Flight Numbers Decrease but Delays and Cancellations Increase

Throughout this year’s summer season, more than 9,300 flights have been delayed or cancelled, almost 4 times more than last year, despite Monarch no longer serving Spain and there being 26,210 fewer airline seats for Alicante-Elche airport.

Listen to this article

With industrial disputes making the headlines, it’s no surprise that Ryanair is one of the most affected companies, along with Vueling.

Barcelona, ​​Madrid and London Gatwick are  the destinations most affected, with the worse day of the summer being July 29, with more delays and cancellations than any other day.

The information is according to a report by AirHelp , the leading online platform that helps travellers in claiming compensation for delays, cancellations or denied boarding of airlines.

The report states that more than 9,300 flights have been affected this year, four times the amount last year and in 2016, and considerably higher than the 1,500 flights affected by cancellations or delays suffered by passengers in 2015.

As for air passenger numbers, around 1,200,000 people have suffered flight delays or cancellations this summer, much higher than the 350,000 passenger affected in 2017, and astoundingly more than the 180,000 passengers who suffered air incidents in 2015.

That said, now summer is over, September has been a particularly good month, in fact the best September in the four-year period. Little more than 153,000 passengers have been affected by delayed or cancelled flights, compare that to the 400,000 affected passengers in June of this year.

When we look at specific airlines, the report tells us that Vueling Airlines has had more than 12,800 affected flights, followed by Ryanair with more than 10,100. Iberia ranks third with more than 8,100 affected flights, followed by EasyJet.

From AirHelp , Paloma Salmerón, director of Global Communication of the company, recalls that “when flights suffer delays, cancellations or denied boarding, passengers have the right to receive compensation of up to 600 euro per person and journey, provided that the flight comes from the European Union, or lands in the European Union with a European airline, and the reason for the incidence is caused by the airline.” This right can be exercised by passengers up to three years after suffering a mishap with their flight.

At the beginning of 2018, AirHelp launched a new tool to help travellers know the flights entitled to compensation. This functionality allows the user to know the compensation to which they would be entitled for cancelled or delayed flights, and verify it up to three years later, simply by connecting the traveller’s e-mail inbox with AirHelp.com. In addition, the application will analyse any problem in a future flight, which will allow the passenger to know if he is entitled to compensation or not.