Flying? You’ll take off 15 minutes late
Glasgow and Edinburgh airports are among the worst for punctuality
SCOTLAND’S two big- gest airports are among the worst performers for punctuality in the UK, with the average flight leaving 15 minutes late.
Analysis of data from the Civil Aviation Authority reveals how passengers are routinely delayed at Glasgow and edinburgh airports, and in departure lounges across Britain.
But it shows that Stansted in essex had the poorest record for punctuality, with average delays of 25 minutes.
London Stansted is the fourth busiest airport in the UK, and is used by around 28million passengers every year.
It is a major hub for holidaymakers who have booked flights on low-cost airlines including Ryanair, easyJet and Jet2.
The airport’s record for punctuality was described by one consumer group as ‘completely unacceptable’.
Both edinburgh Airport and Glasgow Airport, in joint seventh place, recorded average delays of 15 minutes. Birmingham and London Luton notched up the joint second worst punctuality performance, with aircraft typically taking off 19 minutes behind schedule.
The analysis by the Press Association takes into account every scheduled and charter flight from 24 major UK airports. Cancelled flights are not included in the figures.
It found that flights across all featured airports were delayed by an average of 16 minutes in 2018. Belfast City (George Best) recorded the best performance with an average delay of only eight minutes.
Liverpool (John Lennon) was in second place (ten minutes), followed by Doncaster Sheffield, exeter and Bournemouth Airport (12 minutes).
Rory Boland, editor of consumer magazine Which? Travel, said: ‘It’s completely unacceptable for passengers to be regularly delayed by nearly half an hour. These delays aren’t just an inconvenience but can leave holidaymakers hundreds of pounds out of pocket because of missed connections, transfers and fines for picking up their hire car late.
‘While compensation is available for delays of over three hours, airlines should make it easier for their passengers by finally introducing automatic compensation.’
A spokesman for edinburgh Airport said: ‘We regularly maintain a high level of on time performance but that is unfortunately impacted by delays at other airports, something which is reflected in this data. Other issues such as weather and air traffic control strikes in europe also have an impact.
‘We work hard with our airlines and ground crews to ensure aircraft leave on time, and continue to invest in technology, equipment and training to make this happen.’
A Glasgow Airport spokesman said: ‘A broad range of factors can have an adverse effect on flight punctuality, however, we work extremely hard along with our airline partners to ensure we continue to improve the customer experience.’