UK flights most likely to be delayed or cancelled – see if your holiday is on the list

Almost a third of all the flights scheduled on a single route are grounded, according to new data.

A new tool designed by the Mirror lets you work out how badly delayed your flight is likely to be and the odds of cancellations based on your airport and airline. It lets you type in the airport you’re flying from and to, and shows you which airline or airlines serves that route.

The data looked at flights delayed by 15 minutes or more to determine those most hit by disruption, and showed that TUI flights from Manchester to Bridgetown, Barbados, were most likely to be delayed from a UK airport in the year to June 2023, according to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data compiled by the Mirror. A shocking 84% of flights to the Caribbean city were delayed by at least 15 minutes, with an average delay time of 72 minutes.

Gatwick had the next two flights most likely to be delayed, with 75% of Wizz Air routes to Nice and Vienna getting delayed by at least 15 minutes. They’re followed by the flight from Manchester to Varadero, Cuba, with 76% being at least 15 minutes late setting off.

If you are desperate to avoid scrabbling around at the airport for a new flight because yours is grounded, then it may be worth avoiding the Gatwick to Palma De Mallorca service with easyJet as the data suggests that one in three of those flights was hit by cancellations in the last year.

A quarter of the Flybe Leeds Bradford to Belfast City (George Best) flights were cancelled, while easyJet’s service from Gatwick to Milan (Malpensa) was cancelled 23% of the time.

Last week an issue with air traffic control in the UK led to thousands of planes being cancelled and many more delayed. Some Brits are still stuck in overseas countries seven days on, having been unable to book themselves onto alternative flights.