Passengers have been warned it is difficult to book flights from some UK airports “with any real confidence” due to delays
Fresh data exposes which UK airports perform worst for flight delays.
Manchester Airport claimed the position as the nation’s most problematic for flight delays, prompting a warning that travellers cannot reserve flights from there “with any real confidence”.
The northern hub is England’s third busiest but departures ran an average of 19-and-a-half minutes late in 2025, based on Press Association analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.
While this timeframe represented an improvement on earlier years, the delays remained lengthier than at any other airport.
Flight delays are frequently triggered by factors beyond airports’ influence, including air traffic control (ATC) disruption and adverse weather conditions.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel magazine, stated the airport selection “shouldn’t make or break your trip” but “too many holidays got off to a terrible start last year”.
He continued: “Manchester Airport has ranked last in our airport survey for four consecutive years and these new CAA figures validate why this is a particularly poor place to be stranded during delays.
“For passengers already wary of travel uncertainty, seeing such consistent underperformance makes it difficult to book with any real confidence.”
Birmingham Airport recorded the second worst flight punctuality last year, with an average delay of 18 minutes and 42 seconds.
Third place went to Bournemouth Airport (17 minutes and 18 seconds).
Just a stone’s throw from Manchester, Liverpool John Lennon Airport boasted the most reliable flights, clocking an average delay of merely nine minutes and 24 seconds.
Cancellations weren’t factored into the study, which examined scheduled and chartered departures from the 23 commercial UK airports handling at least 1,000 outbound flights last year.
Across the board, the typical delay for departures last year stood at 14 minutes and 54 seconds, an improvement from 18 minutes and 24 seconds in 2024.
Manchester is the UK’s only two-runway airport apart from Heathrow, and welcomed 32 million passengers last year.
Its project to overhaul Terminal 3 continues, while a decade-long £1.3 billion transformation which involved modernising and expanding Terminal 2 to double its size, plus shutting Terminal 1, was recently finished.
An airport spokesperson commented: “Punctuality is affected by factors that are outside of an airport’s control.
“The two most significant factors contributing to delays in the last year have been industrial action affecting air traffic control in Europe, and the weather.
“These were exacerbated by airspace restrictions above conflict zones meaning airports with significant long-haul networks, like Manchester, were more significantly affected than others.
“As an industry we are working collectively to achieve the best possible on-time departure rates, while protecting flight schedules and avoiding the need for cancellations.”
A spokesman for Bournemouth Airport stated the cause of delays are beyond its control “in the majority of cases”, and it remains “one of the UK’s top-ranked regional airports for passenger satisfaction”.
Based on the duration of delay and the route distance, passengers are entitled to a reasonable amount of food and drink, a means to communicate and overnight accommodation if required.
This is frequently not supplied by airlines when significant delays are affecting multiple customers.
Passengers may also be eligible to claim compensation of up to £520 from the airline if the cause of the delay is considered within its control, which could be an aircraft malfunction or pilot illness.
ATC issues are regarded as an “extraordinary circumstance”, meaning affected passengers are not entitled to payouts.
Anna Bowles, head of consumer at the CAA, encouraged the aviation industry to be “focused on delivering punctual and reliable journeys for passengers wherever possible” as she cautioned that delays have a “real impact for people heading off on holidays”.
She added: “When disruption occurs, how the industry responds really matters.
“Passengers should be kept informed and given the care and support they are entitled to.”
A spokesperson for trade body AirportsUK said passengers are “benefitting from improvements in the service they receive”, and delays in 2025 were “down significantly on the previous year”.
The full breakdown is below:
1. Manchester (19 minutes and 30 seconds) 2. Birmingham (18 minutes and 42 seconds)
3. Bournemouth (17 minutes and 18 seconds)
4. Southampton (16 minutes and 36 seconds)
5. Gatwick (16 minutes and 24 seconds)
6. Newcastle (15 minutes and 48 seconds)
=7. Leeds Bradford (15 minutes and 36 seconds)
=7. Stansted (15 minutes and 36 seconds)
9. Edinburgh (15 minutes and 24 seconds)
10. Teesside (15 minutes and six seconds)
=11. Cardiff (14 minutes and 54 seconds)
=11. Exeter (14 minutes and 54 seconds)
13. Bristol (14 minutes and 36 seconds)
=14. London City (14 minutes and 12 seconds)
=14. Luton (14 minutes and 12 seconds)
16. Heathrow (12 minutes and 42 seconds)
17. Belfast International (12 minutes and 24 seconds)
=18. Glasgow (12 minutes and six seconds)
=18. Belfast City (12 minutes and six seconds)
20. East Midlands (11 minutes and 48 seconds)
21. Aberdeen (10 minutes and 54 seconds)
22. Southend (10 minutes and 24 seconds)
23. Liverpool John Lennon (Nine minutes and 24 seconds)