23 June 2026
England fans jetting between cities to cheer on the Three Lions risk being booted off their flights if temperatures continue to soar in North America.
Despite many airlines adding flights and seats to get fans to North America this summer, hot weather could force some planes to carry fewer people. This is because warm air is less dense than cool air, so planes need more room to take off, or must carry less weight.
Last year, scientists from the University of Reading studied Airbus A320 journeys, a plane flown on many short and medium routes. By the 2060s, the study found, airports with shorter runways may need to cut as many as 10 passengers from each flight on particularly hot summer days compared to the beginning of the millenium.
Dr Jonny Williams, lead author in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, said: "This isn't just a problem for the future. We're already seeing planes leave passengers behind because of weather and short runways, and that matters even more this summer with so many fans flying to Canada, Mexico and the United States.
"Days needing this kind of weight cut used to be rare, maybe once every hundred days, or about once per summer. Our research shows this could happen on 60% of summer days by the 2060s."
The 2026 World Cup is being played across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and airlines have already added thousands of seats for fans, including 27,000 from American Airlines.
The study looked at Europe rather than these host cities, but the same rule applies - passengers may be forced to vacate their seats wherever hot, thin air meets a full plane and a short runway. The weight issue is already causing passenger issues at airports with short runways. In April, five passengers had to leave an EasyJet flight from Southend to Malaga after the airline said weather conditions and the runway's length made the plane too heavy to take off safely.
The researchers say a lower-emissions future would keep the problem from growing, while a high-emissions future would make it happen even more often. Future studies will look at how humidity and wind affect takeoff too.
Ahead of this summer’s football, the University of Reading launched The Real Scoreline, which ranks each nation’s vulnerability to climate impacts and their action on climate change, with data visualised through virtual playing cards. Read more and download the cards: The Real Scoreline reveals nations facing climate penalties
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