Delays get worse, but only on charter flights
Fewer passengers were hit by delayed flights at UK airports in the early part of this summer, according to latest statistics released this week.
The Civil Aviation Authority reported that 81% of scheduled flights leaving the UK’s 10 largest airports in the second quarter of this year were on time.
It said this equates to a three percentage points improvement over the second quarter of 2012.
Birmingham registered the biggest improvement in on-time performance of scheduled flights, up six percentage points.
Heathrow passengers suffered the worst delays, with only 77% of scheduled flight leaving on time, although this was a four percentage point improvement over the same period last year. At Gatwick, 79% of scheduled flights left on time, a one percentage point improvement.
However, almost one in four charter flights were delayed and the average delay rose to 18 minutes, one minute higher than in the second quarter of last year.
The CAA said only 77% of charter flights left on time, which represented no improvement over last year.
At London airports, delays grew worse and only 76% left on time, two percentage points fewer than in the second quarter of 2012.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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