Manchester Airport has been ranked the worst in the UK for flight delays, sparking a warning that passengers cannot book flights from there 'with any real confidence'. Departures from the country's third busiest airport were an average of 19-and-a-half minutes behind schedule in 2025, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data. That was longer than all other UK airports despite it being a 30-second improvement from the previous year.
Which? Editor Warns of Poor Performance
Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said the choice of airport 'shouldn't make or break your trip', but 'too many holidays got off to a terrible start last year'. He added: 'Manchester Airport has ranked last in our airport survey for four consecutive years and these new CAA figures validate why this is a particularly poor place to be stranded during delays. For passengers already wary of travel uncertainty, seeing such consistent underperformance makes it difficult to book with any real confidence.'
Other Airports with Poor Punctuality
Birmingham Airport had the second poorest flight punctuality last year, with an average delay of 18 minutes and 42 seconds. In third place was Bournemouth Airport at 17 minutes and 18 seconds. In contrast, Liverpool John Lennon Airport had the most punctual flights, with an average delay of nine minutes and 24 seconds.
Overall Delay Trends
The analysis by the Press Association took into account scheduled and chartered departures from the 23 commercial UK airports with at least 1,000 outbound flights last year. The average delay for departures was 14 minutes and 54 seconds, down from 18 minutes and 24 seconds in 2024. Manchester is the UK's only two-runway airport other than Heathrow and was used by 32 million passengers last year.
Airport Responses
A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: 'The two most significant factors contributing to delays in the last year have been industrial action affecting air traffic control in Europe and the weather. These were exacerbated by airspace restrictions above conflict zones, meaning airports with significant long-haul networks were more significantly affected. As an industry, we are working collectively to achieve the best possible on-time departure rates.'
A spokesman for Bournemouth Airport said the reasons for delays are outside its control 'in the majority of cases' and it is 'one of the UK's top-ranked regional airports for passenger satisfaction'. Birmingham Airport did not reply to a request for a comment.
