Portugal was the third country in Europe with the highest number of delayed flights in 2023, according to AirHelp.

In Europe, more than 230 million passengers suffered flight disruptions in 2023, and according to analysis by AirHelp, among the European countries with the highest air traffic, Portugal is one of the countries with the highest rate of flight delays.

“In 2023 alone, more than 80,000 flights suffered some kind of disruption – cancellation or delay – affecting more than 11 million passengers, i.e. 36% of the more than 32 million who traveled from Portugal,” says the consultant, who adds Taking these numbers into consideration, more than 770,000 passengers have become eligible for compensation, according to European Commission Regulation No. 261/2004.

Malta, Turkey and Portugal were the countries with the highest number of flight disruptions, according to AirHelp's latest report.

Lithuania, Norway and Albania appear at the top of the list as the most punctual countries, and Ryanair was the most popular airline in the low-cost category.

Malta tops the list of countries with the highest number of passengers affected by delays and cancellations: more than three million passengers passed through this European country and only 60% were able to enjoy their flight without incident.

Turkey comes in second place: Of the more than two million travelers who traveled from Turkey, 61% of them encountered some kind of disruption to their trip. The podium finishes with the presence of Portugal.

On the contrary, in terms of punctuality, Lithuania, Norway and Albania stand out for the good performance of their airports, with 80% of the two million passengers who took a flight from Lithuania arriving at their destination on time.

Of the 28 million passengers who flew from Norwegian airports, 79.4% departed on time; The same happened with 78.8% of the 2.5 million travelers who started their trip in Albania.

In terms of air traffic, Spain is the European country with the highest number of registered flights – more than 800,000 – and the most passenger traffic – more than 120 million – in 2023. AirHelp says Spain is “significantly increasing its activity in The aviation industry, however, has also worsened its punctuality records.

In second place we find Germany with more than 650,000 flights, 95 million passengers, and 67% punctuality. France comes in third place with more than 600,000 flights, 90 million passengers, and 65% punctuality.

AirHelp also states that “after the pandemic-induced hiatus, and still far from regaining 2019 numbers – nearly 950 million trips – tourism continues to record growth over the years.”

In 2023, there were more than five million flights departing from a European country, meaning more than 750 million passengers traveled from European airports. “This reflects an increase of more than 100 million passengers compared to last year,” AirHelp concludes.

“This analysis conducted by AirHelp, the world's largest organization specializing in defending the rights of air travelers, concluded that more than 230 million passengers in Europe had problems with the timing of their flights and 15 million saw their flights cancelled.”

“As a result of these disruptions, 17 million passengers who traveled from European airports in 2023 are entitled to financial compensation under EC261, which regulates flights departing from the European Union,” the organization says.

European travellers' favorite low-cost airlines

The analysis also reveals that according to AirHelp's records, Europeans seem to be the most searching for low-cost solutions.

In this regard, the most popular airline for travel from Europe is Ryanair. This Irish airline logs more than 750,000 flights and more than 125 million flights – twice the number of flights operated by the second busiest airline.

“However, those who want few surprises in their flight time should choose Eurowings: the low-cost airline of the Lufthansa Group has an on-time accuracy rate of around 93%,” says AirHelp.

On the other hand, as has become usual, the summer months are still the months with the highest air traffic and, therefore, the months with the highest frequency of flight interruptions. Thus, during the month of July 2023, 85 million passengers passed through a European airport.

In the same month, there was the highest non-punctuality rate of the year, with 38.20% of passengers experiencing some sort of interruption to their journey.