ATC delays in Europe reported down

Flight delays resulting from ATC problems fell to their lowest level in a decade last year, said Eurocontrol. The average delay caused by ATC issues decreased by 20 percent to 1.7 minutes per flight. During 2003, about 9.5 percent of all flights were subject to delays, down from 11 percent in 2002. According to Eurocontrol, the improvements were achieved despite a 2.8-percent increase in the total number of commercial flights last year to 8.47 million. European traffic is expected to grow by 4.3 percent this year.