Manchester Airport has been ranked the worst in the country for flight delays, with average delays of nearly 20 minutes.
Despite the northern airport being the UK’s third busiest, departures were an average of 19 minutes and 30 seconds behind schedule in 2025, according to analysis by the Press Association using Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data. This average is an improvement from last year’s data, by 30 seconds, but not enough to move them out of last place.
Birmingham Airport had the second poorest flight delays last year, with an average delay of 18 minutes and 42 seconds, and Bournemouth Airport came third place with 17 minutes and 18 seconds. Meanwhile, just around the corner from Manchester, Liverpool John Lennon Airport comes out on top of the list with an average delay of nine minutes and 24 seconds. Overall, the average delay for departures last year was 14 minutes and 54 seconds, down from 18 minutes and 24 seconds in 2024.
The analysis took into account scheduled and chartered departures from 23 commercial UK airports with at least 1,000 outbound flights last year, however cancellations were not included.
Flight delays are often caused by issues outside of an airports control, such as air traffic control disruption and bad weather.
Manchester is the UK's only two-runway airport other than Heathrow and was used by 32 million passengers last year. Its plan to revamp Terminal 3 is ongoing, while a 10-year transformation worth £1.3 billion, which included modernising and doubling the size of Terminal 2, and closing Terminal 1, was recently completed.
The full ranking:
1. Manchester (19 minutes and 30 seconds)
2. Birmingham (18 minutes and 42 seconds)
3. Bournemouth (17 minutes and 18 seconds)
4. Southampton (16 minutes and 36 seconds)
5. Gatwick (16 minutes and 24 seconds)
6. Newcastle (15 minutes and 48 seconds)
=7. Leeds Bradford (15 minutes and 36 seconds)
=7. Stansted (15 minutes and 36 seconds)
9. Edinburgh (15 minutes and 24 seconds)
10. Teesside (15 minutes and six seconds)
=11. Cardiff (14 minutes and 54 seconds)
=11. Exeter (14 minutes and 54 seconds)
13. Bristol (14 minutes and 36 seconds)
=14. London City (14 minutes and 12 seconds)
=14. Luton (14 minutes and 12 seconds)
16. Heathrow (12 minutes and 42 seconds)
17. Belfast International (12 minutes and 24 seconds)
=18. Glasgow (12 minutes and six seconds)
=18. Belfast City (12 minutes and six seconds)
20. East Midlands (11 minutes and 48 seconds)
21. Aberdeen (10 minutes and 54 seconds)
22. Southend (10 minutes and 24 seconds)
23. Liverpool John Lennon (Nine minutes and 24 seconds)