Gatwick is UK airport with the longest delays

New BBC research reveals which UK airports and which airlines are most prone to delays.

Passengers travelling to and from Gatwick face the longest delays to their flights, new BBC analysis of UK flights has revealed.

Using figures collected by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the BBC looked at the last two years of data for all summer holiday flights from UK airports.

It also found that passengers travelling on easyJet flights have the longest waits of all the 10 busiest airlines. EasyJet customers faced an average delay of 24 minutes, while Aer Lingus delays were half that, at 12 minutes on average.

Strike action in popular holiday destinations like Greece and Spain, bad weather and heavily congested airspace have all affected flights to and from Gatwick's single runway.

Ditty_about_summer/Shutterstock

Other UK airports with longer delays include Luton, Stansted, Edinburgh and Belfast International. The data reveals that travellers flying out from smaller UK airports are less likely to experience departure delays.

The airlines with the worst delays from UK airports

10. Aer Lingus (12 minutes)
9. Flybe (14 minutes)
8. BA City Flyer (14 minutes)
7. Ryanair (14.5 minutes)
6. Monarch (15 minutes)
5. Jet2.com (16 minutes)
4. Thomson Airways (17 minutes)
3. British Airways (18 minutes)
2. Thomas Cook (18.5 minutes)
1. easyJet (24 minutes)

Compensation

If you’re caught up in a significant delay travelling to any EU country or on a European airline, you do have the right to compensation. If your flight is delayed for two or more hours, the airline must offer food and drink as well as accommodation, if you’re delayed overnight. If your destination is less than 932 miles away and you arrive more than three hours late, you are entitled to £225 in compensation, and £363 for destinations further than that.

For more on this, read our sister site loveMONEY's guide to Compensation for delayed and cancelled flights.