Delays are one of the more annoying aspects of travelling, and it seems like Europe is in for a particularly nasty spell this month following staff shortages at Air Traffic Control centres in Germany, France, Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom. With a substantial part of their flights already delayed, Irish giants Ryanair have called on the EU Commission and several European governments to do something about a situation that seems to only be getting worse.

On Saturday, Ryanair announced on Twitter that 25% of all their Friday flights were met with delays. By the next day, a further 26% of flights were delayed. This morning, 15% of the airline’s first wave of flight departures suffered the same fate.

“We sincerely regret these delays and we call on the EU Commission and French, UK and German governments to take immediate action to eliminate these ATC staff shortages disrupting millions of Europe’s consumers this summer,” the airline said in a Tweet ahead of a weekend which saw over 1,200 of their flights being delayed.

While some delays were minor, some passengers reported being told last minute, by SMS, that their flights were to be delayed by at least three hours.

Ryanair has since put out a statement saying they “sincerely regret these unjustified delays,” going on to say that they were doing their utmost to limit their impact on other flights.

The surge of delays is a continuation of a problem that has persisted among European airlines for the past week. Last Wednesday, in fact, around 100 Ryanair pilots announced a walkout for Thursday 12th July, the busiest time of the year. Within 24 hours, more of the airline’s crew threatened to strike this summer as the ATC staff shortages keep throwing airlines like Ryanair into added hassle and confusion.

So if you’re planning on going abroad soon, be warned; you might be looking at some frustrating delays.

Tag someone who’s going abroad soon and apologise for being the bearer of bad news

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).