Revealed: The worst airlines for severe delays

Oliver Smith
Updated
In total, more than 13,000 flights to or from Britain arrived at least three hours late in the 12 months to June 2018 - This content is subject to copyright.
In total, more than 13,000 flights to or from Britain arrived at least three hours late in the 12 months to June 2018 - This content is subject to copyright.

Around 1.3 million passenger journeys to or from UK airports were delayed by at least three hours in the past year, new research has shown.

Which?, the consumer watchdog, analysed Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data to uncover the figure - as well as those airlines with the highest proportion of severe delays.

In total, more than 13,000 flights to or from Britain arrived at least three hours late in the 12 months to June 2018. Those flights carried an estimated average of 102 passengers, meaning 1,326,000 severely delayed journeys.  

EasyJet (2,618 flights), Ryanair (1,868 flights) and British Airways (1,668 flights) were involved in around half of all long delays. Given that they are the three biggest airlines operating in the UK this is not surprising, and all three had delay rates close to the industry average of 0.7 per cent.

Less impressive was Norwegian. The low-cost carrier, which has made a name for itself in Britain for its cheap transatlantic fares, had the highest percentage of severely delayed long-haul flights: 2.4 per cent. Given the high level of cash compensation due for delays on long-haul services (up to €600; £537), this poor performance is particularly costly for Norwegian, which sells return fares to the US for as little as £300-£400. Meanwhile, those passengers hit with a long delay could actually find they receive compensation in excess of the value of their ticket.

Thomas Cook fared worst for medium-haul flights (1,500km-3,500km), with a delay rate of 1.2 per cent.

For short-haul services Icelandair was bottom of the class, with 1.7 per cent of all flights delayed by at least three hours.

Air passengers delayed by more than three hours are entitled to cash compensation of €250 for short flights and €400 for medium-haul flights. For flights of over 3,500km they may receive €300 for a delay of 3-4 hours, or €600 for more than four hours. However, the compensation is not payable in the case of an “extraordinary circumstance”. These include delays due to war or civil unrest, security issues, natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, air traffic control restrictions, strikes by airport staff, a medical emergency on board, and some crew issues. Follow this link for a full guide.   

Claiming flight delay compensation can be an arduous process for passengers, with airlines often attempting to avoid payouts, leading Which? to urge carriers to introduce automatic payments for eligible customers rather than forcing them to apply. “Severe delays can be a complete nightmare and totally wreck a long awaited trip abroad, especially if it means you’re stuck in an airport terminal for hours on end,” said Alex Neill, managing director of Which? “Passengers are often entitled to compensation when airlines get it wrong and it is vital that automatic compensation is introduced across the industry so that people no longer have to jump through hoops to get what they are owed.”

Long delays clearly haven’t hurt the reputation of Norwegian or Icelandair. The former was named the best low-cost long-haul carrier at the recent World Airline Awards, while the latter was named the world’s second best short-haul airline in the 2017 Telegraph Travel Awards, voted for by 80,000 readers. In the case of Norwegian, paying passengers what they are due may well have helped its cause. Which? research last year found that it paid up after being advised to do so by the CAA in 93 per cent of cases, compared to Ryanair’s 81 per cent, easyJet’s 76 per cent and Jet2.com’s 65 per cent.