News of declining passenger numbers has a flyer-friendly flip side. According to figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) (website: www.caa.co.uk), the punctuality of UK flights improved over the first three months of this year as passenger numbers declined by 9 per cent and passengers handled fell by 11 per cent.
Between January and March, the on-time performance (this is defined as early to 15 minutes late) of scheduled flights at the ten airports monitored by the CAA stood at 81 per cent. During the same period in 2008, it was 70 per cent.
Heathrow and London City airports were the biggest winners. The average delay at Heathrow halved – from 24 minutes to 12. At London City, the average delay also halved; it is now nine minutes.
Outside London, average delays at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester airports stand at six minutes, five minutes and four minutes respectively.
Travellers taking flights to Toronto will experience the worst delays. The average delay for Toronto-bound flights is 22.4 minutes.
Flights to the United States airports, in general, perform badly too. For flights to Los Angeles International, travellers should factor in an average delay of 17.6 minutes, New York (Newark) 17.2 minutes, New York JFK 14.1 minutes, and Chicago O’Hare 13.6 minutes.
Some flights to short-haul destinations perform no better. For Dublin, just an hour away, there is an average delay of 12.7 minutes. For Istanbul flights, the average delay is 19.2 minutes. Rome (Fiumicino Airport) flights have an average delay of 14.5 minutes.
To compare the average delay across 75 destinations, click here (pdf).
