AirHelp’s real-time disruption tracker shows that on 13 February 2026 Europe’s air-traffic network suffered 1,362 delays and 56 outright cancellations. Paris Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) recorded 158 delays and 13 cancellations, while Paris-Orly logged a further 109 delays and two cancellations.
Although the worst operational bottlenecks were seen in Madrid and Amsterdam, the figures confirm that French hubs were firmly in the eye of the storm. Air France alone racked up 108 delayed sectors and 13 cancellations, forcing some long-haul services to depart out of slot and triggering a domino effect on short-haul connections into the Schengen area. Business-travellers reported missed meetings in Brussels and Munich after morning departures from CDG pushed past EU curfews.
The disruption was caused by a combination of winter weather fronts crossing Western Europe and ATC staffing shortages in Germany and the UK. The knock-on impact was compounded by the EU’s new biometric Entry/Exit System (EES). Travellers arriving at border control reported that kiosk outages added 20-30 minutes to connection times, making tight transfers almost impossible.
![Europe-wide flight disruption hits Paris-CDG and Orly: 158 delays, 15 cancellations]()
For travellers who suddenly need to reroute through alternative gateways or even shift itineraries to non-Schengen countries, having the right paperwork on hand is critical. VisaHQ’s online portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) can expedite visas, arrange passport renewals, and supply up-to-date entry requirements, giving corporations and individual passengers one less variable to worry about when disruptions strike.
For mobility managers the key message is preparedness: ensure that travellers download airline apps for live re-booking, keep boarding passes and receipts for EU-261 compensation claims, and build additional slack into itineraries that rely on Paris connections. Where possible, consider routing via secondary airports such as Lyon or Toulouse that have greater schedule resilience and shorter taxi-times.
Looking ahead, AirHelp warns that the same structural issues—crew shortages, air-space bottlenecks over Germany and the UK, and biometric teething problems—could resurface during the February school-holiday peak. Corporations with time-critical travel should lock in flexible fares, brief employees on their EU-261 rights and monitor hub-specific delay dashboards in real time.
Although the worst operational bottlenecks were seen in Madrid and Amsterdam, the figures confirm that French hubs were firmly in the eye of the storm. Air France alone racked up 108 delayed sectors and 13 cancellations, forcing some long-haul services to depart out of slot and triggering a domino effect on short-haul connections into the Schengen area. Business-travellers reported missed meetings in Brussels and Munich after morning departures from CDG pushed past EU curfews.
The disruption was caused by a combination of winter weather fronts crossing Western Europe and ATC staffing shortages in Germany and the UK. The knock-on impact was compounded by the EU’s new biometric Entry/Exit System (EES). Travellers arriving at border control reported that kiosk outages added 20-30 minutes to connection times, making tight transfers almost impossible.
For travellers who suddenly need to reroute through alternative gateways or even shift itineraries to non-Schengen countries, having the right paperwork on hand is critical. VisaHQ’s online portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) can expedite visas, arrange passport renewals, and supply up-to-date entry requirements, giving corporations and individual passengers one less variable to worry about when disruptions strike.
For mobility managers the key message is preparedness: ensure that travellers download airline apps for live re-booking, keep boarding passes and receipts for EU-261 compensation claims, and build additional slack into itineraries that rely on Paris connections. Where possible, consider routing via secondary airports such as Lyon or Toulouse that have greater schedule resilience and shorter taxi-times.
Looking ahead, AirHelp warns that the same structural issues—crew shortages, air-space bottlenecks over Germany and the UK, and biometric teething problems—could resurface during the February school-holiday peak. Corporations with time-critical travel should lock in flexible fares, brief employees on their EU-261 rights and monitor hub-specific delay dashboards in real time.
