Ryanair has warned flights in Spain face a 20% increase in delays this summer due to a lack of air traffic controllers.
In a post on X, the Irish airline took a shot at Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente, urging him to hire more workers in control towers nationwide.
According to the budget carrier, Spain could become the EU country with the second-highest number of delayes ’caused by air traffic control.’
The company said the problem also affects other EU states, with France leading the way in the number of delays.
‘So far in 2025, Ryanair has recorded 11,576 flight delays affecting more than two million passengers,’ it said in a statement.
On May 30, Ryanair’s corporate branch released an international statement in which, in a mocking tone, it denounced the ‘League table of delays.’
It showed a list of the European countries most affected by delays, topped by France, counting 15,634.
This was followed by Spain, Germany, Portugal, and the UK, all accompanied by the number of delays that occurred in 2025 and the minister or authority ‘responsible’ for the problem.
It said in the statement: ‘2024 was a record year for air traffic control (ATC) delays, despite there being 5% fewer flights in Europe than before Covid-19.
‘This was due to poor management and staffing shortages at national ATCs, especially for the first wave of morning flights,” the airline denounced.’
Ryanair claimed that ‘national air traffic controllers know airline schedules almost 12 months in advance,’ insisting there is no reason to not have enough staff.
It added: ‘The European Commission and governments have not taken measures to address their deficient ATC services, and ATC delays will be even worse in the summer of 2025.’
