Arctic Cold Disrupts Irish Air Travel as Delays Spread Across Europe
Severe winter weather across Ireland and mainland Europe disrupted air travel on 2–3 January, as snow, ice and hard frost affected airport operations. Dublin Airport confirmed that some flights were delayed as aircraft underwent de-icing before departure. While airport officials described the situation as a typical winter operating day, freezing temperatures across Europe created knock-on effects for services linking Ireland with the UK and major European hubs.
Morning departures from Dublin experienced delays on routes to Paris, London, Leeds, Pisa, Vienna and Rome, with some services running up to 40 minutes behind schedule. An Aer Lingus flight to Amsterdam departed more than an hour late, while a Delta Air Lines service to Minneapolis was delayed by around 100 minutes. Flights arriving in Dublin from several European and transatlantic destinations also landed later than planned.
By the afternoon, disruption at Dublin Airport began to ease as earlier delays worked through the system. Fewer late departures were listed on the airport’s live tracker, although some arrivals continued to land behind schedule. An Aer Lingus flight arriving from Hamburg was around two hours late, while services from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Rome and Seattle recorded delays of up to an hour.
Winter delays ripple through Irish and UK air networks
Elsewhere in Ireland, winter conditions caused more disruption. Cork Airport cancelled two services to and from Amsterdam and reported delays on a limited number of arrivals. Shannon Airport recorded short delays on a small selection of flights, including services to Turin and London. Belfast City Airport was hit hardest, with a number of incoming flights waiting for several hours after earlier weather disruption elsewhere in the network caused delays to ripple through schedules.
Airports stayed open during the disruption, and by later in the day, many schedules were beginning to recover. Events like this show how winter weather in one part of Europe can unsettle air traffic well beyond the areas most affected. Ice removal and standard safety checks added time on the ground, which caused the greatest difficulties for short connections and flights operating through smaller regional airports.