Delay to Departure report: what are the best and worst routes for flight delays?

With the summer season approaching, many of us will be taking to booking sites in search of our next getaway. 

Last year alone, Brits took over 1.9 million domestic flights, up 12.67% from 2022.

For some, travelling is a relaxing and cathartic experience, for others, lengthy delays and busy airports can result in a stressful start to a trip. 

A YouGov report found that in the Summer of 2022, 60% of those planning to travel had little confidence in reaching their destinations without significant delays or cancellations.

With customers now having more options for providing feedback than ever before, customer satisfaction is paramount and it’s essential that should a flight be delayed or cancelled, passengers are notified as soon as possible, making a case for an automated SMS solution. 

Passengers are used to having all the information they need at their fingertips, meaning airlines need to follow suit when it comes to disruption texts, whether that’s a change of gate or a flight delay. The likes of SMS landing pages help airlines such as British Airways better communicate with passengers, should the unforeseen happen. 

Which routes are most affected by delays? 

To work out which flight routes passengers are most likely to encounter the most delays, our team got to work and took an indepth look at the numbers. 

We analysed over 250 flight routes from 20 of the UK’s major airports, based on scheduled flights for the next month. Our team then chose one of the most commonly scheduled flight codes and used FlightRadar24 to analyse the average scheduled arrival time and actual arrival time of every completed flight over the past year, revealing which flight route suffers most from delays, or benefits from an early or on-time arrival.

The Delay to Departure Report found that the UK’s most delayed flight is from Leeds Bradford to Lawica, Poland (Poznan). With an average scheduled arrival time of 11:51 AM and an average actual arrival time of 12:27 PM, passengers face an average delay of 36 minutes. 

UK passengers on longer haul flights can also expect delays with the second most delayed flight on average being Birmingham International to Dubai, with an average delay of 30 minutes. 

Passengers in the Midlands keen for a weekend in Paris can also expect delays as the UK’s third most delayed flight route operates from East Midlands Airport to Paris – Orly Airport with an average delay of 28 minutes. 

Top 50 Most Delayed Routes

Home Airport	Destination Airport	Airline	Flight Code	Average scheduled arrival	Average actual arrival	Time delayed
Leeds Bradford Airport	Lawica – Poland	Ryanair	FR5606	11:51	12:27	0:36
Birmingham International Airport	Dubai – UAE	Emirates	EK40	0:39	1:09	0:30
East Midlands Airport	Orly – Paris	Eastern Airways	T3249	11:51	12:19	0:28
Edinburgh Airport	Belfast City – Northern Ireland	Aer Lingus	EI3653	12:10	12:37	0:27
Manchester Airport	Lisbon – Portugal	TAP Portugal	TP1311	10:49	11:14	0:25
London Gatwick	Milan Malpensa – Italy	easyJet	U28305	14:44	15:04	0:20
Bristol Airport	Guernsey – UK	Aurigyny Air Services	GR643	14:09	14:29	0:20
Bristol Airport	Edinburgh – Scotland	easyJet	U2219	19:20	19:39	0:19
Bristol Airport	Porto – Portugal	easyJet	U22875	17:24	17:42	0:18
Belfast International	Glasgow – Scotland	easyJet	U261	15:00	15:17	0:17
London Gatwick	Dublin – Ireland	Ryanair	FR113	11:05	11:22	0:17
Newcastle International Airport	Aberdeen – Scotland	Eastern Airways	T3724	18:03	18:20	0:17
London Gatwick	Geneva – Switzerland	easyJet	U28487	11:20	11:36	0:16
London Luton	Prague – Czech Republic	Wizz Air	W92602	14:08	14:24	0:16
Birmingham International Airport	Aberdeen – Scotland	Loganair	LM66	17:29	17:44	0:15
East Midlands Airport	Guernsey – UK	Aurigny Air Services	GR697	16:32	16:47	0:15
Glasgow Airport	Gatwick – England	easyJet	U2862	10:52	11:06	0:14
Edinburgh Airport	Dublin – Ireland	Aer Lingus	EI3251	9:29	9:42	0:13
Bristol Airport	Cork – Ireland	Aer Lingus	EI3843	17:19	17:32	0:13
Leeds Bradford Airport	Málaga Airport – Spain	Ryanair	FR2446	13:24	13:37	0:13
London Luton	Ben Gurion – Israel	easyJet	U22583	19:29	19:41	0:12
London Luton	Budapest – Hungary	Wizz Air	W62202	11:55	12:07	0:12
London Gatwick	Tenerife – Spain	easyJet	U28033	11:59	12:11	0:12
Glasgow Airport	Kirkwall – Scotland	Loganair	LM432	14:18	14:30	0:12
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Frankfurt – Germany	Lufthansa	LH969	16:56	17:07	0:11
London City Airport	Isle of Man – UK	LoganAir	LM678	20:02	20:13	0:11
Newcastle International Airport	Heathrow – England	British Airways	BA1335	18:04	18:14	0:10
London Stansted	Belfast International – Northern Ireland	Ryanair	U238	12:04	12:14	0:10
London Gatwick	Schiphol – Netherlands	easyJet	U28673	10:27	10:37	0:10
London Gatwick	El Prat Airport – Barcelona	Vueling	VY7831	12:22	12:32	0:10
Glasgow Airport	Islay – Scotland	Loganair	LM421	8:45	8:54	0:09
London Gatwick	Marrakesh – Morocco	easyJet	U28705	12:06	12:15	0:09
Belfast International	Stansted – England	easyJet	U241	16:19	16:28	0:09
London Gatwick	Glasgow – Scotland	easyJet	U2863	13:17	13:26	0:09
Manchester Airport	Belfast International – Northern Ireland	easyJet	U2707	20:54	21:03	0:09
London Gatwick	Istanbul – Turkey	Turkish Airlines	TK1982	16:55	17:03	0:08
Edinburgh Airport	Sumburgh – Scotland	Logan Air	LM353	9:26	9:35	0:08
London Heathrow	Lisbon – Portugal	TAP Portugal	TP1363	8:40	8:48	0:08
Birmingham International Airport	Geneva – Switzerland	easyJet	U21506	16:02	16:10	0:08
Bristol Airport	Lisbon – Portugal	easyJet	U22867	13:51	13:59	0:08
London Gatwick	Copenhagen – Denmark	Norwegian Air Intl	D83515	16:47	16:55	0:08
Manchester Airport	Alicante – Spain	easyJet	U22015	19:45	19:53	0:08
Belfast International	Luton – England	easyJet	U2630	10:04	10:12	0:08
London Gatwick	Edinburgh – Scotland	easyJet	U2807	10:06	10:14	0:08
London Stansted	Istanbul – Turkey	Pegasus	PC1162	19:25	19:33	0:08
Manchester Airport	Geneva – Switzerland	easyJet	U22185	13:42	13:50	0:08
Manchester Airport	Dublin – Ireland	Aer Lingus	EI203	9:10	9:17	0:07
Birmingham International Airport	Guernsey – UK	Aurigny Air Services	GR703	15:17	15:24	0:07
Belfast International	Schiphol – Netherlands	easyJet	U23051	16:35	16:42	0:07
London Luton	Sofia – Bulgaria	Wizz Air	W64302	13:47	13:54	0:07

Which routes are likely to arrive early?

The flight route where passengers are most likely to see an early arrival is from London Heathrow to Indira Gandhi International (Delhi). With an average scheduled arrival time of 9.08 PM and an actual average arrival time of 8:33 PM, passengers from the UK are often setting foot in Delhi 35 minutes earlier than planned. 

Passengers from Belfast are also likely to touch down ahead of schedule as the UK’s joint-earliest arrival is from George Best Belfast City to Frankfurt, resulting in a 35-minute earlier arrival. 

European short-hops continued to dominate the early arrival rankings as passengers on the Manchester to Prague route often benefit from landing 33 minutes early, while those on the Liverpool to Iasi (Romania) route will also touch down 20 minutes ahead of schedule. 

Just one UK domestic route appeared in the top 10 early arrivals with passengers from Bristol to Belfast International enjoying an average earlier arrival of 16 minutes. 

Top 50 Early Arrival Routes

Home Airport	Destination Airport	Airline	Flight Code	Average scheduled arrival	Average actual arrival	Time Arrived Early
London Heathrow	Indira Gandhi International – India	Air India	AI162	21:08	20:33	0:35
George Best Belfast City Airport	Frankfurt – Germany	Lufthansa	LH1529	16:43	16:08	0:35
Manchester Airport	Prague – Czech Republic	Ryanair	FR6838	15:42	15:09	0:33
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Iasi – Romania	Wizz Air	W43698	12:47	12:26	0:21
London Stansted	Milan Malpensa – Italy	Ryanair	FR2757	13:23	13:03	0:20
Bristol Airport	Belfast International – Northern Ireland	easyJet	U22957	11:27	11:11	0:16
London Heathrow	Newark Liberty – New York	United Airlines	UA883	10:53	10:38	0:15
London Heathrow	JFK International – New York	British Airways	BA117	11:16	11:02	0:14
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Krakow – Poland	Ryanair	FR6360	14:12	13:58	0:14
London Heathrow	Dublin – Ireland	Aer Lingus	EI151	9:04	8:50	0:13
London Gatwick	Málaga Airport – Spain	easyJet	U28069	12:41	12:28	0:13
London Stansted	Milan Bergamo – Italy	Ryanair	FR2696	10:12	9:59	0:13
London Heathrow	Schiphol – Netherlands	British Airways	BA428	9:11	8:59	0:12
George Best Belfast City Airport	Manchester – England	Aer Lingus	EI3610	7:40	7:28	0:12
Manchester Airport	Belfast City – Northern Ireland	Aer Lingus	EI3611	9:33	9:21	0:12
London City Airport	Dublin – Ireland	British Airways	BA4472	19:08	18:56	0:12
Edinburgh Airport	London City – England	British Airways	BA8701	9:18	9:06	0:12
Glasgow Airport	London City – England	British Airways	BA8721	8:29	8:17	0:12
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Dublin – Ireland	Ryanair	FR441	7:35	7:24	0:11
East Midlands Airport	Wroclaw – Poland	Ryanair	FR916	16:50	16:39	0:11
Belfast International	Birmingham – England	easyJet	U225	8:04	7:53	0:11
London Luton	Iasi – Romania	Wizz Air Malta	W43652	14:25	14:14	0:11
London Heathrow	Frankfurt – Germany	Lufthansa	LH921	9:04	8:54	0:10
London Heathrow	Zurich – Switzerland	SWISS	LX345	8:40	8:30	0:10
London City Airport	Zurich – Switzerland	British Airways	BA8763	9:36	9:26	0:10
Glasgow Airport	Luton – England	easyJet	U2401	8:18	8:08	0:10
London City Airport	Billund – Denmark	British Airways	BA8212	21:05	20:55	0:10
Manchester Airport	El Prat Airport – Barcelona	Ryanair	FR7542	16:20	16:10	0:10
London Southend	Schiphol – Netherlands	easyJet	U22511	9:09	9:00	0:09
London Luton	Schiphol – Netherlands	easyJet	U22511	9:09	9:00	0:09
Leeds Bradford Airport	Katowice – Poland	Wizz Air	W61016	12:33	12:24	0:09
Belfast International	Manchester – England	easyJet	U2702	9:35	9:26	0:09
Newcastle International Airport	Dublin – Ireland	Ryanair	FR17	13:28	13:19	0:09
London Stansted	Vienna – Austria	Ryanair	FR730	13:23	13:15	0:08
London Luton	Cluj – Romania	Wizz Air Malta	W43302	13:10	13:02	0:08
Bristol Airport	Krakow – Poland	Ryanair	FR6221	15:00	14:52	0:08
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Belfast International – Northern Ireland	easyJet	U2501	9:27	9:19	0:08
East Midlands Airport	El Prat Airport – Barcelona	Ryanair	FR9388	13:27	13:20	0:07
Leeds Bradford Airport	Schiphol – Netherlands	KLM	KL1540	8:35	8:28	0:07
London City Airport	Belfast City – Northern Ireland	British Airways	BA8758	20:26	20:19	0:07
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Geneva – Switzerland	easyJet	U23461	10:04	9:57	0:07
Bristol Airport	El Prat Airport – Barcelona	easyJet	U22703	11:07	11:01	0:06
Edinburgh Airport	Belfast International – Northern Ireland	easyJet	U2327	8:21	8:14	0:06
Edinburgh Airport	Schiphol – Netherlands	KLM	KL1276	8:21	8:14	0:06
East Midlands Airport	Alicante – Spain	Ryanair	FR9085	11:34	11:28	0:06
George Best Belfast City Airport	Southampton – England	Aer Lingus	EI3602	9:00	8:54	0:06
East Midlands Airport	Tenerife – Spain	Ryanair	FR3152	11:51	11:45	0:06
Birmingham International Airport	Istanbul – Turkey	Turkish Airlines	TK1968	17:19	17:13	0:06
East Midlands Airport	Knock – Ireland	Ryanair	FR1742	12:07	12:01	0:06
Liverpool John Lennon Airport	Bucharest – Romania	Wizz Air	W43012	11:20	11:14	0:06

Which routes are bang on time?

London Airports dominate 10 of the 22 flight routes passengers are most likely to get to their destinations on time. Stansted to Portugal, London City to Berlin and Luton to Edinburgh are just a few flight routes passengers can expect a punctual arrival. 

Passengers flying from Birmingham International Airport may also see an on-time arrival with flights to Belfast International, Malaga and Charles de Gaulle Paris all touching down on time. 

Chris Gorman, Head of Professional Services at Esendex commented on the report: 

“A delayed flight can cause a lot of anxiety, adding to an already stressful situation for many of us. Whether that’s impacting further travel plans once landed, or causing issues with accommodation, flight delays can cause havoc to travel itineraries. 

“It’s vital that airlines have the right digital infrastructure in place to ensure passengers are kept up to date, with the correct information and crucially, to allow passengers to stay in contact with airlines as a solution is being sought. 

“Ensuring processes like WhatsApp for Business, automated SMS solutions or SMS Landing pages are in place, will not only improve the customer service experience of the passengers but can also reduce the administrative challenges facing the airline too.” 

Find out more: SMS solutions for the travel industry

Methodology

Esendex listed the most common flight routes and their flight codes based on upcoming scheduled flights at 20 major UK Airports using Flightsfrom.com. 

Esendex then took the most commonly scheduled flight code and used FlightRadar24 to analyse every completed flight per flight code, over the past year, taking an average scheduled arrival time and an average actual arrival time. The resulting time difference then revealed whether a flight route was on average delayed, early or on time. 

In total, Esendex analysed over 250 flight routes.

Want to find out which routes are most delayed in America? Check out our US Delay to Departure Report here.