Ryanair has issued a warning to passengers flying out of the UK today, as the airline company said it was experiencing issues with European air traffic control staff shortages
Ryanair and easyJet have issued a stark warning to UK passengers about potential disruptions.
Ryanair has alerted holidaymakers flying off to the European Union on Tuesday, September 24, that their autumn getaway might be disrupted.
In a statement on its website, Ryanair explained that there may be “delays across the network today”, September 24, due to ongoing European ATC staff shortages across Europe amidst an early Autumn travel boom.
It added: “We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control. We encourage passengers to visit atcruinedourholiday.com and demand that the EU Commission take urgent action to improve Europe’s ATC system.”
Has your flight been impacted by the ATC staff shortages? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com
Ryanair continued its drawn out campaign of criticising various air traffic control services across the country, claiming that “flight delays due to ATC mismanagement are unacceptable”. According to the ATC Network, the European ATC system is facing multiple challenges at the moment, including a faster than expected recovery of traffic after the pandemic, high seasonal demand and restricted airspace, reports the Majorca Daily Bulletin.
“System fatigue and limits are being exhausted after years of underinvestment,“ ATC Network added. Furthermore, easyJet also has alerted its customers about possible delays and disruptions due to strikes affecting Italian airports on Tuesday, 24 September.
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In its statement, easyJet said: “We’ve been made aware of local ground handling and security strikes in Italy on Tuesday 24th September affecting flights flying in and out of Venice, Olbia, Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate and Bologna. We expect that there may be delays and some disruption due to the industrial action, so we advise all customers to continue to check the status of their flight here on Flight Tracker before travelling to the airport.
“Although this is outside of our control, we wish to reassure you that we are doing all we can to minimise any disruption to our flights that may occur as a result of the strike action.”
European Air Traffic Control is responsible for all gate-to-gate air navigation service operations, which includes flow management, controller training and control of regional airspace. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a shortage in air traffic controllers and this has been exasperated by a surge in travel demand.
