Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 5 Nov) called on EU President, Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” to urgently reform EU’s broken ATC services, as 33m passengers suffer ATC delays so far this year. This comes as Ryanair released its October ATC Delays League, showing that France, Spain, Germany & the UK are the worst ATCs for delays/cancellations because their Govts fail to ensure their ATC services are properly staffed and managed.

There is no excuse for these worst ATC delays when Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium & Denmark, are all delivering efficient ATC services (without mismanagement or staff shortages) and are responsible for the fewest ATC delays/cancellations in Europe this year.

Ryanair and A4E have repeatedly called for EU ATC reform, but Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” ignores these ATC delays/cancellations. Over 33m passengers have already suffered delays this year. Ryanair calls on all EU passengers to visit the ‘Air Traffic Control Ruined Your Flight’ webpage and demand that Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” take urgent action to reform the EU’s broken ATC by (1) mandatory that national ATC services are fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights or face fines, and (2) the EU Comm must protect overflights during national ATC strikes.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“It is inexcusable that Europe’s worst performing ATCs in France, Spain, Germany and the UK continue to inflict avoidable delays and cancellations on millions of EU citizens every month. Despite warnings, Europe’s ATC performance is not improving, as national providers fail to properly staff and manage their operations.

EU ATC needs reform and its passengers who are paying the price. ATC delays have already disrupted 33m citizens so far this year, with France, Spain, Germany and the UK consistently failing to staff and manage their services properly.

Ursula von der Leyen has done nothing to fix this ATC crisis and EU passengers deserve better. It’s time the Commission took action to end this ATC  chaos and protect EU passengers’ freedom of movement.”