Wizz Air and Thomas Cook among worst for lateness
● CAA highlights airlines on list of the most tardy carriers in the UK
Wizz Air has the worst punctuality record of the busiest airlines operating from UK airports, an investigation has found.
The Hungarian carrier’s UK departures were an average of 23 minutes late in 2017, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has the second worst performance, followed by Vueling Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines and BMI Regional.
The ranking features the 44 airlines with at least 2,000 scheduled flights from UK airports last year. Average delay figures take into account every flight that operated, including those that were on time. Cancelled services are excluded from the CAA data.
Scandinavian Airlines is the most punctual, with aircraft typically taking off just seven minutes behind schedule.
Aer Lingus has the second best record, followed by Air France, Alitalia and Delta Airlines.
The average delay across all flights was 15 minutes.
A spokeswoman for Wizz Air said: “A number of issues specific to the UK, including airport infrastructure, airspace congestion and slot restrictions contribute to a significantly worse on-time performance of our UK routes compared to the rest of our network.”
She noted that disruption was caused by “particularly severe winter weather”
0 Thomas Cook Airlines is among the list of carriers with poor punctuality
last year and added that the airline is taking measures to improve its punctuality, such as basing eight aircraft in the UK to reduce its exposure to inbound delays.
Norwegian Air Shuttle’s UK flights mainly consist of shorthaul services from London Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Its average delay of 22 minutes does not take into account the majority of
Norwegian’s long-haul flights from UK airports, which are operated by a British subsidiary.
A Norwegian spokesman said frequent air traffic control strikes across Europe and adverse weather “invariably impact punctuality” and are beyond the control of airlines.
He went on: “We do everything possible to ensure passengers reach their
destination as soon as possible.”
The CAA said punctuality “clearly matters to passengers” and it publishes carrier performance to allow people to “make informed choices about which airline to fly with”. Dale Keller, chief executive of airline association BAR UK, said delays are “extremely costly” to carriers.