Flights leaving Birmingham Airport suffered the longest departure delays, according to official data. A study by the Civil Aviation Authority suggested planes left an average 12 minutes and 24 seconds late from Birmingham in 2021.
The West Midlands hub was followed by Southampton and London Heathrow, Exeter and Aberdeen and included all scheduled and chartered departures. Birmingham Airport stressed that many of its delayed departures were able to make up time in the air because of the huge reduction in flight numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesman said: "Last year was a dark time for aviation when Birmingham Airport was reduced to just 25 per cent of normal resource and capacity due to Covid. Due to the unique operating environment caused by massive air traffic reductions, the usual pressures did not exist, so flights taking off late were able to catch up en route."
