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Best and worst airports in France in summer 2026
Flights counted as delayed if they arrived at least 15 minutes behind schedule
Published
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A new study has revealed the best and world airports in terms of delayed arrivals in France for the summer of 2026.
From the results, Beauvais, Nice and Figari ranked at the top for the most delays, according to flight compensation company Flightright.
The company looked at 15 major French airports between June 1 and September 7, with flights counted as delayed if they arrived at least 15 minutes behind schedule.
More than one in three flights were delayed at nine of the 15 airports studied.
Beauvais had the highest delay rate
Beauvais-Tillé, near Paris, recorded the highest rate of delayed flights, with 45.38% arriving at least 15 minutes late.
Of the 5,632 arrivals included in the study, 2,556 were delayed.
Nice Côte d’Azur came a close second, with 44.98% of arrivals delayed. This represented 9,798 flights out of 21,784.
Figari-Sud Corse had the third-highest rate, with 43.54% of flights arriving late. A total of 889 of its 2,042 arrivals were delayed.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle ranked fourth. However, because of its much larger volume of traffic, it recorded by far the highest volume of delayed flights, at 25,484 out of 62,920.
Lille had the lowest delay rate
At the other end of the scale, Lille had the lowest number of delayed arrivals among the airports studied, at 29.11%. Only 551 flights arrived with more than 15 minutes delay.
Paris-Orly had the second lowest recorded rate of delays, 30.55%, with 9,558 of its 31,284 flights arriving at least 15 minutes late.
Even though it had a lower number than CDG, this still meant almost three in 10 flights were delayed.
Nantes, Ajaccio, Bastia also recorded rates below 32%, at 31.71%, 31.23% and 31.22% respectively.
Why were so many flights delayed?
The summer was affected by several disruptions, including a cabin crew strike at easyJet France in August, wildfires that affected southern France and several periods of severe thunderstorms.
The easyJet strike led to around 100 flights being cancelled during the weekend of August 15, affecting flights from several French bases, including Paris-Orly, Paris-CDG, Lyon, Nice, Nantes and Bordeaux.
Severe thunderstorms on August 24 also caused disruption at airports including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Nice, as well as the Paris airports.
So while the figures show how often flights arrived late, it doesn’t mean the airport bears responsibility for each delay.
When are passengers entitled to compensation?
Under EU passenger rights rules, passengers can claim compensation for flight delays of more than three hours, cancelled flights announced less than 14 days prior and denied boarding.
The amounts fluctuate between €250 and €600 depending on flight distance. Passengers may be entitled to €250 for flights up to 1,500km, €400 for intra-EU flights over 1,500km and other flights between 1,500km and 3,500km, and €600 for longer flights exceeding 3,500km.
However, it is important to keep in mind that airlines can refuse compensation in the event of circumstances outside of their control. These include natural disasters, war, strikes (third-party ones such as air traffic control or airport staff) and severe weather conditions.
