The summer holidays are here, and many families will be hoping to head off for a break. But with reports of airport disruption in recent months, our handy interactive lets you explore the delays and cancellations you might face by airline and destination.
Data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows one in five flights (19.5%) leaving UK airports took off later than planned in the year to April 2022 (the most recent figures available). The average delay was 11 minutes.
However, some flights were more likely to be delayed than others and some delays were much longer.
Travelling soon? Check the average delay of your flight using our gadget below:
At Manchester Airport, the TUI Airways flight to Bridgetown in Barbados was the most likely to be delayed, with 89.2% of the 83 flights that took off in the year to April running at least 15 minutes late. The average delay for the flight was 60 minutes, but no flights were cancelled in the 12 months.
Flights most likely to be delayed for 15 minutes of more
- MANCHESTER TO BRIDGETOWN IN BARBADOS - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 89.2%
- MANCHESTER TO MONTEGO BAY IN JAMAICA - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 85.3%
- MANCHESTER TO PUNTA CANA IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 85.1%
- MANCHESTER TO CANCUN IN MEXICO - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 81.4%
- MANCHESTER TO ISLAMABAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN PAKISTAN - JORDAN AVIATION - 80%
- GATWICK TO VIENNA IN AUSTRIA - WIZZ AIR - 77.1%
- HEATHROW TO ACCRA IN GHANA - BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC - 75.3%
- MANCHESTER TO ILHA DO SAL C.VERDE IN CAPE VERDE ISLANDS - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 73.9%
- HEATHROW TO ISLAMABAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN PAKISTAN - BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC - 73.7%
- HEATHROW TO ALGIERS IN ALGERIA - AIR ALGERIE - 71.4%
Those heading from Heathrow to Islamabad International Airport in Pakistan on British Airways face the longest waits on average. In the year to April the average delay on the 114 flights was 68 minutes, with 73.7% of flights delayed for more than 15 minutes.
Longest average delays
- HEATHROW TO ISLAMABAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN PAKISTAN - BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC - 73.7%
- HEATHROW TO AHMEDABAD IN INDIA - AIR INDIA - 56.4%
- MANCHESTER TO ISLAMABAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN PAKISTAN - JORDAN AVIATION - 80%
- HEATHROW TO BUENOS AIRES IN ARGENTINA - BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC - 60.2%
- MANCHESTER TO PUNTA CANA IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 85.1%
- MANCHESTER TO BRIDGETOWN IN BARBADOS - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 89.2%
- BIRMINGHAM TO CANCUN IN MEXICO - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 60.3%
- MANCHESTER TO MONTEGO BAY IN JAMAICA - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 85.3%
- MANCHESTER TO CANCUN IN MEXICO - TUI AIRWAYS LTD - 81.4%
- HEATHROW TO LAHORE IN PAKISTAN - BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC - 34.1%
The other risk is your flight not being delayed but cancelled. The route most likely to be cancelled is Aberdeen Airport to Amsterdam in Netherlands on KLM, with one in two (48.1%) cancelled in the year to April.
Routes most likely to be cancelled
- ABERDEEN TO AMSTERDAM IN NETHERLANDS - KLM - 48.1%
- HEATHROW TO HONG KONG (CHEK LAP KOK) IN HONG KONG - VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS LTD - 24.6%
- GLASGOW TO CAMPBELTOWN IN UNITED KINGDOM - LOGANAIR LTD - 18.6%
- BIRMINGHAM TO BELFAST CITY (GEORGE BEST) IN UNITED KINGDOM - STOBART AIR - 16.7%
- SOUTHAMPTON TO ALDERNEY IN UNITED KINGDOM - AURIGNY AIR SERVICES - 14.8%
- LEEDS BRADFORD TO SOUTHAMPTON IN UNITED KINGDOM - EASTERN AIRWAYS - 14.5%
- GLASGOW TO BARRA IN UNITED KINGDOM - LOGANAIR LTD - 14.4%
- LUTON TO TEL AVIV IN ISRAEL - EL AL - 14.1%
- HEATHROW TO HONG KONG (CHEK LAP KOK) IN HONG KONG - BRITISH AIRWAYS PLC - 13.8%
- ABERDEEN TO BERGEN IN NORWAY - WIDEROE FLYVESELSKAP A/S - 13.4%
As things have started to recover after the pandemic put pay to holidays abroad, flying has been a potentially fraught experience with queues, delays and cancellations. The Easter holidays, which are included in these figures, saw long queues at bag drop and security at several airports, as well as delays and cancelled flights.
The proportion of flights delayed for more than 15 minutes leaving UK airports in April this year was 32.9%, compared to 22.0% in March. At the same time the average delay rose from 12 minutes in March, comparable to the average of 11 minutes across the whole year, to 18 minutes in April.
Air Algerie, which flies from Heathrow to Algiers in Algeria, was the airline most likely to be delayed more than 15 minutes, with 71.4% of flights running late in the year to April 2022. Of airlines that have featured in coverage of airport disruption - 30.8% of British Airways flights were delayed, as were 38.8% of Wizz Air flights, but 18.3% of Ryanair UK flights and just 12.6% of EasyJet UK flights.
Travellers on Jordan Aviation, which primarily flies to Islamabad in Pakistan from airports across England, face the longest average delays at 48 minutes.
Airports and airlines, which cut jobs during lockdowns, have struggled to recruit staff as demand for holidays has returned, with problems blamed on the resulting shortage of staff. Heathrow Airport has since put a cap of 100,000 passengers in place for the summer holidays, 4,000 fewer than was scheduled, saying this was the maximum number airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport can serve.
The record-breaking temperatures this week have added an extra complication - flight delays and cancellations due to melting runways. As well as this several airlines at Heathrow Airport could face disruption due to refuelling staff striking between 5am on Thursday (July 21) and 4:59am on Sunday (July 24).
Around one in 100 flights (1.1%) were cancelled in April, the same proportion as across the year as a whole, with cancellations peaking at 2.8% in February. Flights operated by Wideroe Flyveselskap, which flies to airports in Norway, were the most likely to be cancelled, with 9.3% not taking off as planned.
The figures are based on the CAA’s flight punctuality statistics for the year to April 2022. The data excludes routes where less than 50 flights have taken off.
