Flight disruption report

Flight disruptions in Europe: October 2026

Month to date: figures run to 5 October 2026 and update daily until the month is complete and settled.

How many flights were disrupted?

2.2% of departures from the 51 European airports we monitor were cancelled or arrived at least three hours late between 1 – 5 October 2026. Departures counted: 52,829. Cancelled: 687. Arrived 3+ hours late: 464.

Disruption rate: 2.2%
Departures counted: 52,829
Cancelled: 687
Arrived 3+ hours late: 464

Disruption rate by day

Share of departures cancelled or arriving 3+ hours late, per UTC day.

Disruption rate by day
Date	Departures	Cancelled	3h+ late	Rate
1 Oct	10,736	64	52	1.1%
2 Oct	10,916	48	59	1.0%
3 Oct	9,810	230	112	3.5%
4 Oct	10,662	198	100	2.8%
5 Oct	10,705	147	141	2.7%

The largest carriers

The ten airlines with the most departures from monitored airports this period.

The largest carriers
Airline	Departures	Cancelled	3h+ late	Rate
Ryanair	8,610	30	69	1.1%
easyJet	4,533	69	33	2.3%
Wizz Air	3,879	38	62	2.6%
Air France	2,291	35	14	2.1%
SAS	2,149	14	6	0.9%
Vueling	1,791	212	54	14.9%
Norwegian	1,701	10	5	0.9%
Transavia	1,299	12	1	1.0%
LOT	1,231	2	1	0.2%
Austrian Airlines	1,073	9	1	0.9%

Large airlines ranked by disruption rate

Airlines with at least 5,000 departures, ranked against each other from least to most disrupted.

Large airlines ranked by disruption rate
Rank	Airline	Departures	Cancelled	3h+ late	Rate
1	Ryanair	8,610	30	69	1.1%

Other airlines ranked by disruption rate

Airlines with 500 to 5,000 departures, ranked separately so small schedules do not distort the large-carrier table.

Other airlines ranked by disruption rate
Rank	Airline	Departures	Cancelled	3h+ late	Rate
1	LOT	1,231	2	1	0.2%
2	Jet2	1,063	0	4	0.4%
3	Aegean Airlines	888	2	2	0.5%
4	Turkish Airlines	536	3	0	0.6%
5	Air Europa	655	1	4	0.8%
6	ITA Airways	978	7	1	0.8%
7	Norwegian	1,701	10	5	0.9%
8	SAS	2,149	14	6	0.9%
9	Austrian Airlines	1,073	9	1	0.9%
10	Transavia	1,299	12	1	1.0%
11	Brussels Airlines	681	8	1	1.3%
12	Lufthansa	767	8	5	1.7%
13	TAP Air Portugal	816	12	3	1.8%
14	Air France	2,291	35	14	2.1%
15	easyJet	4,533	69	33	2.3%
16	Iberia Regional	596	10	5	2.5%
17	Wizz Air	3,879	38	62	2.6%
18	Iberia	1,021	35	7	4.1%
19	British Airways	892	34	18	5.8%
20	KLM	533	29	4	6.2%
21	Vueling	1,791	212	54	14.9%

Airports

Departures from each monitored airport, most disrupted first.

Airports
Airport	Departures	Cancelled	3h+ late	Rate
Barcelona El Prat (BCN)	2,755	273	115	14.1%
Milan Malpensa (MXP)	1,702	24	26	2.9%
Bucharest Otopeni (OTP)	879	19	3	2.5%
Athens (ATH)	2,191	30	22	2.4%
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)	3,448	41	34	2.2%
Rome Fiumicino (FCO)	2,555	28	27	2.2%
Lisbon (LIS)	1,608	20	14	2.1%
Nice Côte d’Azur (NCE)	1,271	14	12	2.0%
Brussels (BRU)	1,428	17	12	2.0%
Málaga (AGP)	1,450	20	9	2.0%
Basel Mulhouse EuroAirport (BSL)	575	8	3	1.9%
Venice Marco Polo (VCE)	736	7	7	1.9%
Budapest (BUD)	1,075	10	10	1.9%
Alicante (ALC)	1,076	11	9	1.9%
Chișinău (RMO)	382	3	4	1.8%
Bologna (BLQ)	614	4	7	1.8%
London Gatwick (LGW)	2,026	15	19	1.7%
Naples (NAP)	780	8	5	1.7%
Katowice (KTW)	364	0	6	1.6%
Larnaca (LCA)	680	2	9	1.6%
Cluj-Napoca (CLJ)	188	3	0	1.6%
Skopje (SKP)	192	2	1	1.6%
Paris Orly (ORY)	1,513	16	7	1.5%
Birmingham (BHX)	735	6	4	1.4%
Wrocław (WRO)	310	1	3	1.3%
Madrid Barajas (MAD)	3,179	23	18	1.3%
Stockholm Arlanda (ARN)	1,476	17	2	1.3%
Manchester (MAN)	1,529	4	14	1.2%
Copenhagen (CPH)	2,055	18	6	1.2%
Valencia (VLC)	634	4	3	1.1%
Warsaw Modlin (WMI)	183	1	1	1.1%
Bari (BRI)	467	2	3	1.1%
Leeds Bradford (LBA)	287	0	3	1.0%
Milan Bergamo (BGY)	801	2	6	1.0%
Vienna (VIE)	1,753	9	8	1.0%
Catania Fontanarossa (CTA)	667	3	3	0.9%
London Luton (LTN)	907	4	4	0.9%
Bratislava (BTS)	231	0	2	0.9%
Tirana (TIA)	655	2	3	0.8%
Warsaw Chopin (WAW)	1,498	3	8	0.7%
Oslo Gardermoen (OSL)	1,632	8	3	0.7%
Pisa Galileo Galilei (PSA)	337	0	2	0.6%
London Stansted (STN)	1,472	2	6	0.5%
Liverpool John Lennon (LPL)	319	1	0	0.3%
Kraków (KRK)	719	2	0	0.3%
Malta (MLA)	575	0	1	0.2%
Brussels South Charleroi (CRL)	481	0	0	0.0%
Poznań Ławica (POZ)	203	0	0	0.0%
Rome Ciampino (CIA)	188	0	0	0.0%
Copiapó Desierto de Atacama (CPO)	33	0	0	0.0%
Bacău (BCM)	15	0	0	0.0%

Most disrupted routes

Routes with at least 60 departures, by number of disrupted flights.

Most disrupted routes
Route	Departures	Cancelled	3h+ late	Rate
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Palma De Mallorca Airport (PMI)	110	11	9	18.2%
Milan Malpensa (MXP) → Barcelona El Prat (BCN)	73	12	7	26.0%
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Ibiza Airport (IBZ)	75	11	3	18.7%
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Milan Malpensa (MXP)	73	12	2	19.2%
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) → Barcelona El Prat (BCN)	76	8	6	18.4%
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Rome Fiumicino (FCO)	75	9	4	17.3%
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Madrid Barajas (MAD)	79	9	3	15.2%
Lisbon (LIS) → Barcelona El Prat (BCN)	62	8	4	19.4%
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)	70	5	6	15.7%
Madrid Barajas (MAD) → Barcelona El Prat (BCN)	77	8	0	10.4%
Athens (ATH) → Tel Aviv – Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV)	85	0	7	8.2%
Barcelona El Prat (BCN) → Lisbon (LIS)	60	6	1	11.7%
Madrid Barajas (MAD) → London – Heathrow Airport (LHR)	65	6	1	10.8%
Larnaca (LCA) → Tel Aviv – Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV)	119	0	5	4.2%
Madrid Barajas (MAD) → Rome Fiumicino (FCO)	89	1	4	5.6%
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) → Palermo Airport (PMO)	97	2	2	4.1%
Rome Fiumicino (FCO) → Madrid Barajas (MAD)	90	1	2	3.3%
Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) → Helsinki – Vantaa Airport (HEL)	91	2	0	2.2%
Athens (ATH) → Heraklion – Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport (HER)	76	0	2	2.6%
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) → Algiers-Houari Boumedienne Airport (ALG)	60	1	1	3.3%

How we calculate this

We count every departure listed on the public departure boards of the 51 airports we monitor, once per flight number, UTC date and departure airport.
A flight counts as cancelled when either board marks it cancelled.
A flight counts as late when it reached its destination at least three hours behind schedule — the threshold for compensation under EU and UK Regulation 261/2004. Arrival delay comes from the destination airport board or a flight-status lookup. When neither is available, a departure delay of three hours or more is used instead: 125 flights this period.
The most recent day is held back until its flights have landed and the boards have settled.
The series starts on 4 September 2026, the first day all monitored airports were reporting.

Citing this report

Free to reuse with attribution under CC BY 4.0. Please cite: FlyClaim, “Flight disruptions in Europe: October 2026”, https://www.flyclaim.eu/flight-disruptions/report/2026-10.

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Questions about this report

What counts as a disrupted flight?

A departure that was cancelled, or that arrived at its destination three hours or more behind schedule. Those are the two situations in which EU and UK Regulation 261/2004 can entitle passengers to cash compensation.

Which airports are included?

The 51 European airports whose departure and arrival boards we monitor. Every departure from those airports is counted, whichever airline operates it.

Does a disrupted flight always mean compensation?

No. The airline does not have to pay when it proves extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather or air traffic control restrictions. Technical faults and crew shortages normally do not qualify.

How often is the report updated?

Daily. The current month is shown to date and becomes final once every day has settled.