Flight frustrations ...Gatwick is worst for take-off delays
GATWICK was the worst airport for flight delays last year with departures typically almost half an hour late.
The airport, the UK’s secondbusiest, was badly affected by air traffic control staff shortages in its own tower and across Europe.
Last September it resorted to a temporary cap on flights.
Gatwick said it was “working closely with our airline partners to improve performance”.
According to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data, planes were on average nearly 27 minutes behind schedule.
Struggled
Luton was the second worst with an average delay of almost 23 minutes with Manchester in third at nearly 22 minutes.
Belfast City (George Best) airport was the top performer with just 12 and a half minutes.
The average delay for flights across all airports was almost 20 minutes and 42 seconds, down from 23 minutes and 12 seconds in
2022, when the aviation sector struggled with soaring demand after the end of Covid rules.
The analysis looked at airline departures from the 22 commercial UK airports with at least 1,000 outbound flights last year. Cancellations were not included.
Naomi Leach, deputy editor of Which? Travel, said: “It’s clear from these latest figures that millions of passengers continued to experience unacceptably long hold-ups last year.
“This cannot be allowed to become the new normal.”
CAA director Tim Johnson said it is vital the sector “focuses on resilience” ahead of the summer holiday period to “keep passenger disruption to a minimum”. Julia Lo Bue-Said, boss of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, said: “With millions set to travel abroad this summer, it’s vital for the UK’s airports alongside all parts of the travel eco-system to continually work together to ensure the system is as efficient as it can be.”
When flights are significantly delayed or cancelled, airlines are required by law to provide help such as refreshments and accommodation if required.
If an airline is to blame, up to £520 can be claimed.
But air traffic control issues are often an “extraordinary circumstance”, meaning no payouts.
Gatwick said it was “the most efficient single-runway airport in the world”. It blamed poor
Inefficient
weather, airspace constraints across Europe and “inefficient third party ground operations”.
The airport added that it had a six-year capital investment programme “to build resilience”.
The Airport Operators Association said the figures lack “context around operating in a global environment and do not give a clear picture of how air travel operates”.