Jams in sky delay a third of all flights

AIR PASSENGERS are suffering a "black year" for delays, according to figures released yesterday.

Late departures on major European flights in June were the worst for any month in nine years, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said.

More than 20 per cent of its member airlines' scheduled flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes in the first half of this year.

This reached 29.1 per cent of departures in June, the worst monthly figure since 1989 and the second worst since records began nearly 20 years ago.

Karl-Heinz Neumeister, the secretary-general of the association, whose members provide about 90 per cent of European scheduled flights, said: "This year is turning out to be a black one for delays."

He said the late departures this year were a repeat of the crisis of 1989 when, at worst, more than 30 per cent of flights were being delayed.

In response, the association, whose members include British Airways and British Midland, called for a single air traffic control system instead of the uncoordinated patchwork of national systems.

In some cases, for example, aircraft are passed from one country to another by telephone because the computer systems are not compatible.

But governments failed to respond to the plea and Mr Neumeister said this year's delays again showed what was needed was a pan-European body to enforce co-operation.

He added: "The big difference between 1998 and 1989 is that, while the earlier situation was rightly seen as intolerable, the current political reaction seems to vary from complacency to - almost unbelievably - self- congratulation."

Phil Evans, senior policy researcher for the Consumers' Association, said the problem was capacity. But, he said, everyone was running away from the question because of the difficulties in expanding existing airports without upsetting people living nearby.

"More of us want to fly but there has been no increase in capacity, in terms of runways or facilities," he said.

"The airlines don't want to talk about it. But there has got to be a debate, otherwise it's going to get worse and worse."

Mr Evans said air traffic controllers were reporting the system was already beyond its limits and the result was delays.

But, he added: "Some delays are legitimate, some aren't. Some are due to bad organisation and turn-around times."

A spokeswoman for British Midland said the company constantly reviewed turn-around times to ensure punctuality.

She said: "The major contributor is the fact that the south-east is among the most congested airspace in the world. Flying out of Heathrow is incredibly congested, but people are always going to want to travel from Heathrow because it is an airport close to the capital."

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said it had outperformed the AEA average this year by 7 per cent and its punctuality in July was the best July performance since 1993.

A parliamentary select committee report earlier this summer on regional air services recommended provision of greater airport capacity in the south-east of England.

The committee also recommended more use of feeder/ reliever airports and changes to runway operations to provide greater capacity in the south-east.

Opposition to plans for a fifth terminal at Heathrow has resulted in Britain's longest-running public inquiry. It began in 1995.