Manchester Airport was the second worst airport in the UK for flight delays in 2024, according to data from the Civil Aviation Authority.
On average, a scheduled departure flight leaves Manchester just over 25 minutes late. Only Gatwick had longer average delays, of just under 29 minutes.
In the aviation industry, flights are viewed as late if they depart over 15 minutes after the scheduled departure time. No airport in the UK had average delays below this threshold.
Scheduled flights are ticketed commercial flights that the majority of the public use, and they accounted for 93.3% of all departures from Manchester last year.
Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport, had over 80 million passengers last year, and average delays of over 21 minutes. The most punctual airport was Cardiff with the average flight being delayed by 16 minutes.
Delays are often out of the control of airports, with adverse weather, air traffic control issues, aircraft maintenance, and flight crew staffing problems all contributing to delays.
Currently, air traffic controllers in Greece are on strike causing delays for flights flying through Greek airspace. And conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are forcing aircraft to take longer routes.
Danny Baxter, a barber from Manchester, had a five-hour delay from Manchester to Paris in January. The flight coincided with a snow storm that caused travel chaos across the north west.
“We lost the majority of the first day,” he said. “We were set for a flight at 9am to get there for around about 11.”
The flight was pushed back to 2pm and they didn’t arrive in the French capital until 5pm.
“Then we had an hour commute to the hotel, so by the time we got settled, we’d lost the first day when we wanted to get in early,” Danny said.
Danny tried to claim a refund but only received discount vouchers for a future flight.
In the UK, if a passenger’s flight is over three hours late, they are entitled to a refund of up to £220 for short haul flights, £350 for mid haul and up to £520 for long haul. However, this is only if the delay was the fault of the airline.
Any delays caused by extreme weather, air traffic control issues, or power cuts are not eligible for refund. But by law, airlines must provide passengers with care and assistance before a flight. This can be in the form of food and drink vouchers, accommodation, and travel between the accommodation and airport.
Manchester Airport is the UK’s third largest airport with over 30 million people passing through the terminal in 2024, or 10.5% of all annual UK air passengers. But delays from Manchester have been higher than the average at UK airports since 2021.
But delays at UK airports as a whole are coming down from their peak in 2022 when the aviation industry returned to more regular flights following the pandemic.
A spokesperson for AirportsUK, the trade body for UK airports, said: “Airports continue to provide an excellent service to millions of passengers a year and to operate in an extremely busy, global environment with resilience challenges, usually outside of their control. It is therefore positive that the data shows that delays continue to come down as everyone in aviation works together to connect businesses, tourists, family and friends.”
Megan Ashurst from Wigan, suffered a delay at Manchester airport when she was on her way to Hideout festival in Croatia with a group of friends last summer.
Unfortunately for Megan, her flight to the Balkans was on June 24, when a power cut at Manchester airport led to the cancellation of over 100 flights.
She said: “When we got to the airport they let us drop our bags off, but all of the screens were off. We went through, had a drink and whatever, then we got the boarding call.”
Megan and the rest of the passengers were faced with a two and half hour delay and were told the power outage had affected the baggage carousels.
They were left with a choice by the airline. Fly without their luggage, or go home without a refund. They chose to carry on with their holiday.
“We literally had nothing,” Megan said. “Everything was in our cases. We didn’t have a toothbrush. Luckily, the festival gave us a free t-shirt to wear because we had no clothes for the first night. It was just a bit of a disaster.”
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: “Punctuality of flights can be affected by a number of factors, most of which are outside of an airport’s control. These include inclement weather, airline crew shortages, delays to inbound flights, and even things like continental air traffic control issues including capacity restrictions and industrial action.
“As such, it is inherently misleading to passengers to imply a link between airports and delays. In reality, passengers can feel assured that the vast majority of flights – 76% since April last year – leave Manchester Airport on time.”
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