Wizz Air and TUI passengers issued '30 minute' warning before summer holidays

The worst airline for UK flight delays has been named with an average wait of 31 minutes - as another is awarded most punctual short-haul UK carrier. UK tourists and holidaymakers planning their summer holidays have been warned that Wizz Air has the longest average delays for UK-departing flights.

In 2023, the carrier's departures from UK airports were on average 31 minutes and 36 seconds behind schedule, according to an analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data by the PA news agency. Wizz Air said it has made "significant improvements" but acknowledged there is "still work to be done".

A spokeswoman said: "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 £90million to stabilise operations, reduce the number of delays and provide a better experience for customers. While we saw significant improvements in 2023, there was still work to be done.

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"Helping our customers reach their destination is our number one priority and we will continue to invest in our service to ensure they get there on time." The spokesperson added that the airline’s current performance is "among the strongest in the entire industry", with a punctuality record that is "the highest among our direct competitors" and "the best flight completion rate in the whole of Europe".

Turkish Airlines (28 minutes and 36 seconds) and Tui (28 minutes and 24 seconds) completed the top five with Air India (28 minutes and 12 seconds) and Pegasus Airlines (25 minutes and six seconds). Air Portugal (23 minutes and 48 seconds), Vueling Airlines (23 minutes and six seconds) and Swiss Airlines (22 minutes and 48 seconds) were in the top ten with Air Canada (22 minutes and six seconds) and British Airways (21 minutes and 36 seconds).

Easyjet and Ryanair had 21 minute and 18 minute averages respectively. Jet2 was deemed to be the most punctual UK airline, with an average UK flight delay of 17 minutes and 48 seconds. CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays Steve Heapy, said: "We flew millions of customers away to enjoy their well-deserved holidays in 2023 and this exhaustive data shows that we outperformed our competitors when it came to getting them away on time.

"This is because we have continually invested in our world-class operation, which goes alongside the industry-leading customer service that we are famed for. From maintenance and engineering through to operations, ground handling and flight planning, every single colleague Jet2.com colleague cares passionately about doing the right thing for customers and that effort shines through in this data."