Flights leaving Birmingham Airport suffered the longest departure delays, according to official data. A study by the Civil Aviation Authority suggested planes left an average 12 minutes and 24 seconds late from Birmingham in 2021.
The West Midlands hub was followed by Southampton and London Heathrow, Exeter and Aberdeen and included all scheduled and chartered departures. Birmingham Airport stressed that many of its delayed departures were able to make up time in the air because of the huge reduction in flight numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesman said: "Last year was a dark time for aviation when Birmingham Airport was reduced to just 25 per cent of normal resource and capacity due to Covid. Due to the unique operating environment caused by massive air traffic reductions, the usual pressures did not exist, so flights taking off late were able to catch up en route."
Birmingham is the UK's seventh busiest airport, serving long-haul destinations including Dubai, Mexico, the Caribbean and the US, as well as more than 100 short-haul routes.
The airport was used by 12.6 million passengers in 2019, before the pandemic, but just 2.5 million last year. The Press Association, which compiled the ranking, said punctuality across all UK airports in 2021 was better than before the Covid crisis, due to the reduction in flights caused by travel restrictions.
Average delays at UK airports
1. Birmingham (12 minutes and 24 seconds)
2. Southampton (12 minutes)
3. Heathrow (11 minutes and 48 seconds)
4. Exeter (11 minutes and 12 seconds)
5. Aberdeen (10 minutes and 36 seconds)
6. Doncaster Sheffield (10 minutes and 18 seconds)
7. Luton (nine minutes and 42 seconds)
8. Manchester (nine minutes and 30 seconds)
9. Glasgow (eight minutes and 30 seconds)
10. Leeds Bradford (seven minutes and 42 seconds)
11. Newcastle (seven minutes and 24 seconds)
12. Bournemouth (seven minutes and 18 seconds)
13. Edinburgh (seven minutes and 12 seconds)
14. Liverpool (John Lennon) (seven minutes and six seconds)
15. Cardiff (six minutes and 48 seconds)
16. London City (six minutes and 12 seconds)
17. Bristol (six minutes and six seconds)
18. Stansted (six minutes)
19. East Midlands International (six minutes)
Meanwhile, the UK's busiest airport London Heathrow said it will ask airlines to cancel more flights this summer if it does not believe previous schedule reductions will sufficiently reduce disruption. Airlines were ordered by the Government and the Civil Aviation Authority last month to make sure their timetables are “deliverable” after the sector was unable to cope with demand during the Jubilee half-term school holiday period.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “Last month, we saw exponential growth in passenger numbers as nearly six million people got away – the equivalent of 40 years of growth in just four months. We have already seen times recently when demand exceeds the capacity of the airport, airlines and ground handlers."
He added: "We will review the schedule changes that airlines have submitted in response to the Government’s requirement to minimise disruption for passengers this summer and will ask them to take further action if necessary. We want everyone who is travelling through Heathrow to be confident that they will have a safe and reliable journey.”
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