Eurocontrol: European traffic in week 33 up 3% year-on-year
In its review of week 33 (10–16 August 2026), Eurocontrol reports that the European network handled an average of 36,174 flights per day, up 0.1% on the previous week and 3% more than in the same period of 2025.
According to Eurocontrol, capacity among the ten busiest carriers remained virtually unchanged compared with the previous week (+0.1%). Four airlines recorded their highest-ever number of flights in week 33: Turkish Airlines Group, Wizz Air Group, Pegasus and SunExpress.
At state level, the ten busiest countries saw a 0.6% decline compared with week 32, with Italy posting the steepest drop (-4%). Eurocontrol attributes this mainly to significant volcanic activity at Mount Etna, which disrupted flights to and from Catania. By contrast, Ireland, which does not rank among the ten busiest states, recorded its highest-ever daily number of arrivals and departures.
Among airports, the ranking of the ten busiest remained stable compared with the previous week, though Eurocontrol notes that Dublin, Istanbul and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airports set new all-time daily flight records.
- Average flights/day
- 36,174 week 33, +3% year-on-year
- Arrival punctuality
- 74.2%
- Departure punctuality
- 66.7%
- En-route ATFM delay
- approx. 87,000 min/day -13% vs week 32
- Delay per flight
- 3.1 min/flight 2.4 en-route + 0.7 at airport
- Jet fuel price
- 3.9 USD/gal as of 14 Aug 2026, -1% over two weeks
- Route charges VII/2026
- EUR 1,207 million +3% year-on-year
Network-wide arrival and departure punctuality reached 74.2% and 66.7% respectively, which Eurocontrol says is an improvement compared with the same week in 2025. En-route delays within the air traffic flow management (ATFM) system fell by 13% compared with the previous week to approximately 87,000 minutes per day, though this still remained 3% below 2025 levels. Total ATFM delay per flight stood at 3.1 minutes, of which 2.4 minutes were en-route and 0.7 minutes were at the airport.
Causes of delay
- Air traffic control capacity and staffing were the main cause of en-route ATFM delays, accounting for 56% of them.
- Weather was the second most common cause of en-route delays, accounting for 40%.
- Marseille
- 4.1 min/flight
- Barcelona
- 3.6 min/flight
- Makedonia
- 1.8 min/flight
- Skopje
- 1.7 min/flight
- Athens
- 1.6 min/flight
Eurocontrol also reported that jet fuel prices closed at 3.9 dollars per gallon on 14 August 2026, down 1% from two weeks earlier. For July 2026, the organisation invoiced route charges totalling EUR 1,207 million, up 3% on July 2025 — an increase Eurocontrol attributes to a 1% rise in unit rates combined with a 1% increase in the total number of en-route service units.