Punctuality results for 2005 show a year-on-year increase in delays both for scheduled and charter flights operating at UK reporting airports. This is the second consecutive year of deteriorating flight punctuality in the UK, and brings us back to delay levels seen in 2001 / 2002.

London Gatwick airport in particular has seen a worrying increase in scheduled flight delays of over 33%, the largest year-on-year drop in punctuality seen at a single airport since we began analysing records in 2001. The airport has also overtaken Manchester as the least punctual for charter flights in 2005, these services having suffered a 26% increase in average delay since 2004.

London City airport also saw a marked increase in flight delays, the average scheduled flight in 2005 delayed some 20% longer than in 2004 (11.4 minutes compared to 9.5 minutes), with a reduction in on-time performance of 5 percentage points (to 77.7%), though the airport still has the lowest average scheduled flight delay in the UK, a position held for the third consecutive year.

As in 2004, London Stansted was the second most punctual UK airport for scheduled flights in 2005. Glasgow airport had the highest proportion of scheduled flights operating on time in 2005 at 78.3%, and was the most punctual of the two main Scottish airports, despite suffering a slightly higher increase in delays than Edinburgh year-on-year.

The award for most punctual scheduled airline at UK airports in 2005 went to bmi regional, who boasted an average delay of under 7 minutes and operated over 88% of flights within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. Special mention must also go to runners up Eastern Airways and VLM Airlines, both of whom demonstrated excellent punctuality with average delays of just over 7 and 8 minutes respectively.

Flybe had the biggest increase in delays in 2005, their scheduled flights held up nearly 40% longer when compared to the previous year, though their overall performance remains better than the national flag carrier British Airways, who saw the average flight operate 17 minutes behind schedule in 2005, the longest delays seen for the airline since we began analysing records in 2001, and a 12% increase since 2004.

Table 3 - Charter flight statistics at reporting airport level - 2005 vs. 2004   Avg. Delay (mins) YoY Chg. OTP * (%) YoY Chg. Within 1hr (%) YoY Chg.   2005 2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 Birmingham 19.59 18.03 +8.65% 73.44 75.86 -3.19% 92.12 93.01 -0.96% Edinburgh 23.25 19.86 +17.04% 65.01 67.39 -3.54% 91.22 92.34 -1.21% Glasgow 21.11 24.37 -13.37% 71.74 69.66 +2.99% 92.30 90.88 +1.56% London Gatwick 31.65 25.10 +26.11% 61.61 67.97 -9.36% 87.43 90.19 -3.06% London Luton 18.11 16.70 +8.46% 73.82 76.35 -3.30% 93.59 93.44 +0.16% London Stansted 22.31 18.00 +23.96% 70.15 73.16 -4.12% 91.36 93.10 -1.87% Manchester 30.13 25.84 +16.60% 67.63 69.17 -2.22% 88.01 89.39 -1.54% Newcastle 21.12 16.09 +31.31% 75.56 77.48 -2.48% 92.16 93.15 -1.06% All Charter Flights 27.49 23.24 +18.26% 67.20 70.41 -4.56% 89.20 90.77 -1.73% * OTP - On-Time Performance (% of flights operating up to 15 mins after the scheduled time) Note: A small number of charter flights at London City and London Heathrow were not analysed

Charter flights at UK airports suffered a significant drop in punctuality during 2005, the average delay for these services increasing by over 18% when compared with 2004. In 2005, the proportion of charter flights at UK airports operating within an hour of the scheduled time dropped below 90% for the first time in 4 years; 1 in 10 charter flights now operate over an hour late. Only charter flights at Glasgow airport saw an improvement in 2005 compared to 2004, the average delay reducing by over 13% making it the most punctual airport for charter flights in 2005.

In some cases the drop in punctuality was substantial, such as for Thomas Cook Airlines, whose average flight delay increased by a massive 67% year-on-year.