Irish holiday-goers warned of delays this summer amid shortage of air traffic controllers
Expert says surge in air traffic has put additional pressure on the system - particularly in France and Spain
Irish holiday-goers are being warned of potential delays that could impact their summer holidays due to a shortage of air traffic controllers in parts of Europe.
Speaking earlier this week, Kenny Jacobs, CEO of the Dublin Airport Authority said he expects some passengers travelling to and from Ireland will experience delays over the coming months due to reduced capacity because of the shortage of controllers.
He told reporters any delays, when they happen, are likely to last several hours rather than days.
Travel expert Eoghan Corry says a big increase in air traffic on certain routes has put additional pressure on the system - particularly in France and Spain.
"Ireland is back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of traffic, Germany is returning - it's just over 90%, France is going to be at 95% so that increase this year is putting an already-strained air traffic control system under pressure," he said.
"The bottom line is there aren't enough of them (air traffic controllers) - the worst hit area is going to be around Marseille and it's going to be the route that Irish holiday-makers use to go down to those Italian hotspots, to those Greek hotspots that we love to go to and to Turkey and the Spanish route could be affected as well," he told Newstalk Breakfast.
Mr Corry, who is editor of travelextra.ie, added that some airlines, such as Ryanair, are already being impacted by the shortage of air traffic controllers with around 10% of flights experiencing some delays every day.