Paris Charles de Gaulle among European airports where Passengers most often miss connections

According to the report, recommended transfer times at CDG — 60 minutes for domestic flights and 90 minutes for international services — are often not enough during busy travel periods.

Beauvais–Tillé Airport also ranked poorly in 18th place with a score of 4.44, while Paris Orly Airport came in 63rd with a score of 5.59.

AirHelp said major international hubs can become “logistical black holes” because of high passenger volumes, multiple terminals, additional security checks and complex international transit operations.

Other major European hubs appearing high on the missed-connections list include Frankfurt Airport, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, London Heathrow Airport, Munich Airport and Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport.

Paris CDG is also Europe’s third-largest hub by total connection volume, according to the study.

In contrast, several smaller French airports performed significantly better, despite shorter recommended connection times.

Toulouse-Blagnac Airport scored 8.28 out of 10, followed by Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport at 8.05 and Nantes Atlantique Airport at 7.69.

The report suggests airport layout, gate distances, border controls and seasonal congestion can have a greater impact on successful transfers than official minimum connection times alone.

AirHelp urged travellers to avoid tight connections at large airports, particularly during peak travel seasons, and recommended allowing extra time between flights whenever possible.

“Many passengers assume that if a connection appears available in the booking system, it will be easy to make, but operational reality shows that this is not always the case, especially at major airports,” said Eric Napoli, Legal Expert at AirHelp.

Napoli also reminded travellers that under EU Regulation EC261, passengers who miss a connection because of flight disruption may be entitled to rebooking assistance and compensation of up to €600 if they arrive at their final destination more than three hours late.