Winter Weather Chaos Grounds Hundreds of Flights Across Major European Hubs

Severe winter weather brought widespread disruption to European aviation this week, with over 500 flights cancelled and more than 1,000 delayed across major hubs as snowfall and strong winds crippled operations at Amsterdam Schiphol, London, Munich, and other key airports.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was forced to cancel 300 flights on Monday, January 5, following 295 cancellations the previous day at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The carrier warned that winter conditions including snow, freezing temperatures, and unfavorable wind directions would continue affecting operations through the weekend. The disruptions impacted approximately 7,000 passengers over several days.

Data from flight-tracking platforms on January 4 revealed at least 534 cancellations and 1,022 delays across Europe, affecting major carriers including easyJet, Swiss, Lufthansa, SAS, Air France, and Ryanair. The combination of snowfall, strong winds, and reduced runway capacity created cascading delays throughout the continent's tightly scheduled hub-and-spoke networks.

Amsterdam Schiphol reported more than 400 delayed flights and several dozen cancellations on January 1 alone, underscoring the vulnerability of European aviation infrastructure to weather disruptions during peak travel periods. Major cities affected included London, Munich, Geneva, Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Berlin.

The weather chaos followed a dramatic incident in Greece on January 4, when all airports suspended operations after aviation radio frequencies were lost due to massive interference. Thousands of travellers were stranded for several hours until backup frequencies restored limited services by Sunday afternoon. Greece's air traffic controllers blamed ageing infrastructure that should have been replaced years ago.

The disruptions compound existing challenges facing European aviation, including Ryanair's announcement of significant route cuts across Germany, Belgium, Spain, and France for 2026, citing high aviation taxes and access costs. The budget carrier will remove 20 routes and one million seats from Brussels and Charleroi alone.

Industry observers note that operational resilience remains a critical concern as airlines navigate increased congestion, staffing constraints, and infrastructure limitations across the continent.