It finds that in comparison to Summer 2024 (1 June-15 September):
- air traffic increased by 3.3% (with year-to-date flights, 1 January-15 September, 4.1% higher
- a series of new traffic records were set: the busiest Saturday ever (33,987 flights), the busiest Sunday ever (35,009 flights) and the busiest week ever (35,756 average daily flights). Only the busiest day ever was not exceeded, with 2025 reaching a one-day maximum of 37,034 flights, 194 short of the 2019 record
- en-route air traffic flow management (ATFM) delays per flight declined by 31% (with total ATFM delays per flights similarly lower at 26%)
- summer arrival punctuality, at 71.6%, was 6.4% higher (Summer 2024: 65.2%).
Overall, this meant that operational picture for Summer 2025 was more positive than initially expected, reflecting significant efforts by the network’s operational actors – air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airlines and airports – and in particular the strong, ongoing cooperation between the EUROCONTROL Network Manager (NM) and the ANSPs.
However, performance remains below the EU target of 0.9 mins of delay per flight, standing at 1.88 mins/flight (1 Jan-15 Sep including summer), although this result is projected to fall by year-end to 1.6 mins/flight. And while in terms of days of over 200,000 minutes of delay, Summer 2025 was much better than the preceding summer, there were still 16 such days (Summer 2024: 35).
Preparations for Summer 2026 have begun, incorporating this year’s findings into priority areas that include:
- ongoing recruitment of air traffic controllers
- implementation of sectorisation changes to better manage demand
- sector capacity increases
- accelerated air traffic management (ATM) system modernisation and digitalisation
- continued development of network-centric procedures to improve ATFM and resilience.
For more detailed analysis, read the full EUROCONTROL Aviation Trends paper.