The worst UK airports in terms of delays have been revealed

A new investigation has found which airports across the UK have the longest delays, ranging from 25 minutes at the worst, to eight minutes at the best.

With average flight delays across the UK mounting to 16 minutes in 2018, Stansted Airport has the longest delays of any airport across the UK with passengers kept waiting on flights for an average of 25 minutes. The BBC reported that Stansted said the issues were as a result of “adverse weather and air traffic control issues”. The spokesman for Stansted added that vast investment from Ryanair “has already helped deliver significant service improvements to flight punctuality”.  

Closely behind Stansted, Luton and Birmingham were reported to have delays of 19 minutes. 

At the bottom of the table, Belfast City (George Best) posted the result with delays averaging just eight minutes. 

The UK’s busiest airport, Heathrow, was ranked 17th on the list, with delays of 13 minutes; below the national average. Gatwick was fourth on the list, with delays recorded of 18 minutes. 

During January 2018 and September 2018, 692,800 flights were scheduled to leave the UK, with 164,690 delayed by at least 15 minutes and 10,640 cancelled. For the same period the previous year, cancelled flights saw an increase of 87 per cent from just 5,700. 

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, commented: “It’s completely unacceptable for passengers to be regularly delayed by nearly half an hour. These 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. Airlines should stop passing the buck and make it easier for their passengers by introducing automatic compensation.”