AirHelp, the travel tech company that aids passengers dealing with flight disruptions, released a report detailing significant disruption events affecting Ireland and Europe in 2024.

According to AirHelp, 19.1 million Irish passengers traveled by air last year, with 130,000 flights taking off during this timeframe. Out of these, 4.5 million passengers, or 24%, were affected, and 240,000 were eligible for €600 compensation as per EC 261 regulations.

“Our 2024 Disruptions Report aims to highlight the ongoing issues related to flight disruptions and assist passengers in understanding the resources available to them for handling cancellations or delays in the future,” states Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp.

Translation: “Nuestro informe de interrupciones de 2024 pretende resaltar los problemas continuos relacionados con las interrupciones de vuelos y ayudar a los pasajeros a entender los recursos disponibles para manejar las cancelaciones o los retrasos en el futuro.”

Notably, the figures show an improvement over previous years, with disruption rates decreasing year by year. In comparison to the last two years: 5.2 million disrupted passengers (34%) in 2022, and 5.3 million (28%) in 2023.

Best and Worst Times to Travel

Unsurprisingly, July saw the highest rate of disruptions, affecting more than 32% of passengers. Conversely, only 13% of those traveling in February experienced issues, highlighting the months with the fewest disruptions.

Performance Across European Airports

Across Europe, over 963 million individuals traveled during 2024 with a disruption rate of 30%. The highest rates were in Greece (37%), Portugal (34%), and Germany (34%), while Norway saw only 19% of its passengers facing disruptions.

By examining routes specifically from Irish airports, Dublin Airport ranked as the busiest, with over 16.1 million passengers. The highest disruption rate occurred at Ireland West Airport Knock, impacting over 145,000 travelers.