EUROCONTROL European Aviation Overview

EUROCONTROL's European Aviation Overview provides a detailed snapshot of the latest network trends.

It uses the latest traffic data to show how States, airports and airlines are performing, with further analysis of key topics, such as delays and fuel prices.

The network averaged 36,581 daily flights in Week 35, up 0.6% compared to Week 34 and 2.3% higher than in 2025.

On average, capacity among the busiest 10 carriers was roughly similar to the previous week. Three airlines recorded their highest-ever flight numbers: Pegasus, Jet2.com and Jet2holidays in Week 35.

At State level, flight volumes across the busiest 10 States were broadly similar to the previous week. Türkiye recorded its highest-ever traffic in terms of arrivals/departures for the second time in August.

In Week 35 Europe ↔ Middle East traffic rose 2% week-on-week and returned to 2025 levels (-0%), largely driven by a faster recovery among Gulf carriers – but has since already in Week 36 dropped once more following renewed tensions.

Network arrival and departure punctuality were 69.0% and 63.6%, worse than in the equivalent week of 2025.

En-route ATFM delays increased by 28% compared to the previous week, averaging circa 126K delay minutes per day, and were 6% above 2025 levels. Total air traffic flow management (ATFM) delay per flight was 4.2 mins/flight (3.4 for en-route and 0.8 for airport).

Weather was the top delay cause (56% of all en-route ATFM delays), followed by ATC capacity & staffing (40%).

The area control centres contributing the most to en-route ATFM delays (in mins/flight) were Marseille (3.9 mins/flight), Brest (3.1 mins/flight), Barcelona (2.7 mins/flight), Reims (2.7 mins/flight), and Karlsruhe (2.2 mins/flight).

August 2026 marked a reversal of the decline in jet fuel prices seen during the spring, as renewed geopolitical tensions and supply pressures pushed European prices higher. The August average of $3.86 per gallon stood 71% above levels seen before the Middle East crisis. On 28 August 2026, jet fuel prices closed at $3.88 per gallon, a slight decrease of 1% over the previous two weeks.