Which airline is the worst for delays across Europe?
Three companies saw at least 40% of flights delayed this year
Cancellations were down, but delays up across the board
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Low-cost carriers easyJet and Ryanair were among Europe’s worst for delays in 2025, a new study on flights departing European airports reveals.
The ranking by flight delay compensation website Flightright (relayed by French media outlet Capital) also showed the percentage of delays in 2025 increased sharply compared to the previous year for many airlines.
Portuguese carrier TAP Portugal topped the list with 47.01% of its flights delayed, followed by easyJet (43.03%) and Ryanair (41.11%).
The two budget airlines topped the list for overall number of flights delayed due to the large number of routes they fly – for easyJet, 234,035 flights were delayed and Ryanair taking the lead with 426,503.
The three ‘worst’ airlines for delays all saw the percentage of flights delayed increase greatly compared to what was recorded in 2024.
Ryanair jumped from 14th on the list in 2024, when less than 20% of flights were delayed.
Flag carriers British Airways (39.76%) and Air France (36.96%) rounded out the top five.
Knock-on effects from tight schedules
“These levels of delays… remain far too high,” for passengers said legal director of Flightright Imane El Bouanani to media outlet Capital.
“In these airlines’ business model, with a high number of daily flights [up to 12 hours of flight time per 24-hour period], a minor hitch on the first flight can lead to the cancellation of the last flight at the end of the day,” she added.
Flightright estimates that a one-minute delay can cost an airline up to €100, rising exponentially as the situation worsens.
While strike action is responsible for some of the delays, in France a growing issue over a lack of air traffic controllers is hampering certain airports such as Nice.
It is limiting the number of planes allowed through French airspace – itself the busiest in Europe as several major traffic lanes including from the UK, Spain, and Italy pass over France even if not landing there – and leading to delays on the ground and in the air.
Cancellations down
Some good news for passengers however is that flight cancellations were down compared to 2024.
Dutch carrier KLM topped the charts, cancelling 2.30% of flights, followed by Air France (1.40%) and British Airways (1.19%). For the British carrier, this is significantly lower than 2024, when more than 6% of its flights were cancelled.
A cancelled flight can cost an airline up to €17,000.
The low-cost carriers also performed well in this regard, with easyJet cancelling 0.79% of flights delayed, and Ryanair 0.23%.
Compensation rules for delayed and cancelled flights in the EU could soon be set to change.
MEPs and European Transport Ministers disagree over the specifics of the reforms, but are angling for changes to be introduced next year. They will need to pass a vote by MEPs before being introduced.
