Most flight delays 'outside airport's control'

An airport operator has said the statistics used for ranking the worst flight delays do not take into account factors that are outside of an airport's control.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data analysed by the Press Association shows Bournemouth Airport ranked the third worst in the UK for flight delays, with an average delay per departing flight of 17 minutes 18 seconds.

Andrew Bell, chief executive of Regional and City Airports, which owns and operates Bournemouth Airport, said delays of that duration would not disrupt journeys "that significantly".

But Anna Bowles, CAA head of consumer, warned that delays have a "real impact for people heading off on holidays".

According to the analysis, Manchester Airport is experiencing the worst delays, averaging 19-and-a-half minutes - longer than all other UK airports despite representing a 30-second improvement from the previous year.

The analysis took into account scheduled and chartered departures from the 23 commercial UK airports with at least 1,000 outbound flights last year, not including cancellations.

A spokesman for Bournemouth Airport said the reason for delays were outside its control "in the majority of cases", and that it was "one of the UK's top-ranked regional airports for passenger satisfaction".

The airport recently reported its "best ever year," with a 26% rise in passengers to 1,395,783 as of the end of March.

Bell said the statistics used for the rankings were "pretty high level and generally don't take into account most of the things that are outside of an airport's control".

Flight delays are often caused by issues such as bad weather and air traffic control (ATC) disruption, which Bell described as the driver of the majority of delays.

"I would suggest that if you're taking a flight that's two, three-plus hours and potentially much longer, a 15-minute delay probably isn't going to disrupt your journey plans that significantly," he said.

Southampton Airport, which is fourth in the ranking, also listed factors including delayed arrivals or technical issues with aircraft.

"We work tirelessly with our airline partners and their handling agents to continuously improve overall levels of efficiency," it said in a statement.

Bowles urged the aviation industry to be "focused on delivering punctual and reliable journeys for passengers wherever possible".

"Passengers should be kept informed and given the care and support they are entitled to," she added.

Depending on the distance of the route and length of delay, passengers booked on delayed flights from UK airports are entitled to assistance such as a reasonable amount of food and drink and overnight accommodation if required.

Airlines often fail to provide this during major disruption as they are overwhelmed by requests and passengers may be able to claim compensation of up to £520 if the reason for the delay is deemed within the airlines' control.

A spokesperson for trade body AirportsUK said passengers were "benefitting from improvements in the service they receive", and delays in 2025 were "down significantly on the previous year".