The London airport just named worst in the UK for delays

After forcing yourself awake at five o’clock in the morning, stressing over the weight of your suitcase at bag drop and frantically rushing through security, the last thing you want before you finally relax on holiday is a delayed flight. 

Flights taking off on time is never a guarantee. And if you’re travelling with a particular airline or from a particular airport, you might face a higher likelihood of having to wait around longer than you’d anticipated. Luckily, there’s people out there who collect data on exactly that, so you can at least mentally prepare yourself. Now, research from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has revealed which UK airports had the worst delays times in 2024. 

Departing flights from London Gatwick in 2024 faced an average delay time of 23.6 minutes. That’s a slight improvement on the year before, when the average delay time was more than 27 minutes, but it remains the worst in the country.

Gatwick’s control tower, which is run by National Air Traffic services, faced several staff shortages last year, which contributed to the long delays. Despite that, the airport was still named the 36th best in the world in a recent ranking by Skytrax (but in another study, its South Terminal was rated the worst in the UK). 

A spokesperson from the airport said: ‘Air traffic control restrictions in other parts of Europe have continued to impact the airport. Together with our airlines, we've put in place a robust plan... to improve on-time performance further in 2025.’ 

Fellow London airport Stansted was second on the list alongside Manchester Airport with an average delay time of 20.3 minutes. Heathrow placed 10th on the list with an average flight delay time of 18 minutes. 

These are the 10 worst airports for delay in the UK

1. Gatwick - 23.6 minutes

2. Stansted - 20.3 minutes

3. Manchester - 20.3 minutes

4. Southend - 20 minutes

5. Birmingham - 19.9 minutes

6. Bournemouth - 18.9 minutes

7. Bristol - 18.8 minutes

8. Cardiff - 18.6 minutes

9. Luton - 18.6 minutes

10. Heathrow - 18 minutes

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