A recent study conducted by Good Travel Management investigates the rise in delayed and cancelled flights across UK airports. There are inevitable challenges that may contribute to the increase in delays such as, strikes, adverse weather, technical issues and rule changes.
With this in mind, the study has ranked and analysed UK airports based on the following variables; total number of flights, average delay time, flight delayed over an hour and the total flights cancelled.
The UK’s Most Disrupted Airports
Out of the UK airports analysed within this study, ranking in first place as the UK’s most delayed airport is Isle of Man Airport, also known as Ronaldsway Airport.
Isle of Man Airport also has the highest volume of cancellations than any other airport, with 5.2 percent of all flights cancelled last year. Since August of 2023, the airport has been closing its runway for two morning breaks due to shortages of air traffic controllers, though the airport is expected to lift these closures by autumn.
In second place is London Gatwick Airport, with an average delay of 33 minutes 37 seconds, almost 10 minutes higher than the national average of 24 minutes 6 seconds.
While the number of cancelled flights is lower than the national average, 1.8 percent compared to 2.1 percent, travellers to and from Gatwick Airport have the most significant delays of anywhere in the UK. More than one in 10 flights to and from Gatwick Airport were delayed by over an hour (13 percent), the highest of all UK airports and almost double that of Heathrow Airport, at just seven percent.
In third place is Bristol Airport, with an average wait of 31 minutes. Of the 26,372 flights that were delayed or cancelled last year, 6,573 were delayed by over an hour.
The airport is also among the highest for the number of cancellations, with 10 percent of all its flights being cancelled last year.
In fourth and fifth place are London Luton Airport (29 minutes 13 seconds) and Edinburgh Airport (28 minutes 49 seconds).
Although the team at Good Travel Management may not be able to control the flights, we do provide bespoke pain-free travel management services that will take the stress out of your next business trip.
The UK’s Least Disrupted Airports
At the other end of the scale, Southampton is the UK’s least disrupted airport, with delays of just 15 minutes 38 seconds on average, nine minutes faster than the national average.
Belfast City Airport is the UK’s second-least disrupted airport, with average delays of 16 minutes 16 seconds. It also has the lowest proportion of flights being delayed for significant periods, with just 5 percent of its flights delayed by more than an hour.
Exeter completes takes third place, with delays averaging 18 minutes and 31 seconds.
In fourth and fifth place are Leeds Bradford Airport (18 minutes 42 seconds) and Cardiff Airport (19 minutes 49 seconds)
Methodology
For this study, we gathered the UK’s delayed and cancelled flights in 2023 according to the Civil Aviation Authority. We used this data to then filter down to the main statistic points focusing on the percentage of overall delayed flights, flights over 1 hour late and cancelled flights.
