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

A recent survey has highlighted that Palma airport in Spain ranks third worst for flight delays during the summer months, according to a new European aviation ranking. The airline statistics, compiled by EUROCONTROL, indicate that only 53% of flights from Palma Airport between June 1 and August 31 departed on time. This places Palma 27th out of the 29 airports evaluated, with the lowest departure punctuality of all the airports included in the comparison.

Only airports in Zurich and Lisbon managed a lower on-time departure rate, at 53% and 52% respectively. The rankings demonstrate the significant disruption experienced by travelers passing through Mallorca during the peak summer season. Three Spanish airports are featured in the ranking, with Palma-Mallorca Airport displaying the poorest performance.

Madrid-Barajas Airport had a departure punctuality rate of 63%, while Malaga Airport recorded a 62% on-time departure rate. This means that Palma was 10 percentage points behind Madrid and nine points behind Malaga in terms of departure punctuality during the three-month summer period. The Spanish airports also lagged behind the best-performing airports in Europe.

Stockholm Arlanda topped the list with an impressive 82% of flights leaving on time, followed by Oslo and Istanbul, both at 81%. Copenhagen and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen airports each recorded an 80% on-time departure rate. Palma's 53% figure was among the lowest recorded across the major European airports analyzed by EUROCONTROL. Other airports with lower departure punctuality rates included London Heathrow (76%), Amsterdam (70%), Frankfurt (67%), Paris Orly (65%), Milan Malpensa (59%), and Rome Fiumicino (59%).

The ranking measures departure punctuality rather than the number of delayed flights, providing an indication of how frequently passengers can expect their flights to leave within the punctuality threshold used by EUROCONTROL. The EUROCONTROL chart records the following departure punctuality rates for various airports.