The airport said it will ask airlines to cut more flights if it doesn’t think previous route reductions will be enough to ease disruption. The government recently ordered airlines to make sure they can deliver their itineraries and gave them amnesty to cancel flights without penalty. Wizz Air was the latest carrier to reveal further cuts to its routes, by a further 5%, despite forecasting a strong summer ahead. British Airways, Heathrow’s largest airline, and other carriers have canceled thousands of flights in recent weeks, while others have been hit by delays. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: “We will review the schedule changes that airlines have submitted in response to the government’s requirement to minimize disruption to passengers this summer and ask them to take further action if needed”. Heathrow apologized for its “unacceptable” service in recent weeks and said its staffing levels would return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of July. New analysis has revealed Heathrow had the third-worst record for flight punctuality of UK airports last year. Departures were an average of 11 minutes and 48 seconds behind schedule, according to an analysis of Civil Aviation Administration data by the PA news agency.

UK airports with the longest delays last year

  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) The worst flight delays were at Birmingham Airport, where departures were delayed by an average of 12 minutes and 24 seconds. Southampton Airport had the second worst record, with delays of 12 minutes. Exeter and Aberdeen finished fourth and fourth. The survey looked at all scheduled and chartered departures. The most expensive airport was Southend, where flights were delayed by just two minutes and 48 seconds on average. This was followed by Belfast International and Teesside International, which had delays of more than four minutes. Birmingham Airport said many of its delayed departures were able to make up time in the air because there were fewer flights during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more: easyJet reported for treatment of passengers with canceled flights “Last year was a dark time for aviation when Birmingham Airport was reduced to only 25% of normal resources and capacity due to COVID,” a spokesman said. “Due to the unique operating environment caused by the massive reductions in air traffic, the usual pressures weren’t there, so flights taking off late were able to catch up en route.” Overall, punctuality at UK airports last year was better than before COVID-19 because fewer flights were taking off. 2022 was ‘a different story’ Jo Rhodes, expert at consumer magazine Who? Travel, he said, in 2022 “was a completely different story” as the industry struggles to cope with a sharp rise in passenger numbers. He said holidaymakers “suffered large-scale flight cancellations as well as unacceptably long queues at check-in, baggage claim and airport security”. Listen to and subscribe to The Ian King Business Podcast here “The government needs to take action to restore consumer confidence in travel,” he said. “This should include stronger powers for the CAA, including the ability to fine airlines directly when they break the law. “Ministers should also abandon their ill-conceived plans to reduce compensation rates for delayed or canceled domestic flights.” Airports are struggling to hire enough workers to cope with increased demand after many in the industry lost their jobs.