Flight delays soar across UK airports

PLANE punctuality plunged at main UK airports last summer, including Edinburgh, official figures show.

Only 63 per cent of charter flights were on time this summer compared with 74 per cent in the same period last year, the Civil Aviation Authority announced.

Scheduled flight punctuality fell from 80 per cent in summer 2009 to 72 per cent in summer 2010.

The figures were based on flights in and out of Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, London City, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.

The average delay for charter flights in summer 2010 was 30 minutes, compared with 20 minutes in summer 2009. The scheduled flight average delay increased from 12 minutes in summer last year to 16 minutes in summer this year.

Scheduled flights to and from Madrid had the worst delays, with only 43 per cent on time last summer, while flights to and from Palma in Majorca had the highest average delay of 38 minutes.