BERLIN/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Civil air traffic in Europe was again very unpunctual last year, according to a survey. Despite a thinned-out flight schedule, 244 million passengers were affected by delays and last-minute cancellations, according to data analysis by passenger rights portal Airhelp. Out of a total of 795 million passengers carried, that equates to just under 31 percent. By comparison, in the last year before the Corona crisis in 2019, the figure was just 24 percent, with 1.125 billion guests.

"The summer in particular showed that airports and airlines were not prepared in terms of staffing for the increase in air travel following the pandemic," Airhelp CEO Tomasz Pawliszyn said. According to the survey, up to 40 percent of passengers faced flight problems during the summer months. Other causes of delays included strikes and inclement weather.

There is no improvement in sight for 2023, said Pawliszyn: "We expect this negative trend to continue this year. As in many other industries, the shortage of skilled workers continues to be a serious problem hampering flight operations. This is compounded by staff strikes, which cause additional delays."

German airports do not play a good role in the 2022 statistics: according to Airhelp, only the Netherlands (37 percent) and the United Kingdom (36 percent) had proportionately more delayed passengers than Germany (36 percent). With 43 percent of affected passengers, Frankfurt was the third most unpunctual airport in Europe behind Corfu and Manchester.

Flights that departed more than 15 minutes behind schedule were rated as unpunctual. Connections that were canceled in the week before the scheduled takeoff were considered cancellations.

In the event of delays and cancellations at short notice, passengers are entitled to assistance and compensation after certain deadlines. Airhelp and other Internet service providers bundle such claims and enforce them for a fee./ceb/DP/nas