Aldergrove delays among worst in UK

BELFAST International Airport has one of the worst records for delayed flights in the UK.

It was second only to Gatwick in terms of the proportion of all flights with delays over 30 minutes, it has emerged.

A BBC investigation found 38,000 out of 199,000 international flights from UK airports to popular destinations were delayed between June and September 2016.

It analysed Civil Aviation Authority data from 25 airports but did not cover flights that were cancelled. Belfast International was found to be the second worst in the UK — with 23% of flights delayed by over 30 minutes.

The longest delay for Aldergrove was a flight to Burgas in Bulgaria, which was held up for almost 400 minutes.

The airport said: “At Belfast International Airport we do all we can to minimise delays.

“Our on-time performance is generally very good, but sometimes we, too, fall victim to things that are outside our control.”