Early 2026 is shaping up as one of the most turbulent starts to the travel year in recent memory, with hubs in the United Arab Emirates, France and Turkey emerging among the most disrupted global routes just as Greece reports an astonishing surge in air traffic that is straining airport capacity and critical infrastructure.
Greek Airports Confront an Unexpected Traffic Surge
Fresh figures from Greek aviation authorities confirm that demand for air travel in and out of the country is accelerating far faster than planners anticipated, with total passenger numbers across 39 commercial airports climbing around 7 percent year on year this January and aircraft movements increasing by nearly the same margin. At the largest gateways, industry officials say this builds on a much steeper rebound over the previous two seasons, translating into what some airlines describe privately as an effective 80 to 85 percent surge in traffic compared with the late-pandemic trough.
That growth is highly visible at Athens International Airport and at key island and regional gateways, where check in halls are again busy even in what was once considered a low season. Heraklion, operating under tight runway constraints during upgrade works earlier this year, still managed a notable jump in passenger numbers and flights, underscoring the strength of demand. Managers there operated for days using only a secondary runway and smaller aircraft, but the flow of travelers barely slowed.
Behind the headline numbers is a structural shift in how and when people travel to Greece. Airlines have extended their summer schedules well into the shoulder months, while low cost carriers are bringing more point to point services into regional airports that were previously dominated by charter traffic. Combined with a steady rise in domestic flying, that is pushing traditional summer style congestion into much of the calendar.
Local tourism officials welcome the influx but warn that terminal space, ground handling capacity and air traffic management are all coming under strain. Several have urged the government to accelerate modernization of provincial airports and to review staffing levels for security screening and border control before the main summer peak, when today’s bottlenecks risk turning into systemic gridlock.
Delays Mount as Greece’s Infrastructure Struggles to Keep Pace
The rapid rebound in Greek air traffic is exposing long standing weaknesses in the country’s aviation infrastructure, from outdated terminal layouts to limited overnight aircraft parking stands. At busy times of day, arrivals from northern Europe can back up on the taxiways as controllers work to sequence departing domestic and regional services, creating minor delays that can quickly cascade across the network.
On the ground, passenger experience is increasingly shaped by crowding at security lanes, passport control booths and baggage reclaim areas. During recent weekend peaks at Athens and several island gateways, travelers reported queues stretching well beyond their marked lanes and extended waits for checked baggage as handlers worked through compressed turnaround times. These operational pinch points, once confined mostly to the July and August high season, are now appearing far earlier in the year.
Airport operators insist they are moving to respond, pointing to scheduled terminal refurbishments, additional automation at self check in and bag drop, and incremental investments in aprons and taxiways. Yet industry analysts note that the timeline for large capital projects is far longer than the pace of current demand growth. In the short term, airlines flying to Greece will likely lean on tactical measures such as retiming flights and adding schedule buffers to protect on time performance.
For travelers, the practical impact is clear. Even as capacity rises, the odds of encountering delays on popular routes into Greece are increasing, particularly for tight connections through regional hubs. Frequent flyers are being advised by both airlines and consumer groups to build in longer layovers, travel with carry on baggage where possible and monitor flight information closely during busy periods.
UAE Hubs Join the Ranks of the Most Disrupted Routes
While Greece grapples with growth driven bottlenecks, the United Arab Emirates has found itself at the center of a different kind of disruption, as operational strain and regional rerouting ripple through its aviation system. Dubai International, the country’s main gateway and one of the world’s busiest long haul hubs, recently recorded more than 250 delayed flights and several cancellations in a single day, according to regional disruption tallies, putting it among the most affected airports in the Middle East.
Data from recent operational snapshots across the region show that when delays spike in the Gulf, they do so across multiple airports at once. A mid February disruption day, for example, saw more than 1,300 flight delays and a cluster of cancellations spread between the UAE, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt, with Dubai singled out as a key pressure point. Because these hubs are deeply interconnected, even a modest deterioration in on time performance can result in missed connections and rolling knock on delays.
Compounding the problem is ongoing airspace avoidance over parts of the Middle East, which has forced European and some Asian carriers to reroute around Iranian and Iraqi skies since January. Longer routings on key Europe Gulf and Europe Asia sectors reduce schedule flexibility and make tight connection banks at airports like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha more vulnerable to relatively small operational hiccups.
For the UAE’s globally minded travelers, the result is a travel landscape that feels less predictable, particularly on routes linking Europe, the Gulf and South Asia. Industry advisories now routinely recommend allowing three hours or more for connecting itineraries through the region, a far cry from the swift one hour transfers once marketed as a hallmark of Gulf super connector efficiency.
France’s Chronic Air Traffic Woes Trigger Fresh Winter Chaos
France, long singled out by airlines for its recurrent air traffic control issues, is once again prominent in early 2026 disruption rankings. In the opening days of January, hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled at airports across the country, from Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly to Nice, Biarritz and Lyon. One disruption snapshot tallied nearly 600 delayed flights and close to 30 cancellations in a single day, affecting not only domestic and intra European trips but also long haul services touching French territory.
Later in the month, an intense spell of winter weather added a fresh layer of chaos. France’s four largest airports endured one of their most difficult days on record, logging more than 200 delayed departures and arrivals and almost 30 outright cancellations as snow and ice complicated ground operations. Charles de Gaulle, the country’s primary international hub, absorbed much of the shock, with more than 140 delays recorded across its terminals.
These figures sit atop a broader backdrop of structural strain in France’s air traffic system. Industry groups have repeatedly warned that French air traffic control, crucial not only for flights into and out of the country but also for overflights crossing its busy airspace, is among Europe’s weakest links. Summer 2025 saw strike related delays more than double compared with the previous year, and carriers are now bracing for a repeat of that pattern when the warm season returns.
For passengers, disruptions in France can be particularly far reaching because of the way European routings are structured. A stoppage at Charles de Gaulle or an airspace restriction over the country can quickly ripple into schedules at airports as far apart as London, Munich and Barcelona. As with the Middle East hubs, travelers are being nudged toward longer connection times and more conservative itineraries that avoid last flight of the day links where possible.
Turkey’s Hub System Stretches Toward Its Limits
Turkey, and particularly Istanbul, completes the triangle of heavily disrupted routes linking Europe, the Middle East and beyond. On several January days this year, Istanbul Airport recorded hundreds of delayed flights and a clutch of cancellations, leaving transfer halls crowded with stranded travelers and exposing how finely balanced hub operations have become. One recent tally cited more than 350 delayed services and a handful of cancellations in a single 24 hour period at the city’s main hub.
The pressure is magnified by the central role Turkey plays in regional connectivity. Turkish Airlines operates one of the densest networks of any global carrier, using Istanbul as a bridge between Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. When operational issues hit the hub, the impact is felt across dozens of spokes at once, from short haul shuttles into the Balkans to long haul flights to East Asia and North America.
Recent episodes of disruption have also coincided with strong seasonal demand and tight aircraft utilization, leaving little slack in the system. Carriers have had to juggle rotation plans and, at times, consolidate or retime services to recover schedules. Meanwhile, Istanbul Airport itself is in the midst of a multi year capacity expansion that aims to lift its official passenger ceiling well beyond 100 million travelers annually, but parts of that additional infrastructure are still ramping up.
Travelers using Istanbul as a transfer point are increasingly urged to pay attention to minimum connection times and to consider booking through tickets rather than separate legs, which can complicate rebooking if a delay upends the first segment. For some, the promise of efficient one stop connections is being offset by the perceived risk of getting caught in a hub wide disruption event.
Regional and Global Drivers Behind the Disruption Wave
Although each country faces its own specific challenges, aviation experts see common threads linking the recent disruption patterns in the UAE, France, Turkey and Greece. One is timing: the sharp rebound in travel demand that began in 2024 and accelerated through 2025 has persisted into 2026, outpacing the speed at which airlines, airports and air navigation services can rebuild staffing and infrastructure after the pandemic slowdown.
Another factor is the growing complexity of airspace management, particularly across Europe and the Middle East. Reroutings around conflict zones or politically sensitive areas add both distance and unpredictability to flight plans, squeezing the buffers that airlines use to protect schedules. Even under normal weather conditions, that makes tightly timed connection banks more fragile, as seen in Dubai and Istanbul when delays spike elsewhere along the route.
Weather itself has also proven a decisive disruptor. From winter storms sweeping across western Europe to bouts of fog, wind and sand in the Middle East, adverse conditions have repeatedly collided with capacity constrained systems. In France and the Netherlands, heavy snow and ice in early January led to grounded aircraft, clogged de icing operations and widespread knock on delays, while in the Gulf strong winds have occasionally forced adjustments to runway use and arrival rates.
Looking ahead, forecasters at European aviation bodies expect overall traffic across the continent to continue rising through 2026 and beyond, with millions more flights added over the next several years. Without commensurate investments in air traffic control modernization, airport expansion and operational resilience, the risk is that today’s episodic disruption morphs into a near permanent feature of peak travel periods.
What This Means for Travelers Planning 2026 Trips
For leisure and business travelers mapping out 2026 itineraries, the early year disruption trends carry clear implications. First, routes touching France, Turkey, the UAE and increasingly Greece should be approached with a heightened awareness of potential delays, even outside the traditional summer peaks. The combination of heavy demand, infrastructure constraints and airspace complexity makes these corridors among the most sensitive in the global network.
Second, experts recommend rethinking connection strategies. Where once a tight, hour long layover through a major hub was considered a convenience, many frequent travelers and corporate travel departments are now building in two to three hours of buffer time for critical journeys, particularly when crossing between continents. This is especially pertinent for itineraries that involve a mix of European and Gulf hubs, or transfers into Greece’s busier island airports.
Third, flexibility has become a key asset. Passengers who can shift their travel dates by a day, choose off peak departure times or route around the most congested hubs often stand a better chance of avoiding the worst disruption. Travel insurers and consumer advocates are also urging flyers to familiarize themselves with airline rebooking and compensation policies, as well as local passenger rights frameworks, before departure.
Despite the turbulence, aviation executives emphasize that the system remains fundamentally robust, handling millions of flights and hundreds of millions of passengers with high levels of safety and, in most cases, acceptable punctuality. Yet the cluster of early 2026 disruptions across the UAE, France, Turkey and Greece serves as a stark reminder that in an era of surging demand and constrained capacity, even the most sophisticated hubs can quickly find themselves under strain.