Timely take-offs: avoiding holiday flight delays.

Flight delays and cancellations can really kill the vibe right at the start of a trip. Use these insights and tips to Save Your Summer.

There’s no getting around the fact that the peak summer holiday period generally includes more delays and cancellations. Based on our 2024 findings, passengers experienced more departure delays and longer waiting times on those delays than the summer before.

At the same time, we predict flight traffic for 2025 to increase 1.3% compared to 2024.

But don’t let these numbers get you down. With a little booking know-how and some expert travel hacks, you’ll be getting from point A to B, hassle-free. Keep scrolling to see how.

Just so you know: Our analysis defines a flight as ‘delayed’ if it departs 30 minutes or more later than it was supposed to.

Fact #1:
The month matters.

Looking over last year, our data shows that there are very attractive months to travel if you’re keen to avoid delays. March is when you have the best chance to fly out of the UK on time – 22% of flights were delayed during that month in 2024.

The summer months are when delays start piling up. Still, there’s a significant difference between those months. Our advice? Avoid flying in July or September.

Steer clear of July and September, when 44% of flights were delayed in 2024. And if you need to fly in July anyway, at least don’t fly on 17 or 29 July, when tickets were most expensive. Our cheapest dates to travel are toward the end of September.

Fact #2:
Flight delays were worse last year (but not by much).

If you had a sneaky suspicion that more flights were delayed in 2024 than in 2023, you have finely-tuned senses! Delays increased by 8% last year. Cancellations, on the other hand, improved dramatically. In all analysed airports in the UK in 2024, cancellations dropped by a whopping 36%.

Fact #3:
The early bird gets the punctual flight.

Which do you hate more: getting up early or a delayed flight? Because our data’s showing that the earlier you fly out, the better chances you’ve got of a timely departure. And with 5 a.m. being the least searched time of day to depart, you’ll likely have plenty of elbow room on the plane.

Departures between 5 and 7 a.m. had only a 15-20% chance of being delayed, while afternoon and evening flight delays jumped to over 50%.

Data shows that travelers who depart before 7 a.m. have a 15-20% chance of experiencing delays.

Fact #4:
Busier airports have more delays.

While smaller airports may not have as many shopping and dining options as their bigger versions, they definitely have a big advantage in their flight punctuality.

Our data highlighted smaller, less trafficked airports like Belfast, Liverpool and Nottingham experienced the fewest flight delays vs busier airports like London Gatwick, where over half of flights took off late. Not all smaller airports are exempt from challenges though. Aberdeen Airport, for example, had average delay times but the most cancellations by far, at 3.1%.

Routes with fewest delayed flights
If you’re flying from Manchester to Beijing or Belfast-Leicestershire/Leicestershire-Belfast, you’ve only got about a 2.6% chance of delays.

Routes with most delayed flights
Be prepared for a 72% chance of delays if you’re flying fashionably late routes Manchester-Bodrum, Edinburgh-Milan or London Luton-Bucharest – with the last route topping the waiting time charts at 57 minutes’ delay time.

Fact #5:
Delays are the worst.

Okay, that might not be a hard fact, but it certainly feels true. The last thing you want when coming back from a holiday is to be stuck in the airport killing time. So we’ve made it easier for you to pick your next holiday here.

Let’s break down the findings from last year. Of Brits’ top summer holiday destinations, Rome’s Leonardo da Vince-Fiumicino Airport was tied with Newark in the USA for the highest average delay time at 39 minutes, with well over half of its flights delayed.

On the other end, delay times in Islamabad and Kochi, India are only 20 minutes on average – while Faro, Portugal is even lower at 19 minutes.

Also, with our analysis’s definition of a delayed flight being 30+ minutes late, that makes the above flights not ‘delayed’ at all. (But maybe don’t tell that to the annoyed passenger next to you.)

Don’t delay – get more insights here.

No need to sit and feel helpless. Here’s what you can do for longer delays:

• Delay of 2+ hours: you’re entitled to food and drink, access to a phone/email and possibly overnight accommodation, provided by the airline.
• Delay of 3+ hours if it’s the airline’s fault: you’re entitled to monetary compensation. The amount depends on your flight distance and delay length.
• Get rebooked: Your airline may be able to book you on another flight at no additional cost.
• Ask for vouchers if a cancellation requires you to wait 3+ hours for another flight. Vouchers can be for meals, hotel stays and transport to the hotel.

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Methodology

The post Timely take-offs: avoiding holiday flight delays. appeared first on KAYAK Blog UK.