EUROPE has had the lowest levels of air traffic-related delays for any year since records began, Eurocontrol (European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation) has confirmed. Analysis for 31 European countries shows that 2003 was the busiest year on record, with a total number of 8,466,966 flights, up 2.8% on 2002. At the same time, average air traffic flow management delay per flight was 20% down on 2002, averaging 1.7 minutes per flight. 12 September 2003 now holds the record for the busiest single day, with 28,173 flights. Eurocontrol predictions suggest that the number of flights in Europe could increase by approximately 4.3% in 2004. And following legislation approved last week by the European Parliament European air traffic is to come under a central control. At the present time 41 air traffic control centres in the EU compare with only 21 for the whole of the United States.
http://www.eurocontrol.int