One in 4 Scottish f lights is delayed

ONE in four flights in and out of Scotland was delayed last year, costing airlines millions of pounds in compensation to travellers.

Some 60,000 planes arriving at or departing from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports ran at least 15 minutes behind schedule in 2016-17.

The analysis by the consumer group Which? – published as schools begin closing for summer and families flock to take advantage of cheap getaway prices ahead of the English holidays – found the problem is getting worse at all three hubs.

Scottish holidaymakers were most likely to encounter problems at the nation’s busiest airport, Edinburgh, with 27 per cent of flights running late, up from 15 per cent in 2013-14.

At Glasgow, delays have risen from 16 per cent to 25 per cent over the same period and at Aberdeen

‘1,200 flights held up by at least three hours’

the figure has increased from 19 per cent to 22 per cent in the past year alone.

Across all three airports, there were 1,200 flights held up by at least three hours, the threshold for airlines paying compensation to passengers.

The disclosures, based on Civil Aviation Authority data, come a week after Edinburgh was named the fifth worst in the world for delays and customer experience in another industry survey.

An Edinburgh Airport spokesman said: ‘On-time performance is important to our passengers and is a measure we monitor very closely.’

A spokesman for AGS Airports, owner of Aberdeen and Glasgow, said: ‘Delays can be caused by a number of factors. On-time performance is an area of focus and we work with airline partners and handling agents to improve efficiency.’