The average delay per flight in 2023 decreased to 17.5 minutes per flight, compared to 2022 where the average delay per flight was 17.8 minutes per flight alongside an increase in the number of flights in ECAC of 9.8% when compared to 2022.
Arrival punctuality deteriorated slightly in comparison to 2022, with 70.6% of flights arriving within 15 minutes or earlier of their scheduled arrival time (STA), compared to 71.5% in 2022.
Despite a small decrease reactionary (knock-on) delay was the highest contributor to the average delay per flight with an identical share of 46% of delay minutes, translating to 8.1 minutes per flight in 2023.
Airline related delay causes fell, those such as ramp handling, passenger boarding, staff shortage, (etc.) however they still ranked second at 4.5 minutes per flight.
Airline reported en-route ATFM delay remained high at 1.9 minutes per flight, however it did fall to 2022. A key component of this total was en-route weather delay, this contributing 0.7 minutes/flight a 29% share of the reported en-route ATFM delay minutes, here summer seasonal weather (mainly thunderstorm activity) drove delay with heavy delays recorded in Karlsruhe UAC, Budapest, Beograd and Zagreb ACCs.
The closure of Ukrainian airspace continued to impact en-route performance. Central and Eastern European air traffic control (ATC) centres, such as those in Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia and Ankara, managed efficiently in a highly complex environment. In some cases handled traffic levels exceeding those of 2019. Additionally, military operations to and from Eastern Europe further contributed to the complexity.
ATC industrial action in France remained a factor during 2023, with nine months in the year impacted by actions causing delays, cancellations and passenger disruption.
ATFM airport delays increased to 1.3 minutes per flight. Copenhagen Airport faced air traffic control (ATC) staffing issues, particularly during the summer months. London Heathrow experienced disruptions primarily due to weather events. Athens Airport suffered delays due to ATC equipment problems, while Greek island airports like Heraklion, Zakynthos and Chania dealt with ATC capacity delays in the summer. Lisbon was impacted by early morning ATC and aerodrome capacity constraints, as well as weather-related delays.