BRITS have been warned to brace for the worst flight delays in 25 years following mounting staff shortages.
Eurocontrol, which manages European airspace, said it is expecting to handle 5 per cent more flights than last – putting enormous strain on flight operations.
With air traffic controller numbers already suffering, holidaymakers could face record delays later this year.
This follows last summer's chaos where delays were 47 per cent worse than in 2023.
Karlsruhe in Germany, Budapest in , Zagreb in , and Merseille and Reims in are expected to be the worst hit.
Steven Moore, Eurocontrol’s head of air traffic management operations,told The Times: “It’s plain we won’t havea summer without delays.”;
Today, Greece’s air traffic controllers are grounding all flights in a 24-hour strike, just 11 days before Easter.
Analysis from AirAdvisor, the world's leading air passenger right company, showed 70-80 direct flights from the UK to will be directly impacted, affecting almost 13,00 Brits.
, , , and TUI Airways passengers will mostly bear the brunt of this strike action with some 50 flights affected.
Other carriers including Aegean Airlines, Air and Lufthansa are also expected to suffer severe delays as a result of staff shortages.
Key routes impacted include direct flights from key UK airports such as and to Greek airports like Athens and Heraklion.
The cost of delays has also taken a massive toll on the airline industry with bosses reporting eye-watering losses.
David Morgan, EasyJet's chief operating officer, said the airline had already suffered a 41 per cent increase in delays at the start of the year – “costing hundreds of millions”.
This follows a series of other by air traffic controllers earlier this year who have been demanding an increase in pay.
Last month, Workers at 13 German, including the likes of Berlin and Munich staged a one-day strike.
Flights betweenand the UK were affected, with more than 20 flights cancelled fromHeathrow.
Services to Germany from other UK airports were also grounded, with more than five flights cancelled from London City Airport.
Over 1,000 flights to and from Frankfurt Airport were cancelled, according to Germanagency dpa.
All of Berlin Airport's regular departures and arrivals were also cancelled, whilepreviously said no departures would be possible.
Meanwhile, flights to and fromAirport were also greatly reduced, with no regular passenger service operating from Cologne/Bonn Airport.
Other German airports impacted by the strike action include Bremen, Hannover, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart, Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
More than 3,500 flights have been cancelled because of the walkout, with around 560,000 passengers affected.
