliability of Spanish air traffic control should be taken with a pinch of salt. To avoid all doubt, look north. Scandinavian airports seem to perform better than others. Oslo, for example, had a departure punctuality rate of 83.7 per cent. Copenhagen and Stockholm (both 80 per cent) were other high performers compared to Europe-wide averages. Brian Smith, a pilot who currently flies for a British cargo airline and has previously flown with Ryanair, Emirates and Air2000 (later, First Choice), explains how air traffic control slots dictate on-time performance. 'Air traffic control units must ensure separation between aircraft, vertically, laterally and in time, to avoid conflicts that could develop into potentially dangerous proximity of aircraft,' he says. 'Although it is heavily computerised, there are many constraints put on the airspace, which do cause some well-known choke points. It boils down to how many aircraft the air traffic control unit can safely squeeze into a piece of airspace. 'The result is that pilots will be given a Calculated Take Off Time (CTOT), commonly called a 'slot', in order to fit into the congested flow of traffic. 'If, for some reason, the slot is missed, say due to a passenger incident, or maintenance, it can put the aircraft at the back of the queue for a long time, which is always very frustrating. Improvements are in the pipeline but they won't be in place any time soon. So this year is going to be challenging for peak time travellers.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Telegraph
01-04-2025
- Telegraph
It could be air travel's most chaotic summer ever. Here's how to bypass it
British holidaymakers are facing the worst summer for flight delays in decades due to a perfect storm of air traffic control issues. Last year, European air passengers suffered the worst flight delays since 2021, primarily due to air traffic control staffing issues and routing complications caused by the war in Ukraine. A new Eurocontrol report shows that in 2024, one in three European flights were delayed on departure and 27.5 per cent arrived more than 15 minutes late (the accepted threshold for a flight to be considered 'delayed' in the aviation industry). In the summer months (June to September), only 58 per cent of flights departed on time. Aviation insiders aren't optimistic about the summer ahead. Brian Smith, a pilot with decades of experience in commercial aviation, says: 'Delays are going to get worse this year as airline expansion is outstripping the pace of change in the European air traffic management environment.' This echoes the words of Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary, who recently told The Independent: 'It will be worse than last summer, particularly at weekends. Europe needs to fix what is a broken air traffic control system, which we pay ridiculously expensive fees for.' The author of the new Eurocontrol report, Dr Peter Whysall, has also said airline punctuality is 'likely to get worse unless structural issues are addressed'. Which are the worst destinations for flight delays? According to the new Eurocontrol report, the worst Area Control Centres for delays are Karlsruhe in Germany (responsible for 13.1 per cent of air traffic delays in Europe), Budapest (12.9 per cent), Marseille (7 per cent), Zagreb (6.5 per cent) and Reims in France (6 per cent). To zoom out and look at the worst countries for air traffic control delays, France (21.2 per cent), Germany (17.8 per cent) and Hungary (12.9 per cent) are the poorest performers. This includes flights that are flying over these zones, not just ones that originate within them.
The Independent
31-03-2025
- The Independent
Holidaymakers face worst air traffic control issues in 25 years with 30 million passengers facing delays this summer
Holidaymakers are set to face the worst air traffic control (ATC) issues in a quarter of a century this summer – with 30 million UK air passengers set to be delayed between June and August. Summer travellers in 2024 experienced the worst air traffic control delays since 2001, largely due to staffing issues, and aviation heavyweights have warned that this year will be even worse. On the eve of the start of the summer schedules, which begin on Sunday, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told The Independent: 'It will be worse than last summer, particularly at weekends. Europe needs to fix what is a broken air traffic control system, which we pay ridiculously expensive fees for.' The Independent has analysed the Eurocontrol Performance Review Report for 2024, which reveals some shocking delays. During the summer months of June, July and August last year, one in three flights arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule – the industry threshold for a delayed flight. Adverse weather causes many of the delays, but a shortage of air traffic controllers is also blamed. Indeed, the Eurocontrol review reveals that many cases involving staff shortage may be wrongly attributed to weather. The report says that a capacity cut due to staffing 'could result in a financial penalty' – while blaming the delay on adverse weather 'could even result in a financial bonus'. With an estimated 90 million passengers expected to fly to or from UK airports between June and September 2025, it is likely that 30 million will arrive a quarter of an hour or more behind schedule – jeopardising connections, eroding time on holiday, and adding to pressure on airlines. Dr Peter Whysall, who conducted the review for Eurocontrol, called the constraints 'a cause for concern' and said that performance is 'likely to get worse unless structural issues are addressed'. Mr O'Leary added that ATC delays have increased by 50 per cent in the last five years: 'I wouldn't object to those higher fees if we were getting an acceptable service. And yet last year, in 2024, we suffered record ATC delays. 'Major ANSP [air navigation service providers] all over Europe have admitted to us that they are understaffed, and that the ATC delays this summer will be worse than they were last summer. So we're paying increased fees for a service that's broken. It's unacceptable.' Pilots are accustomed to being told that they must wait on the ground because of restrictions at certain 'area control centres' due to a lack of staff. Eurocontrol has revealed the worst offenders, together with the proportion of delays: The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) is responsible for a quarter of delays. The organisation says: 'The DGAC provides efficient air navigation services of high quality in terms of safety, the environment and capacity, at the best cost.' Ben Smith, chief executive of Air France-KLM, said: 'The shortage of air traffic controllers [in France] is 20-25 per cent, which means many of our flights are going to be delayed, and we already know this.' Air France and KLM are susceptible to delays because so many passengers are connecting through their hubs in Paris CDG and Amsterdam respectively. With transfers of an hour or less between flights, a delayed arrival can trigger many missed connections. Airlines are responsible for providing customer care and rearranging onward travel, even though they are not responsible for causing the delay. 'Today, it's just 'Throw it on the airline.' It's easy,' said Mr Smith. 'To be beaten up in a way that costs us, and ultimately costs customers, is not correct. It's not good for anybody.' The European Commission says: 'Insufficient airspace capacity, as seen in recent years, leads to long delays and difficulties for passengers. 'These delays affect the efficiency of the entire air transport system. Delays are the cause of additional costs for airlines, and they increase the sector's carbon footprint, with additional emissions from aircraft flying more fuel-inefficient routes.' Mr O'Leary even ventured that a popular flight-tracking service could help out. 'Flightradar24 could provide most of the air traffic control service across Europe f***ing free of charge,' he said. Nats, the UK air traffic control service, declined to comment on the remark. The UK's two busiest airports – London Heathrow and Gatwick – have the highest additional 'arrival sequencing and metering' times due to their lack of capacity. They are respectively the busiest dual-runway and single-runway airports in the world. At Heathrow, queueing for arrival averages seven-and-a-half minutes, and at Gatwick six minutes.
