Ryanair apologises as passengers warned over flights

Ryanair passengers have been issued an apology over "excessive flight delays" to and from many European destinations. The budget airline said today - Sunday, November 10 - that the situation is "deeply regrettable" but added that it is "beyond Ryanair's control".

A statement on the airline's website cited European air traffic control staff shortages as the cause for the delays and added that all European airlines have been impacted. Ryanair hit out at these air traffic control services, saying they "continue to underperform, despite flight volumes being 5% lower than 2019 levels", with "repeated staff shortages".

The flight operator said the "repeated flight delays due to air traffic control mismanagement are unacceptable." Information given on Ryanair's website continued: "We apologise to our passengers for these repeated air traffic control flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control.

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"We encourage passengers to visit atcruinedourholiday.com and demand that the EU Commission take urgent action to improve Europe’s air traffic control system." The European air traffic control system faces multiple challenges at the moment, including a faster than predicted recovery of traffic after the pandemic, high seasonal demand, and restricted air space, according to ATC Network.

It added: "Fatigue and system limits are being stretched after years of underinvestment. As predicted the shortage of air traffic control officers (ACTOs) and other staff cannot be addressed quickly enough to meet the continuous and growing demand. As a reminder, it takes an average of three years to train an ATCO, while the number of applications remain insufficient (lately).