Ryanair hits out as scores of flights delayed leaving holidaymakers fuming

Posted by Admin July 3, 2024 Travel

In a new blow to travellers going abroad Ryanair today issued an apology saying scores of its flights have been delayed today. The carrier hit out at European air traffic control woes which have been hitting services this week.

It described the delays as ‘unacceptable’. Just today 78 aircraft were hit by problems – and this follows issues which impacted easyJet and Wizz Air as well.

Jet2 is still warning of serious storms in the eastern Mediterranean which are potentially hitting departures in the Balearic Islands. In a statement today Ryanair said: “Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, on Wed 03 Jul apologised to its passengers for the excessive flight delays caused by European ATC staff shortages today Wed 03 Jul which are affecting all European airlines.

“ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform (despite flight volumes being 5% behind 2019 levels) with repeated “staff shortages”. On Wed 03 Jul, 13% of Ryanair’s first wave departures (78 of 581 aircraft) were delayed due to ATC “staff shortages”. These repeated flight delays due to ATC mismanagement are unacceptable.

“We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control.”

Passengers took to X, formerly Twitter to complain, and Sean Boyle said: “Typical @Ryanair at their best delaying flights for hours. Original flight was supposed to 12.50 which was delayed until 13.40 and it’s now 17.30. Absolute joke of an airline! Been in this airport for hours and still got another 5 hour wait.”

Martin Deighton added: “Think it’s safe to say I won’t be using @Ryanair or @loveholidays ever again. Both absolutely useless in trying to help after a cancelled flight. Just passing it between each other.”

Narinder Nagra said: “@Ryanair why is our flight getting moved from Napoli to Roma when it has nothing to do with the passengers and the flight was 3 hours late to begin with? there has been nothing done to appease the crowd. Everyone is still mad and the plane is still on the tarmac.”

Today Jet2 updated its advice online and said: “We are currently experiencing some Air Traffic Control slot delays on flights that are due to arrive, depart or fly across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands, this is due to adverse weather conditions (Thunder Storms) in many parts of Eastern Europe.

“If you are currently on holiday and experiencing bad weather, please allow plenty of time to get to the airport and allow for potential bad road conditions on route. Our UK Based Operations team is working hard to minimise disruption to our flying programme, however, you may experience some disruption if you are travelling to/from areas affected.

EasyJet cancelled dozens of flights from London Gatwick at the weekend, with the airline blaming air traffic control restrictions across Europe as a result of thunderstorms.

Wizz Air, the third largest carrier in the former Yugoslavia, said, “In the past few days, the European airspace has been severely impacted due to airport slot management issues, caused by simultaneous weather events throughout Europe. These events have impacted the capabilities of air traffic control authorities and Eurocontrol to manage industry-wide traffic volumes, leading to major delays and cancellations across the European airline industry. Wizz Air was prepared to ensure smooth summer operations for its passengers, however, the air traffic control system seems to be experiencing significant issues this summer”.