MORE than four in ten flights operating in and out of Spain were delayed during the most recent peak summer season, an alarming new study has revealed.
According to passenger rights platform Flightright, some 40.6 per cent of flights landing or taking off from Spain during this July and August failed to run to schedule.
That includes 87,884 delayed flights (39.98 per cent of the total) and 1,346 cancellations (0.61 per cent).
In terms of airlines, Jet2 was the worst culprit with a staggering 54.1 per cent of its flights delayed during the summer peak, which sees tens of millions of tourists flock to Spain by air.
Budget airlines easyJet (52.19 per cent) and Ryanair also performed poorly (48.93 per cent), provoking havoc for millions of holidaymakers.
At the other end of the spectrum, Canary Fly recorded the lowest delay percentage, with fewer than one in four of its flights (22.27 per cent) facing cancellations or delays.
Binter Canarias (27.53 per cent) and Volotea (28.51 per cent) also fared better than most.
In terms of cancellations, Lufthansa led the way on 3.88 per cent, followed by British Airways (2.57 per cent), Air France (1.93 per cent), easyJet (1.34 per cent) and Iberia (1.01 per cent).
The latest figures come less than a month after Ryanair launched its latest attack on Spain, slamming the country’s state-run Enaire air traffic control (ATC) network as even worse than its notoriously inefficient French equivalent.
The Dublin-based carrier says roughly 10 per cent of its flights operating in Spain’s airspace are delayed due to Spanish ATC failures, affecting almost six million passengers, with the number of delays up 28 per cent compared to last year.
READ MORE: These are the worst airports in Spain for EES border delays, according to Ryanair
“”Spain has achieved something that we thought impossible – it has overtaken France to become the worst ATC provider in Europe,” said Ryanair’s chief operating officer, Neal McMahon.
Area control centres (ACCs) in Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla continue to be among the worst-performing in Europe due to ‘chronic staff shortage’ and ‘insufficient capacity planning’, McMahon added.
“The traffic was not unexpected and the summer schedule was no surprise.
“Enaire has failed to hire, plan and deploy enough controllers to manage demand,” he continued.
“Spain now leads the European ATC delay rankings and is hurting the travel plans of millions of passengers, as well as damaging Spain’s reputation as one of Europe’s leading tourism markets.
“The Spanish government must stop accepting excuses from Enaire and demand urgent measures: more controllers, better shift planning, adequate staffing at the main ACCs and airports and measurable reduction in delays.
“The Spanish tourism industry, passengers and airlines deserve results, not more Enaire propaganda.”
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