Travelers across France faced another bruising day of disruption as a fresh wave of cancellations and delays rippled through the country’s busiest airports. Real-time operations data on recent days show that a cluster of carriers, including Vueling, HOP!, Air France and their European peers, struggled to keep services running on time amid winter weather, congestion and staffing constraints. While the headline numbers on one of the latest affected days highlight 24 cancellations and just over 200 delays, they sit within a broader pattern of severe turmoil that has repeatedly stranded passengers in Paris, Nice, Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux since early January.
Fresh Disruptions in a Winter of Turmoil
The latest bout of disruption struck in the wake of a series of winter storms and operational bottlenecks that have tested France’s aviation network since the beginning of 2026. Data published in early January indicated that, on 3 January alone, almost 600 flights were delayed and 27 cancelled across French airports, dragging down punctuality for carriers such as Lufthansa, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, Air France and Vueling. That difficult start to the year was soon compounded by successive days of snow, high winds and low visibility, conditions that repeatedly pushed airports to the limits of their capacity.
At the height of Storm Goretti in early January, for example, France’s major hubs were dealing with 167 cancellations and more than 1,000 delays in a single day, as heavy snow and ice swept across Paris, Nice, Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux. National carrier Air France and its regional partner HOP! bore much of the brunt, while KLM, easyJet and other European airlines saw their schedules fray as knock-on effects rippled through the continent. Those figures dwarfed the 24 cancellations and 200-plus delays recorded on one of the more recent days of disruption, but they underline how frequently French airports have had to operate in “crisis mode” this winter.
By early February, flight-tracking tallies from aviation analytics firms were still logging several hundred delays and a few dozen cancellations on the worst days, with Charles de Gaulle and Orly regularly among Europe’s most affected hubs. For passengers on the ground, the numbers have translated into missed connections, unexpected overnight stays and a growing sense that flying via France during the cold season has become an exercise in uncertainty.
Major Hubs in Paris Under Sustained Pressure
Paris Charles de Gaulle, Europe’s second-busiest long-haul hub, has emerged as the epicentre of the disruption. On several key days in January and February, the airport has recorded hundreds of delayed departures and a double-digit tally of cancellations, far outstripping normal seasonal volatility. In one late-January snapshot, Charles de Gaulle alone accounted for nearly 200 delays and multiple cancellations in a single day, with Air France, KLM, easyJet and Lufthansa among the most affected airlines. Those figures are emblematic of the sustained pressure that has left check-in halls packed with stranded travelers and information screens awash with red.
Paris Orly, the capital’s secondary hub and a critical node for domestic and short-haul European services, has been similarly squeezed. Weather-related disruptions, combined with congested flight schedules and crew-rostering gaps, have repeatedly driven delays into triple digits. In early January, Orly logged dozens of cancellations and more than 150 delays during one particularly fraught day, as snow showers and crosswinds forced aircraft to queue on taxiways and stretched ground operations. Low-cost carriers and leisure airlines, including Transavia France and easyJet, were especially hard hit, with their point-to-point model leaving fewer options for re-routing stranded passengers.
For Vueling, which has expanded its footprint in Paris in recent years, and for HOP!, which feeds regional traffic into the capital, these conditions have led to a spate of schedule changes and last-minute cancellations. Even when the daily totals appear modest, with 24 cancellations and just over 200 delays spread across France, the concentration of those incidents at Paris’s airports often means long queues at rebooking desks, scarce accommodation near the terminals and busy rail and coach links as travelers scramble to salvage their itineraries.
Nice, Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux Share the Fallout
While attention tends to focus on Paris, the latest wave of disruption has also battered regional gateways. Nice Côte d’Azur, a vital entry point for the French Riviera and a key base for both full-service and low-cost carriers, has repeatedly seen two-figure tallies of cancellations and dozens of delays in recent weeks. During the height of the winter storms in early January, Nice endured more than a dozen cancellations and well over 60 delays on one day alone, as strong winds and wet, slippery runways impeded operations. Airlines such as Air France, KLM, easyJet and Vueling all reported knock-on impacts as connections to and from the Mediterranean city fell out of sync.
Lyon Saint-Exupéry, a critical junction for southeastern France, has faced similar challenges. Real-time data from January highlighted days with nearly 20 cancellations and around 80 delays, particularly affecting flights operated by HOP! and other regional carriers. These disruptions cut into the reliability of domestic links that are essential for business travelers and for passengers feeding into long-haul departures from Paris and other European hubs. For many, what might once have been a routine hop between Lyon and the capital has become a source of anxiety.
Further west, Toulouse-Blagnac and Bordeaux-Mérignac have also featured prominently in recent disruption maps. Toulouse, home to the European aerospace industry and a busy node for both corporate and leisure traffic, has seen days with close to 20 cancellations and more than 50 delays as snow, fog and strong winds suppressed capacity. Bordeaux, a key gateway for southwestern France and the Atlantic coast, has recorded its own share of cancellations and dozens of delays, with regional carriers and foreign airlines alike scrambling to adjust rosters and reposition aircraft.
Airlines Struggle to Maintain Schedules
For airlines, the combination of harsh winter weather, a stretched air traffic management system and lingering staffing shortages has created a perfect storm. Air France has consistently ranked among the most heavily affected carriers in France during the latest disruptions, with data from January and early February showing dozens of cancellations and several hundred delays across its network on the worst-hit days. HOP!, which operates many of the domestic and regional legs that feed into Air France’s long-haul services, has faced even higher cancellation ratios at times, with some days seeing more than one in ten flights scrubbed.
Vueling, which runs a busy programme of intra-European flights to and from French airports, has also been pulled into the turbulence. While its share of the 24 cancellations and 200-plus delays recorded on one of the recent problem days may appear modest in absolute terms, the airline’s relatively lean scheduling and tight aircraft utilisation mean that each cancellation can cascade quickly through the rest of its network. A single scrubbed rotation from Paris or Lyon can, for example, trigger late arrivals and missed connections in Barcelona or other bases, amplifying the impact for travelers far beyond French borders.
Other airlines with strong footprints in France, such as KLM and easyJet, have seen their schedules repeatedly fray at the edges as they work around closed runways, slot restrictions and congested European skies. Carriers have deployed a familiar toolkit of responses, from pre-emptive cancellations and re-accommodation on later flights to switching passengers to rail services where available. Yet the tight post-pandemic staffing environment, particularly among air traffic controllers and specialised ground staff, has left limited room to absorb shocks, leading to delays that often stretch well beyond an hour.
Systemic Strains in French Air Traffic Control
Behind the immediate causes of winter disruption lies a structural issue that industry bodies have been flagging for months. France has once again emerged as Europe’s worst performer for air traffic control-related delays. According to Eurocontrol’s most recent assessments, French air traffic controllers were responsible for almost a third of all air traffic control-based delays in Europe during the summer of 2025, a steep increase on the previous year. That imbalance has persisted into the winter, magnifying the impact of storms, fog and technical glitches on day-to-day operations.
The reasons are complex, ranging from staffing shortages and retirement waves among experienced controllers to outdated infrastructure and patchy IT systems. Several regional control centres, including those overseeing approaches to Paris and other busy corridors, have fallen short of the performance targets agreed under Europe’s network operations plans. When flying conditions deteriorate, these weaknesses quickly translate into reduced arrival and departure rates, holding patterns in already crowded skies and restrictions on flights crossing French airspace. Airlines then have little choice but to cancel some services outright and accept delays on many more.
Industrial relations have added another layer of volatility. Although a major three-day strike planned for October 2025 was called off at the last minute, French air traffic control unions have staged several shorter walkouts and work-to-rule actions over the past year. A 48-hour strike in early February 2026 again forced France’s civil aviation authority to order sharp cuts in airline schedules at key airports, triggering further cancellations and long queues at check-in and security. Even on days when controllers are not officially on strike, the spectre of industrial action encourages airlines to build extra slack into schedules, eroding overall punctuality.
Human Stories Behind the Numbers
For passengers, the abstract numbers of cancellations and delays are experienced in far more personal terms. At Charles de Gaulle, travelers arriving for early-morning departures in recent weeks have often found departure boards flickering with status updates and boarding times that slide gradually later into the day. Families bound for ski holidays in the Alps have sat on terminal floors amid piles of luggage as they wait to learn whether their flights from Paris or Lyon will operate at all. Business travelers have seen carefully choreographed day trips unravel when a short domestic hop from Toulouse or Bordeaux is delayed long enough to miss an onward connection.
Reports from airports during the worst of the January storms described long queues snaking through rebooking desks, with frustrated travelers waiting hours to reach an agent capable of offering alternatives. Hotels near major hubs quickly sold out, pushing airlines to offer vouchers for properties further afield or to encourage travelers to return home and rebook for later in the week. At regional airports, where fewer flights operate each day, a single cancellation has often meant a wait of 24 hours or more for the next available seat, particularly for those flying on popular routes with limited capacity.
Some passengers have adapted by turning to rail as a fallback. The high-speed TGV network has provided a crucial safety valve, allowing travelers stranded in Paris to reach cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse even when flights are grounded. However, the sudden surges in demand have also seen trains sell out quickly on disruption days, leaving late-booking passengers with little choice but to endure long waits at the airport. Social media channels have filled with images of crowded terminals and frustrated comments about lack of clear information, as communication from airlines and airport operators sometimes lagged behind fast-changing operational realities.
What Travelers Can Do Now
With the winter season still far from over and structural pressures in French air traffic control unlikely to ease quickly, travelers planning to fly through France in the coming weeks face a heightened risk of disruption. Industry experts consistently advise booking the earliest flight of the day where possible, as morning departures are statistically less likely to be affected by the knock-on delays that accumulate later on. Allowing generous connection times, particularly when changing between airlines or terminals in Paris, can also reduce the risk of missed onward flights when delays creep beyond the 30-minute mark.
Passengers are also encouraged to make full use of airline and airport apps, which often provide faster status updates than departure boards in the terminal. Checking in online, signing up for flight alerts and tracking inbound aircraft can help travelers anticipate problems sooner and, in some cases, rebook before queues form at service desks. For those flying with carriers such as Air France, Vueling, easyJet or HOP!, understanding the basic contours of European air passenger rights is likewise essential. On days when delays stretch past several hours or flights are cancelled at short notice, travelers may be entitled to meals, hotel accommodation and, in certain circumstances, financial compensation.
Ultimately, the story behind the 24 cancellations and more than 200 delays recorded across France on one of the latest disruption days is part of a larger narrative of strain in the country’s aviation system. As winter weather, staffing gaps and structural weaknesses in air traffic control continue to collide, France’s major airports are likely to see more days of crowded terminals and frayed schedules. For now, travelers can do little more than plan carefully, stay informed and build flexibility into their itineraries, hoping that by the time spring arrives, the worst of the turbulence will finally have passed.