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 35,279 daily flights in Week 39, down 1.1% compared to Week 38 and 2.9% higher than in 2025.

On average, capacity among the 10 busiest carriers decreased by 0.6% compared to the previous week.

At State level, flight volumes across the busiest 10 States decreased by 0.6% compared to the previous week.

Network arrival and departure punctuality were 77.0% and 71.7%, better than in the equivalent week of 2025.

En-route ATFM delays decreased by 12% compared to the previous week, averaging circa 49K delay minutes per day, and were 39% below 2025 levels. Total air traffic flow management (ATFM) delay per flight was 2.1 min/flight (1.4 for en-route and 0.7 for airport).

ATC capacity & staffing was the top delay cause (78% of all en-route ATFM delays), followed by ATC disruption (9%) following the ATC system failure in the UK on 21 September.

The area control centres contributing the most to en-route ATFM delays (in min/flight) were Makedonia (1.7 min/flight), Prestwick (1.5 min/flight), Barcelona (1.4 min/flight), Marseille (1.2 min/flight), and Reims (1.1 min/flight).

Jet fuel prices rose significantly in September 2026, reaching a peak of $4.92 per gallon on 18 September. The monthly average stood at $4.63 per gallon, the highest since April 2026 and more than double the pre-crisis level of $2.26 per gallon in January-February 2026. On 25 September 2026, jet fuel prices averaged $4.71 per gallon, up 3% from the previous two weeks.