New survey reveals Europe’s worst summer flight delays, Spain airport ranks third worst

Palma Airport has emerged as the Spanish airport with the lowest departure punctuality in a new European summer aviation ranking, with just 53 per cent of flights leaving on time between June 1 and August 31.

The EUROCONTROL figures place Palma 27th out of the 29 airports included in the comparison, meaning it had the third-lowest on-time departure rate overall. Only Zurich, also on 53 per cent, and Lisbon, on 52 per cent, were lower in the table.

The figures highlight the disruption faced by passengers travelling through Mallorca during the peak summer season, when Palma Airport handles some of its busiest traffic of the year.

Where did Spain’s airports rank?

Three Spanish airports feature in the EUROCONTROL comparison, with Palma-Mallorca airport recording the lowest punctuality rate.

Madrid-Barajas ranked 19th, with 63 per cent of departures leaving on time, while Malaga ranked 20th, with 62 per cent.

That means Palma was 10 percentage points behind Madrid and nine points behind Malaga for departure punctuality during the three-month summer period.

The Spanish airports were also some way behind the best-performing airports in Europe.

Stockholm Arlanda topped the table with 82 per cent of departures leaving on time, followed by Oslo and Istanbul, both on 81 per cent. Copenhagen and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen each recorded 80 per cent.

Palma close to the bottom

At the other end of the ranking, Athens recorded 54 per cent punctuality and Manchester 55 per cent.

Palma’s 53 per cent figure was therefore among the lowest recorded across the major European airports analysed by EUROCONTROL.

Other airports included London Heathrow at 76 per cent, Amsterdam at 70 per cent, Frankfurt at 67 per cent, Paris Orly at 65 per cent, Milan Malpensa at 59 per cent and Rome Fiumicino at 59 per cent.

The ranking measures departure punctuality, rather than simply counting the number of flights delayed. It therefore provides an indication of how frequently passengers could expect their flights to leave within the punctuality threshold used by EUROCONTROL.

The EUROCONTROL chart records the following departure punctuality rates:

1. Stockholm Arlanda – 82%
2. Oslo – 81%
3. Istanbul – 81%
4. Copenhagen – 80%
5. Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen – 80%
6. London Heathrow – 76%
7. Antalya – 74%
8. Vienna – 74%
9. Amsterdam – 70%
10. Dublin – 69%
11. Warsaw Chopin – 69%
12. Berlin Brandenburg – 68%
13. Frankfurt – 67%
14. Brussels – 66%
15. Munich – 66%
16. Paris Orly – 65%
17. London Stansted – 65%
18. Geneva – 64%
19. Madrid-Barajas – 63%
20. Malaga – 62%
21. Paris Charles de Gaulle – 60%
22. London Gatwick – 60%
23. Milan Malpensa – 59%
24. Rome Fiumicino – 59%
25. Manchester – 55%
26. Athens – 54%
27. Palma de Mallorca – 53%
28. Zurich – 53%
29. Lisbon – 52%

Spain sees wider aviation pressure

The figures come as Spain continues to account for a significant proportion of air traffic management delays across Europe.

EUROCONTROL reports that Spain was responsible for 17 per cent of all en-route air traffic management delays across the European network year-to-date. Average en-route delays in Spain were also 14 per cent higher than during the same period of 2025.

Across Europe, an average of 35,959 flights were operated each day during summer 2026, representing a 2.4 per cent increase compared with summer 2025.

For Mallorca, the figures underline the particular pressure placed on Palma Airport during the island’s peak tourism months, when high passenger demand coincides with increased pressure on Europe’s wider aviation network.

The EUROCONTROL Special Summer 2026 Flash Briefing covers the period from June 1 to August 31 and compares the performance of the major airports included in its analysis.