The airlines most delayed in the UK last summer & which are the best to fly with

THE AIRLINES with the worst UK summer delays have been revealed thanks to recent study.

Data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on more than 385,000 flights both in and out of the UK was analysed to reveal which airlines were delayed the most.

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The study, commissioned by Forbes Advisor, found that Wizz Air were the worst offenders during June, July and August last year, the months looked at by the study.

The budget Hungarian airline made more than 15,000 journeys to and from the UK altogether, of which two thirds (66 per cent) were delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Wizz also had the longest average delay time, with their late flights running 55 minutes behind schedule on average.

In second place behind Wizz were TUI, whose performance wasn’t much better.

The British airline made 24,970 flights in and out of the UK during the designated period, and 61.3 per cent of them were delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Their average delay time was nine minutes better than Wizz, at 46 minutes.

Lufthansa and Air Portugal came in third and fourth, respectively before fifth and sixth place were taken up by easyJet and Ryanair.

During the summer months, easyJet had 90,988 flights in and out of the UK, of which 44,144 (48.5 per cent) were delayed by more than 15 minutes.

Their average delay time was 29.32 minutes.

Meanwhile, Ryanair flew in and out of the UK 73,250 times last summer.

A total of 34,657 of those flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes, or 47 per cent.

They also had an average delay time of 29.32 minutes.

Air France took seventh spot, while Jet2 came in eighth, with 16,160 of their 35,720 flights delayed by more than 15 minutes, with an average delay time of 31.20 minutes.

British Airways came ninth in the rankings, with 27,469 of their 60,955 flights delayed by more than 15 minutes.

BA’s average delay time was 26.31 minutes.

In tenth spot were Virgin Atlantic, with 2,259 of their 5,368 flights held back by more than 15 minutes.

Their average delay time was slightly better than BA’s at 25.08 minutes.

Laura Howard, travel insurance expert at Forbes Advisor explained what passengers are entitled to should they be delayed.

She told the Daily Mail: “While our data is retrospective, it serves as a useful reminder for holidaymakers of 2023 to understand their rights around all-too-frequent flight delays and cancellations.

“For medium-haul flights, such as to Spain, Portugal or Greece, the airline has a duty of care to passengers delayed for more than three hours – no matter the cause.

“This could include free food and drink vouchers or an overnight hotel stay where appropriate.”

Sun Online Travel has contacted both Wizz Air and TUI for comment.

Meanwhile, this is how you can claim compensation if your flight is delayed.

And these are the two kinds of flights you should book to avoid travel delays.

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