A new report has come out that has uncovered the UK's worst airports for flight delays, and three of Scotland's made the list. The review was carried out by the PA news agency and looked into last year's data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Birmingham took first place with an average delay time of 12 minutes and 24 seconds. The first Scottish airport wasn't far off, with Aberdeen sitting at 10 minutes and 36 seconds of delay time before taking off, putting it in fifth place.
Glasgow Airport was ranked ninth with an average eight minutes and 30 seconds and Scotland's other major airport, Edinburgh, followed shortly after. Ranked 13th, it had an average delay time of seven minutes and 12 seconds.
According to the news agency, the Government is now looking at feedback after consulting on a number of reforms such as increasing the CAA's enforcement powers and amending compensation rules for domestic flights. This comes during the 2022 holiday season, which has additional hurdles that may cause more disruptions such as airline strikes and cabin crew shortages.
Full list showing flight punctuality in 2021
- Birmingham (12 minutes and 24 seconds)
- Southampton (12 minutes)
- Heathrow (11 minutes and 48 seconds)
- Exeter (11 minutes and 12 seconds)
- Aberdeen (10 minutes and 36 seconds)
- Doncaster Sheffield (10 minutes and 18 seconds)
- Luton (nine minutes and 42 seconds)
- Manchester (nine minutes and 30 seconds)
- Glasgow (eight minutes and 30 seconds)
- Leeds Bradford (seven minutes and 42 seconds)
- Newcastle (seven minutes and 24 seconds)
- Bournemouth (seven minutes and 18 seconds)
- Edinburgh (seven minutes and 12 seconds)
- Liverpool (John Lennon) (seven minutes and six seconds)
- Cardiff (six minutes and 48 seconds)
- London City (six minutes and 12 seconds)
- Bristol (six minutes and six seconds)
- Stansted (six minutes)
- East Midlands International (six minutes)
- Gatwick (five minutes and 54 seconds)
- Belfast City (George Best) (four minutes and 54 seconds)
- Teesside International (four minutes and 48 seconds)
- Belfast International (four minutes and 30 seconds)
- Southend (two minutes and 48 seconds)
Jo Rhodes, an expert for consumer magazine Which? Travel said that 2022 will be a completely different year to 2021, with even more disruption and cancellations on top of delays. She believes that government intervention is required.
She said: "Holidaymakers have endured wide-scale flight cancellations as well as unacceptably long queues at check-in, bag drop and airport security. The Government must take action to restore consumer confidence in travel.
"That should involve stronger powers for the CAA, including the ability to fine airlines directly when they break the law. Ministers should also drop their ill-conceived plans to slash compensation rates for delayed or cancelled domestic flights."
Has your recent holiday been impacted by delays? Let us know in the comments.
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