British Airways has been labelled the nation's worst airline for cancelling flights, grounding 12 times more services than top performer Ryanair, new data suggests. The study shows the UK's flag carrier has performed worst, cancelling 3.5 per cent of its flights to June this year.
Surprisingly, no-frills carrier Ryanair was the best-performing airline worldwide grounding just 0.3 per cent of flights during the same time period according to figures from air travel intelligence company OAG, reports the Mirror. Figures show a British Airways service is 12 times more likely to be cancelled than a Ryanair route.
Summer figures are unlikely to be much better for the national carrier, which has recently cancelled 10,000 more flights until the end of October. Worst airline in the world for cancellations is China Eastern, largely due to the ongoing lockdown in its Shanghai base since March.
A British Airways spokesperson said that some of the cancellations were caused by major storms in February, as well as an IT fault at the end of March, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Covid measures in Asia. In recent weeks, more flights have been grounded from airports including Heathrow, which has cut departures owing to staffing issues.
OAG data also show that Gatwick has had the most cancellations so far this year of any UK airport. June was Gatwick's worst month this year, with one in every 14 flights from the airport cancelled during that period.
A Gatwick Airport spokesperson said: “We regret any cancelations and disruption to our passengers. This is why the airport will carefully and gradually increase its declared capacity - starting at 825 flights a day in July and then up to 850 flights a day in August – so that airlines fly more reliable flight programmes and passengers experience a better standard of service.
“We took our action after an airport review found that a number of companies based at Gatwick are, and will continue to, operate with a severe lack of staff resources over the summer holiday period. If not addressed, this issue would see airport passengers continuing to experience an unreliable and potentially poor standard of service, including more queues, delays and last-minute cancellations.
“By carefully controlling and gradually increasing the maximum number of flights over time - until the end of August - the airport aims to help both its airlines and their ground handling companies improve the service they provide by reducing the number of flights they need to manage.
"In particular, this will benefit ground handling companies, who are employed by the airlines and are responsible for managing check in areas, turning aircraft round on the airfield ready for departure, and loading and delivering baggage back to passengers.”
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