Kiwi.com Flight Disruptions Report: Q4, 2025
Prague, Czech Republic — Leading travel technology company and online travel agency, Kiwi.com keeps a close eye on why flights get delayed or canceled, so they can help travelers faster when disruptions happen. Kiwi.com’s Flight Disruptions Report for the last three months of 2025 shows some interesting changes compared to previous reports.
The biggest troublemakers in Q4 2025:
- Airline operational problems (nearly half of all disruptions)
- Strikes and industrial action
- Geopolitical issues
- Bad weather
- Airport closures and air traffic control limits
According to Kiwi.com’s customer data, airline operational problems took the top spot as the main reason for disruption in the last months of 2025. Some airlines ran into serious financial trouble (like Spirit Airlines), several regional airlines stopped flying altogether and some aircraft had to be grounded for technical reasons, including Airbus recalls and maintenance issues.
With fewer flights affected by wars or natural disasters than last year, airline-related problems jumped up the table to become the biggest disruptor for flights and travelers’ peace of mind. Kiwi.com’s Head of Business Resilience, Tom Parry, explains: “It’s unusual to see airline operations as the key cause, but this quarter was hit by an unfortunate perfect storm of regional airline shutdowns and aircraft being grounded.”
19 Strike Situations
Strikes were the second biggest cause of disruption, with 19 separate strikes in just three months. These included:
- Air traffic control strikes in Greece and Iceland
- Airport strikes in Paris, Rome, and South Korea
- National strikes in countries such as Italy, Belgium, Argentina, and Portugal
Geopolitics still causing impacts (just less than before)
While geopolitical issues caused fewer disruptions in the last quarter than the previous year, they still made flying complicated:
- Drone activity shut down airports like Munich,
- Airspace closures in Lithuania caused repeated delays,
- Political tensions between countries like Japan and China forced planes to take longer routes,
- The long US government shutdown added pressure on air traffic control.
Current disruption
Prior to the next quarterly report, Kiwi.com took a peak at February 2026, where three huge travel events coincided:
- The Winter Olympics in Milan
- Lunar New Year
- And the pre-Ramadan travel rush
Together, these events are putting serious pressure on airports in Europe, the Middle East and Asia — especially in Northern Italy (Milan, Venice and Verona), with around two million passengers traveling for the Olympics. Alongside this, travelers have been needing to factor in that Europe’s new Entry/Exit border system is still being rolled out, so passport control could take longer at some airports and ongoing global tensions mean planes sometimes have to take longer routes, which increases the chance of knock-on delays.
Disruptions should not stop travel plans
Delays and cancellations are part of flying — annoying, but sometimes unavoidable. That’s why Kiwi.com studies these trends and prepares for them in advance.
Tom Parry sums it up: “Disruptions shouldn’t stop people from travelling. Airlines have backup plans, and at Kiwi.com we go further with our Kiwi.com Guarantee. If a flight is canceled, customers can get instant credit to book a replacement with any airline and keep their trip on track – last quarter Kiwi.com provided over 4.2 Million euros to those affected.”
Top causes of flight disruptions1 | Q4 2025
| KEY CAUSES OF DISRUPTIONS | % OF TOTAL 2025 | % OF TOTAL 2024 |
| Airline Operational Issues | 47.65% | 9.64% |
| Industrial Action | 20.26% | 4.51% |
| Geopolitics/War/Terrorism | 17.31% | 70.67% |
| Weather | 7.91% | 6.79% |
| Other (Uncategorized) | 4.93% | 5.24% |
| Airport Closures | 1.59% | 1.51% |
| ATC restrictions | 0.35% | — |
| Natural Disasters | — | 1.65% |
1) Based on the number of Kiwi.com passengers affected by flight disruptions
Categorization of causes of flight disruptions
For the purposes of this report and further internal analyses, the various events causing flight disruptions are grouped into multiple categories designed to be as comprehensive as possible.
Airline Operational Issues
Operational issues can include airline insolvency resulting in flight cancellations or the cancellation of previously announced (and sold) routes, aircraft maintenance issues, or delays in new aircraft deliveries.
Airport Closures
Any event that causes unplanned full or partial closure of an airport. In Q4 2025, this included Kabul airport due to an internet shutdown and Vilnius due to security concerns.
Geopolitics/War/Terrorism
Geopolitical impacts can cause disruptions due to affecting which airspace airlines are allowed to use, whether certain routes are closed or restricted, security rules and border controls and the stability of regions that planes fly through.
Industrial Action
Any disruption event caused by either airport or airline staff strikes, industry-specific such as air traffic control strikes, or national or general strikes.
Natural Disasters
Extreme events such as wildfires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, mudslides, landslides, or flooding.
Weather
Significant weather events impacting air travel. In Q4, these included Storm Benjamin in Europe in October and Caribbean Storm Melissa.
Uncategorized
The uncategorized category includes any disruption event that sits outside the key categories detailed above. For Q4, 2025, this included an IT outage affecting several Australian airports and a communications blackout in Tanzania prior to the general election.
Notes to Editors:
*) Air Japan announced the ceasing operations in Q4, 2025, with the last flight operating in Q1, 2026.
**) Braathens International ceased operations. Braathens Regional airline remains fully operational.
About Kiwi.com
Kiwi.com is a leading travel technology company and online travel agency that helps travelers find the best flight deals across millions of routes. Kiwi.com offers a unique combination of low fares and peace of mind through the Kiwi.com Guarantee, providing support and protection when travel plans change.