European flight disruption report: October 2026
Month to date Β· 1β1 October 2026Between 1 and 1 October 2026, 1.07% of the 10,391 departures we tracked at 51 European airports were cancelled or reached their destination more than three hours late: 111 flights, of which 64 were cancellations. Air France had the highest disruption rate of any airline with at least 400 departures (1.73%). Athens (ATH) was the most disrupted airport at 2.73%.
- of departures disrupted
- 1.07%
- flights cancelled or 3h+ late
- 111
- cancellations
- 64
- arrivals 3+ hours late
- 47
- departures tracked at 51 airports
- 10,391
- EU 261 compensation owed, one passenger per flight
- β¬14,450
- average arrival delay of 3h+ flights
- 4h 50m
- longest arrival delay
- 14h 11m
Day by day
When the disruptions happened
Departures from monitored airports that were cancelled or reached their destination at least three hours late, by scheduled departure date (UTC).
- Cancelled
- 3h+ late
Worst day: October 1, 2026, with 64 cancellations and 47 flights 3+ hours late.
Airline ranking
Every airline, ranked by disruption rate
5 airlines with at least 400 tracked departures. The rate is the share of their departures that were cancelled or arrived 3+ hours late.
| # | Airline | Departures | Cancelled | 3h+ late | Disruption rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air France | 463 | 6 | 2 | 1.73% |
| 2 | Wizz Air | 772 | 1 | 5 | 0.78% |
| 3 | SAS | 510 | 2 | 0 | 0.39% |
| 4 | Ryanair | 1,855 | 0 | 6 | 0.32% |
| 5 | easyJet | 936 | 2 | 1 | 0.32% |
Airport ranking
Most and least disrupted airports
Monitored airports with at least 300 departures. Figures cover departing flights only.
| # | Airport | Departures | Cancelled | 3h+ late | Disruption rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ATH Athens | 439 | 8 | 4 | 2.73% |
| 2 | BCN Barcelona El Prat | 545 | 8 | 4 | 2.20% |
| 3 | CDG Paris Charles de Gaulle | 669 | 5 | 7 | 1.79% |
| 4 | ARN Stockholm Arlanda | 314 | 5 | 0 | 1.59% |
| 5 | LIS Lisbon | 333 | 3 | 2 | 1.50% |
| 6 | VIE Vienna | 349 | 2 | 3 | 1.43% |
| 7 | WAW Warsaw Chopin | 304 | 1 | 3 | 1.32% |
| 8 | MXP Milan Malpensa | 314 | 2 | 1 | 0.96% |
| 9 | FCO Rome Fiumicino | 511 | 3 | 1 | 0.78% |
| 10 | CPH Copenhagen | 421 | 3 | 0 | 0.71% |
| 11 | MAD Madrid Barajas | 623 | 2 | 2 | 0.64% |
| 12 | MAN Manchester | 302 | 0 | 1 | 0.33% |
| 13 | OSL Oslo Gardermoen | 343 | 1 | 0 | 0.29% |
| 14 | LGW London Gatwick | 425 | 0 | 1 | 0.24% |
Country ranking
Disruption rate by country
Departures from every monitored airport in the country, combined. Countries with fewer monitored airports rest on a smaller sample.
| # | Country | Departures | Cancelled | 3h+ late | Disruption rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greece (1 airport) | 439 | 8 | 4 | 2.73% |
| 2 | Sweden (1 airport) | 314 | 5 | 0 | 1.59% |
| 3 | Portugal (1 airport) | 333 | 3 | 2 | 1.50% |
| 4 | Austria (1 airport) | 349 | 2 | 3 | 1.43% |
| 5 | France (4 airports) | 1,272 | 9 | 8 | 1.34% |
| 6 | Belgium (2 airports) | 375 | 3 | 2 | 1.33% |
| 7 | Spain (5 airports) | 1,792 | 11 | 9 | 1.12% |
| 8 | Italy (10 airports) | 1,705 | 9 | 5 | 0.82% |
| 9 | Poland (6 airports) | 670 | 1 | 4 | 0.75% |
| 10 | Denmark (1 airport) | 421 | 3 | 0 | 0.71% |
| 11 | Norway (1 airport) | 343 | 1 | 0 | 0.29% |
| 12 | United Kingdom (7 airports) | 1,430 | 1 | 3 | 0.28% |
Routes
Routes with the most disrupted flights
- 1ATH β MLO4
- 2ARN β HEL Stockholm to Helsinki2
- 3ATH β TLV Athens to Tel Aviv2
- 4BCN β BIO Barcelona to Bilbao2
- 5CDG β EWR Paris to Newark2
- 6AGP β MLN MΓ‘laga to Melilla1
- 7AGP β SCQ MΓ‘laga to Santiago1
- 8ALC β BCN Alicante to Barcelona1
- 9ALC β EIN Alicante to Eindhoven1
- 10ARN β AMS Stockholm to Amsterdam1
Methodology
How these numbers are built
We poll the public departure and arrival boards of 51 European airports throughout the day. A departure counts once the board shows it as operating, departed, landed or cancelled; flights still listed as merely scheduled are left out.
A flight counts as disrupted when it was cancelled, or when it reached its destination three or more hours late β the thresholds in EU Regulation 261/2004. Delays are measured on arrival, not departure. Late flights whose arrival time we could not confirm are not counted, so the rates are conservative.
Airlines are grouped by brand, so subsidiaries flying under one name (for example Wizz Air UK and Wizz Air Malta) count together. Cargo and business-aviation operators are excluded. Days are counted in UTC, and the most recent day is held back until its flights settle.
The compensation figure applies the statutory EU 261 amount for each flight's distance to one passenger only, and assumes no extraordinary circumstances. It is an illustration of scale, not a forecast of payouts.
Use this data
Cite or download
You are free to republish these figures with attribution under CC BY 4.0. Please link to this page.
SkyPaid, "European flight disruption report: October 2026", https://www.skypaid.eu/flight-disruptions/report/2026-10Airline, airport, daily and route figures (CSV)
FAQ
Questions about this report
- How many flights were disrupted in Europe in October 2026?
- Between 1 and 1 October 2026, 111 of the 10,391 departures tracked at 51 European airports were cancelled or arrived more than three hours late (1.07%). 64 were cancellations and 47 were delays of three hours or more.
- Which airline had the most disruptions in October 2026?
- By rate, Air France: 1.73% of its 463 tracked departures were cancelled or 3+ hours late. Airlines with fewer than 400 departures are left out because a single bad day would dominate their figure.
- Which European airport had the most disruptions in October 2026?
- Athens (ATH): 2.73% of 439 departures were cancelled or reached their destination 3+ hours late.
- Can I claim compensation for a disrupted flight?
- Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers on a flight that was cancelled at short notice or arrived three or more hours late can be owed β¬250, β¬400 or β¬600 each, depending on distance, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather or air traffic control restrictions. Claims can go back several years depending on the country.