4.5 million Irish passengers experienced flight disruptions in 2024: AirHelp

AirHelp, the travel tech company supporting passengers with flight disruptions, unveils the major disruption events that took place in Ireland and Europe in 2024.

AirHelp recorded that 19.1 million Irish passengers travelled on a plane last year, with 130,000 flights departing during this period. Of these passengers, 24% were disrupted (4.5 million) and 240,000 people were eligible for €600 compensation under the EC 261 regulation.

“Our 2024 Disruptions Report aims to put a spotlight on the ongoing challenge of flight disruptions and help passengers understand the resources that are available to them when they face flight cancellations or delays in the future. As an industry, we must take note and identify areas for improvement to reduce the number of impacted passengers, as well as improve the overall customer experience,” states Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp.

Whilst there is still significant room for improvement across the industry, it is promising to see that disruption rates are decreasing year on year. When comparing figures over the past two years, the number of disrupted passengers has improved from 5.2 million (34%) in 2022 and 5.3 million (28%) in 2023. The number of passengers eligible for compensation has also declined from 270,000 in both 2022 and 2023.

Best and worst times to travel

Unsurprisingly, July saw the highest number of flight disruptions in Ireland, with over 32% of passengers facing delays or cancellations. This is closely followed by 29% in June and September 2024. AirHelp’s data also revealed that the 1st of March and 6th of April were the most disrupted days across Irish airports, with 36,400 people (74%) and 39,300 (74%) people experiencing disruptions respectively.

Those travelling in February last year were the most fortunate, with only 13% of passengers experiencing disruptions when departing from an Irish airport. When looking at the dates with the most on-time departures, the 10th of November and 11th of January came out on top with only 5% of air travellers disrupted.

Departures from Irish airports

Looking specifically at Ireland’s airports reveals that Dublin Airport was ranked as the busiest airport with over 16.1 million people travelling there last year. The Irish airport with the highest rate of disruptions was Ireland West Airport Knock at 37%, impacting over 145,000 passengers throughout 2024. In contrast, the airport with the best on-time performance was Donegal Airport with only 16% of its passengers facing delays or cancellations. Despite being the second busiest Irish airport, with 1.3 million passengers, Cork Airport fared well last year with a disruption rate of 19%.

Analysing routes in Ireland

AirHelp’s data reveals that the 28 busiest routes all departed from Dublin Airport. The airport’s routes to London Heathrow (913,000 passengers) and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (594,000 passengers) take the top spots, closely followed by its routes to Manchester International Airport 546,000 passengers) and London Gatwick Airport (489,000 passengers).

When looking at the most disrupted routes from Irish airports, Dublin Airport to Cairo International Airport ranked the highest with over 89% of flights disrupted, impacting over 25,000 passengers last year. 59% of passengers were also disrupted on routes from Dublin Airport to Abu Dhabi International and Dalaman Airport, closely followed by 58% on routes to George Enescu International Airport.

On the other hand, the most fortunate passengers were those who travelled from Dublin Airport to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, with 99% of the flights last year departing on time. Kerry County Airport to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and Shannon Airport to Krakow-Balice International Airport also scored high punctuality rates of 98% and 94%.

Performance across Europe

Over 963 million people travelled in Europe (including the UK) in 2024 and 30% of these passengers were disrupted (287 million people). The highest disruption rates were found in Greece (37%), Portugal (34%) and Germany (34%), in comparison to only 19% of passengers facing delays or cancellations when travelling from Norway last year. Additionally, over 19.5 million European passengers could claim compensation based on eligibility criteria in the UK, EU, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.