Final 12 months, 32% of the airport’s flights have been delayed.
Manchester Airport suffered probably the most delays of any UK airport in 2025 (Picture: Getty)
An airport been named the worst within the UK for flight delays, new knowledge has proven. AirHelp has issued its UK Flight Disruption Report primarily based on delays which have been quarter-hour or extra. It highlights situations of airways being owed compensation from airports when arriving greater than three hours late.
The most important loser on this class is Manchester Airport the place 32% of flights have been delayed final 12 months, in accordance with figures printed within the report from compensation agency, AirHelp. The airport, nevertheless, has hit again on the undesirable title, claiming it is “deceptive”.
The information confirmed that of the 14,330,252 passengers who flew from the airport final 12 months, 4,702,454 skilled delays or cancellations. In complete, 136,620 passengers had their flights cancelled, whereas 4,565,833 confronted delays of quarter-hour or extra. Birmingham and Bournemouth airports adopted with 29% of flights being disrupted, whereas 27% of passengers at each London Stansted and Gatwick confronted disruption. Manchester Airport has said that the analysis is “deceptive” as a result of it fails to account for the context of flight delays and elements past the airport’s management. These embody the climate, industrial motion, and impacts on air visitors management and airspace restrictions. The proportion of delayed flights may replicate the scale of an airport and the routes it affords.
Information reveals that, of the 14 million who flew, 4 million have been delayed (Picture: Getty)
As the biggest airport exterior of London, Manchester Airport has a community of greater than 200 locations worldwide, together with long-haul routes, which usually tend to be affected by flight restrictions in Ukraine and elements of the Center East, forcing them to take longer routes.
Delays to those flights might not have an effect on the numerous holidaymakers jetting off to Europe, however they’ll enhance the general common delay figures in comparison with small airports that function solely short-haul flights.
Most of the airport’s flights additionally depart from their dwelling nation, fly to Manchester after which return, which suggests delays at their origin airports can have a knock-on impact on the schedules at Manchester Airport.
The report discovered that the Manchester to Cairo route was the UK’s most delayed, with 79% of flights delayed. Nonetheless, each Manchester to Shanghai and Manchester to Atlanta have been within the high 10 most on-time routes in 2025.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport mentioned: “This evaluation is deceptive because it ignores essential context. Punctuality is affected by elements which might be exterior of an airport’s management.
“The 2 most important elements contributing to delays within the final 12 months have been industrial motion affecting air visitors management in Europe, and the climate.
“These have been exacerbated by airspace restrictions above battle zones, which means airports with important long-haul networks, like Manchester, have been extra considerably affected than others.
“As an trade, we’re working collectively to attain the absolute best on-time departure charges, whereas defending flight schedules and avoiding the necessity for cancellations.”
On the UK’s greatest airport, Heathrow, 23% of flights have been delayed, whereas 26% of flights have been delayed at London Gatwick.
The analysis discovered that in 2025, the biggest flight disruption occasion within the UK was the closure of Heathrow Airport on March 21 attributable to a big fireplace on the North Hyde electrical substation, which induced an influence outage.
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The airport was shut for a lot of the day, which meant 99% of passengers confronted disruption; 98% of flights have been cancelled, and greater than 96,000 passengers have been affected.
Total, in 2025, 142 million passengers flew from the UK, with 26% experiencing disruption. However the report discovered that lengthy delays have improved, affecting simply 0.46% of UK passengers.
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