Ryanair to passengers: Write protests to transport ministers

Critics point out that this unusual move could spark tensions between the carrier and state institutions. However, Ryanair, known for its aggressive rhetoric toward regulators, emphasizes that it is fighting on behalf of passengers suffering the consequences of the chaos in European airspace.

Ryanair's action comes ahead of events announced for September, with air traffic controllers and other airport staff in Portugal, Spain, and France announcing strikes.

A summer of 2024 full of disruptions flights in Europe

According to data collected by Airhelp, a company specializing in airline compensation claims on behalf of passengers, the summer of 2024 saw a "significant increase in the number of passengers experiencing flight disruptions." In Europe, 110 million passengers out of a total of 285 million experienced flight delays or cancellations. This represented about 39 percent of all passengers, the highest number since the pandemic.

“We also found that the number of major flight delays has increased compared to previous years, with 2.2 percent of passengers in Europe experiencing a flight delay of more than three hours,” Airhelp concluded.

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There were several reasons, but the biggest disruption in the summer of 2024 was caused by a systems outage related to CrowdStrike software. "A flawed security update then caused millions of Windows devices worldwide to crash, including critical systems used by airlines and airports." As a result, thousands of planes worldwide were prevented from taking off, and chaos reigned at airports.

Airhelp also lists other reasons for the disruptions as "weather conditions in Switzerland and Norway on June 28, which led to, among other things, flooding at Geneva airport," air traffic control problems in Norway that affected flights for many European airlines, strikes at Aer Lingus, and air traffic controllers' strikes in France, which forced the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a travel warning.