(CNN) — Anyone who has been to an airport recently can see that travel demand is back in a big way. What hasn’t come back with a vengeance are the resources needed to handle the throng of air travelers.
Add summer weather to airport and airline staffing issues and you have a perfect storm of delays and cancellations.
At one North American airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada, more than half of flights scheduled between May 26 and July 19 were delayed, according to data compiled for CNN Travel by flight-tracking site FlightAware.
A whopping 52.5% of the airport’s scheduled flights have been delayed this summer, the data shows. Toronto Pearson also ranks fourth in flight cancellations globally, with 6.5% of its flights canceled during that period.
Air Canada on Tuesday introduced a flexible policy offering free ticket changes (subject to availability) specifically targeting Toronto Pearson “due to longer-than-usual delays.”
The policy allows travelers to change their departure or arrival flights to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport or extend connection times at Toronto Pearson.
Air Canada has already cut its summer hours to reduce flight disruptions and the federal agency Transport Canada has been working with the industry to reduce wait times.
Europe is also plagued by delays
Of course, the Toronto airport is far from the only one experiencing disruptions.
Seven of the world’s top 10 airports with the most delays this summer, ranked by percentage of delayed scheduled flights, are in Europe. Airports in Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam and London are experiencing the most significant delays, according to data from FlightAware.
London Heathrow Airport recently took the extraordinary step of asking airlines to stop selling tickets for outbound travel this summer.
Only one US airport made the top 10 on the global delay list: Orlando International Airport in Florida. In separate US-specific FlightAware data that CNN analyzed last week, three Florida airports ranked in the top 10 for delays in the United States.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently told CNN that he’s seeing improvements in air travel, but still hopes airlines do better.
“Look, we’re counting on the airlines to deliver on the passengers and to be able to service the tickets that they sell,” Buttigieg said.
Global airports with the most delays in the summer
These are the top 10 airports in the world with delays this summer with percentages of delayed flights:
1. Toronto Pearson International Airport (Canada): 52.5%
2. Frankfurt Airport (Germany): 45.4%
3. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (France): 43.2%
4. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (Netherlands): 41.5%
5. London Gatwick Airport (UK): 41.1%
6. Heathrow Airport (UK): 40.5%
7. Munich Airport (Germany): 40.4%
8. Athens International Airport (Greece): 37.9%
9. Aeropuerto de Sydney Kingsford Smith (Australia): 34,2%
10. Orlando International Airport (United States): 33.4%
Rankings are from FlightAware data from May 26 to July 19.
Global airports with the most summer cancellations
Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in China’s Guangdong province is No. 1 in the world for cancellations this summer, with nearly 8% of flights cancelled, according to data from FlightAware. In China, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport also rank in the top 10.
Ongoing travel restrictions and rapid lockdowns have greatly hampered travel in China, where a strict Covid-19 containment policy has kept the country closed to most international travel since the pandemic began.
And during China’s Labor Day holiday in May, domestic travel was down by a third from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Three US airports also rank in the top 10 in terms of the percentage of canceled scheduled flights, with New York, Newark and LaGuardia area airports at No. 2 and No. 3, and Washington National Airport at No. number 8.
In a look at the global top 20, airports in Boston (No. 12), Charlotte (No. 13), Philadelphia (No. 14), and Miami (No. 16) are on the cancellation list, as is John F. Kennedy International Airport. in New York (No. 15) and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (No. 19).
While Europe dominated the global list for delays, only one European airport, Amsterdam Schiphol, appears in the top 10 for cancellations from May 26 to July 19. Australia and Indonesia also have one entry each in the top 10 for cancellations.
These are the top 10 airports in the world with cancellations this summer with percentages of canceled flights:
1. Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (China): 7.9%
2. Newark Liberty International Airport (USA): 7.4%
3. LaGuardia Airport (USA): 7%
4. Toronto Pearson International Airport (Canada): 6.5%
5. Soekarno–Hatta International Airport (Indonesia): 6.2%
6. Aeropuerto Sydney Kingsford Smith (Australia): 5,9%
7. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (China): 5.2%
8. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (USA): 5%
9. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (China): 4.6%
10. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (Netherlands): 3.9%
CNN’s Nectar Gan, Pete Muntean and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.
