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In a review of airlines and their arrival times, Hungarian carrier Wizz Air were found to be the least punctual in Britain. With an average delay time of 23 minutes over the course of 2017, putting them at the head of the table of the most delayed airlines.

Why are there so many Wizz Air delays?

According to the airline, the reasons for their consistent delays were down to some ‘issues specific to the UK’, blaming problems with congestion, airport infrastructure and timetable restrictions. It also commented that the ‘severe winter weather’ had contributed to many of its flights taking off late.

The airline stressed that this was not indicative of its service along its other routes. It commented that the UK had been a particularly tricky destination over the course of 2017 due in part to strike action by air traffic controllers.

Who else was late?

Figures obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority were used to identify which airlines were performing best and worst across the UK’s airports. Taking into account 44 different airlines and more than 2,000 scheduled flights, the analysis uncovered which airlines kept passengers waiting most often.

The most delayed airlines from international carriers were:

Wizz Air – 22.9 minutes

Norwegian Air Shuttle 21.7 minutes

Vueling Airlines – 21.1 minutes

Aurigny Air Services – 20.1 minutes

Norwegian Air International – 19.3 minutes

Eurowings – 19.2 minutes

Turkish Airlines – 19.2 minutes

Air Portugal – 19.1 minutes

Eastern Airways – 18.6 minutes

Blue Air Transport Aerian – 17.2 minutes

Of course, not all the offenders were of international origin, with Thomas Cook sliding into fourth place overall with average delays of 21.1 minutes. Other notable UK airlines included EasyJet with delays of 18.2 minutes, Flybe at 14.1 minutes and Ryanair with 15.6 minutes of hold ups. British Airways performed rather well, with an average of just over 11 minutes of delays over the course of the year.

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The full list of UK airlines and their punctuality records was:

Thomas Cook Airlines – 21.1 minutes

BMI Regional – 21 minutes

EasyJet – 18.2 minutes

Monarch Airlines (ceased trading in October) – 16.4 minutes

Loganair – 16.2 minutes

Ryanair – 15.6 minutes

Flybe – 14.1 minutes

Virgin Atlantic – 13.3 minutes

British Airways – 11.5 minutes

BA CityFlyer – 11.4 minutes

Among the most punctual to come out of the analysis were Scandinavian Airlines, with just a seven-minute delay, and Aer Lingus. The overall average delay for all UK airports was 15 minutes.

Your rights if you’re flying with the most delayed airlines:

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated that punctuality is an increasingly important factor for passengers when they are choosing which airline to fly with. They reminded passengers that they are entitled to free phone calls, emails and refreshments including meals if delays of more than two hours occurred.

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Delays exceeding three hours trigger the compensation scheme, where passengers can often claim hundreds of pounds back from the airline. This is not the case when delays are called by extraordinary circumstances, such as extreme weather, for example. Consumer group Which? have called for the compensation process to become automatic, so that inconvenienced customers do not need to go to such lengths to claw back money to which they are rightfully entitled.