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Be it strikes, problems with luggage or massive flight disruptions: In recent years, passengers have had to show strong nerves. AirHelp, the world's largest air passenger rights organization, has already helped two million people successfully enforce their rights. To mark this success, the air passenger rights portal is publishing the most important data and facts on flight delays and cancellations in recent years.
The figures for 2019, 2022 and 2023 make it clear that passengers all over the world are confronted with numerous flight delays and cancellations. On average, there were 3,5 billion passengers per year in the period. Of these, 937,4 million passengers (26,8 percent) are affected by flight problems every year, which corresponds to almost 2,7 million passengers per day. 0,6 percent of all passengers have serious delays of more than three hours or short-term cancellations that are the airline's own fault - meaning 21 million travelers each year are entitled to compensation.
The extent of this becomes clear when looking at flights: out of 26,5 million flights per year, almost seven million flights depart late or do not take off at all. This puts the rate at 26,1 percent – more than one in four airlines. Passengers from 121.500 flights have the right to compensation.
New high: 2023 saw the most flight disruptions
Although 2023 has not yet been completed, this year saw the highest proportion of passengers with delays and flight cancellations. In 2019 and 2022, the delay and cancellation rates were 23,7 and 28,9 percent. The figures up to September 2023 show that 2023 percent of all passengers struggled with flight problems in 29. Of the total 2,6 billion travelers in the world, almost 768,4 million departed late.
There is already an increase in serious delays caused by the airlines themselves. While 2019 and 2022 percent of all delayed passengers were entitled to compensation in 2,1 and 2,3, in 2023 the figure is already 2,4 percent.
Estimated costs for compensation are between 56 cents and 1,1 euros per passenger
On average, compensation costs per passenger between 56 cents and 1,1 euros. In the Eurozone, the EU regulation EC 261 regulates that passengers have the right to compensation in the event of serious problems under certain conditions. However, there is no corresponding regulation in the USA. However, according to calculations by the air passenger rights portal, such a right would cost less in the USA than is the case in Europe and other countries. In the United States, the payout per passenger would be 38 to 85 cents. The costs would be significantly lower because European air traffic has more passengers. The proportion of long-haul flights with possible delays in the USA is also much lower.
Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, comments: “We are incredibly proud that we have already been able to successfully support two million customers with their compensation claims. At AirHelp, we do everything we can to create transparency for passengers – but also for the airlines. That's why we regularly publish statistics on air traffic. Although 21 million passengers are entitled to compensation every year, many passengers hesitate or do not know their rights. Even if they are unsure or don’t use our service, they can always get advice from us.”
