Europe’s worst airline for delays is named – and it’s not Ryanair or easyJet

With the summer season still in full swing, British travellers are quickly jetting off to their favourite destinations. While visiting their favourite holiday hotspots, choosing the right airline to travel with is very important. The airline experience can hamper the entire journey if it’s regularly delayed or has poor seating space and customer service.

Holidaymakers have been warned that despite rising fares, Wizz Air is the worst airline for UK flight delays.

In 2023, the carrier’s departures from UK airports were, on average, 31 minutes and 36 seconds late, according to an analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data conducted by the PA news agency.

This marked an improvement of nearly a third compared to 2022, but the airline still recorded the worst punctuality for UK flights for the third consecutive year.

Turkish Airlines recorded the second worst punctuality followed by Tui.

The generally poor showing comes as airlines fares have been rising as a result of higher fuel costs and green taxes.

Wizz Air said it had made “significant improvements” but acknowledged there was “still work to be done”, reports BBC.

A Wizz Air spokeswoman told BBC: “In 2022, like all airlines in Europe, Wizz Air experienced extraordinary operating challenges driven mostly by the external environment.

“Since then, we have invested more than £90m to stabilise operations, reduce the number of delays and provide a better experience for customers.”

As for UK airlines, British Airways had the longest average UK flight delay of 21 minutes and 36 seconds, with easyJet following at 21 minutes and 30 seconds.

Loganair had the third longest average delay of UK airlines, at 19 minutes and six seconds. Jet2 was deemed to be the most punctual UK airline, with an average UK flight delay of 17 minutes and 48 seconds.