Easter air travel: With many schools across the UK now off for the Easter break, countless families will venture off on holiday until Easter Monday on 21st April.
However, this peak time for travel could spell trouble for holidaymakers with airlines warning that passengers could face the worst flight delays in 25 years.
This comes as air traffic control centres grapple with staff shortages and summer flight schedules taking effect, as well as more than 70 new routes to and from the UK being launched ahead of Easter.
Global Traffic Exceeds 5 Billion
On top of this, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that global air passenger numbers will reach 5.2 billion this year. This is a 6.7 percent increase on 2024, and the first-time passenger numbers will exceed the five billion mark.
With staff shortages, new routes and record passenger numbers on the cards, it is more important than ever for airlines and airports to strengthen their IT infrastructure and ensure they are ready to deal with demand.
NETSCOUT Perspective
Eileen Haggerty, area vice president, product & solutions at NETSCOUT, explains why round-the-clock monitoring of airline and airport systems is vital. This will ensure optimal performance and avoid negative effects on passengers this Easter.
“If the CrowdStrike outage taught us anything, it is how unforgiving airline and airport systems can be when a disruption occurs in one part of the environment.”
“In an industry as vital as air travel, even minor disruptions in critical areas such as crew scheduling, ticketing or baggage handling can quickly trigger a wave of negative effects in the interconnected systems.
“For instance, crew scheduling relies on the complex coordination of human resources and workflows. Any disruption to this process can lead to significant delays and incur substantial costs for both airlines and passengers.”
“The aftereffects of these disruptions are extensive. Reputation, operational costs, and bottom line revenue are all at stake. Any slowdown or outage throughout the travel process not only causes frustration for passengers but erodes trust and can ultimately impact future sales.”
“Furthermore, it can impact airport staff as well, requiring overtime or additional personnel to deal with the repercussions.
A Call for IT Proactivity
Haggerty emphasizes the need for airline IT teams to stay proactive this Easter to keep disruptions at bay.
She argues that recent maintenance or routine system upgrades shouldn’t drag down performance—airlines need to run at peak efficiency.
According to her, the key is constant monitoring, not just during upgrades but before and after as well. This approach lets airlines catch and fix unexpected slowdowns or downtime fast, protecting them from financial hits and reputational damage that can follow.
She also points to last year’s global IT outage as a cautionary tale, highlighting how system failures can unleash chaos. Haggerty believes that airline and airport IT crews can avoid similar disasters by having full, end-to-end visibility into their networks.
She stresses that it doesn’t matter where the systems are hosted or where passengers log in—IT teams need to keep tabs on everything.
In the NETSCOUT area VP’s view, this thorough, uninterrupted oversight equips airlines to handle the unpredictability of Easter travel.
By doing so, they can save passengers from frustrating delays, letting them focus on enjoying their holidays instead of fretting over travel woes.
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