UK passengers hit by record number of flight disruptions
Air passengers in the UK have endured a record number of flight disruptions this year, the second highest in Europe after Germany.
Over 175,000 departing flights have been delayed or cancelled so far in 2018, almost 26,000 more than last year, according to an analysis of global flight data by flight delay claims company AirHelp.
It claimed that one in four outbound flights are delayed or cancelled. It said that its figures show that cancellations are up 86% year on year.
Ryanair has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights this year due to strikes by crew, while British Airways’ services have been hit by IT problems. According to a Which? report last month, Norwegian, Thomas Cook and TUI have the worst long-haul delays while Icelandair, Aurigny and TUI have the worst short-haul delays.
The UK is second only to Germany in the new rankings of the worst European flight disruptions, but the UK has 60,000 more flights a year, said AirHelp.
In Portugal, more than one in three of 143,000 flights have been delayed or cancelled so far this year, making it the country where passengers are most at risk of flight disruption in Europe.
Paloma Salmeron of AirHelp said: "2018 has seen the worst flight disruption across Europe in history. Millions of travellers have suffered severe delays or cancellations by airlines, but nowhere more so than in Germany and the UK.
"Airline staff strikes, lack of pilots and bad weather have all contributed to a year of air travel misery and chaos for passengers.
"And the situation is only set to get worse. The current Brexit aviation deal limbo combined with a predicted increase in European flights to 12.4 million by 2024 is likely to cause even more havoc in European airspace."
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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