Summer Travel Chaos: One-Third of French Flights Delayed, UK and Greece Top Disruption List

According to Flightright figures, 1.35 to 1.40% (depending on the type of low-cost or premium airline) of flights departing from France were cancelled this summer and 36% were delayed. "Reliability does not seem to depend on the business model," but rather on the destinations, notes the specialized website. Two destinations have the highest delay rates: Greece and the United Kingdom. The same source specifies that 52% of premium airline flights arrived late in Greece, and 46% in the United Kingdom. For low-cost airlines, the average delay is 29% for Greece and 54% for the United Kingdom. These two destinations also have the highest flight cancellation rates, with 2.5% for low-cost and 3.2% for premium.

"For the holidays, disruptions have not spared any company serving the British Isles. Several events such as a technical problem causing chaos at Gatwick Airport or Storm Floris (130 flights cancelled) have made the United Kingdom the destination most prone to cancellations this summer," the site indicates. "For travellers who were lucky enough to leave, punctuality was not guaranteed: the United Kingdom has the worst record for low-cost flight delays, with more than half of the flights delayed. For premium airlines, it is Greece that tops the list of delayed flights," it is specified.

As for flights to France or overflying France, they were also disrupted by the air traffic controllers’ strike on July 3 and 4, resulting in the cancellation of more than 1,100 flights this summer. "Every day, more than a third of European flights (33%) take off, land or overfly France. Thus, the blockage of French airspace has impacted more than 1 million European passengers and multiplied delays in neighbouring countries (by 2.7 in Morocco, by 2 in Spain). In total, it is more than 354,000 minutes lost in two days," according to Eurocontrol figures, it is detailed. "More than 36,000 Ryanair flights and more than 6 million passengers have suffered delays between January 1 and July 22, 2025 due to the poor management of the French air traffic control service, lack of staff and "recreational" strikes," Ryanair said in a statement.

The SNCTA, the main union of French air traffic controllers, has announced a new strike on Thursday, September 18.