An analysis of 2023 flight data by travel tech company AirHelp shows that more than a third of passengers in Germany who traveled over the May holidays were affected by flight delays or cancellations. Problems were particularly common over Pentecost, with 36 percent of passengers taking off late or not at all. The delay and cancellation rate was particularly high on Friday and Saturday. On Labor Day, however, comparatively few travelers had problems with their flights.
The analysis also shows that the most problems occurred on flights to Turkey, followed by Denmark and Switzerland. Flights to Ireland, Austria and Spain were less affected. Overall, Spain was the most popular destination over the May holidays, followed by Germany and Turkey.
In total, more than 1,5 million passengers had to struggle with flight problems over the bridge days. Around 90.000 passengers are entitled to compensation due to delays or flight cancellations. Nina Staub, legal expert at AirHelp, encourages affected travelers to assert their claims, regardless of whether they are short or long-haul flights.