Airlines were forced to cancel more flights in late December and early January than in previous years, as they suffered crew shortages due to the spread of the Omicron variant, as well as the impact of bad weather.
Industry figures from aviation data specialist Cirium found that the Christmas and New Year period was particularly hard hit, with 59,240 flights cancelled globally between 24 December and 3 January, including 20,500 in the first three days of 2022 alone.
This level of cancellations during the key holiday period was the highest number in more than a decade, said Cirium. December cancellations were six times higher than in 2019 and 2.5 times higher than experienced in 2020.
Jeremy Bowen, Cirium’s CEO, said: “Flight disruptions affect airlines and airports differently – it depends on the stand-by flexibility of equipment and resources in place to react quickly.
“Those that plan more conservatively will minimise their operational disruptions. Cirium monitors the level of disruption by measuring completion factor of flights and their on-time performance.
“Cirium’s recent On-Time Performance Review shows how some airlines have focused on their operations to reduce the impact on passengers.”
Despite the high level of cancellations, December was still the busiest month for global air travel in 2021 with 2.43 million flights globally. Although, shortages of crew and ground staff due to the spread of Omicron caused more flights to be cancelled in the latter part of the month and into the first few days of 2022.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson was the busiest airport in the world based on flight departures in 2021, while Schiphol in Amsterdam handled the most international departures across the year.
Cirium’s analysis of European carriers found that three IAG airlines – Vueling, Iberia Express and Iberia – took the top three places for on-time performance with each one recording rates of more than 90 per cent.
Vueling was in top spot with an on-time percentage of 92.1 per cent, as the Spanish airline expanded internationally during 2021 by taking up slots that had previously been held by airlines such as Air France at Paris Orly.