Air passenger numbers rebounded strongly in the second quarter of this year after Covid restrictions eased – but travellers also faced longer delays and more cancellations, according to new Civil Aviation Authority figures.
The regulator’s aviation statistics for the second quarter of 2022 show that 63 million passengers flew in and out of the UK between April and June, on 477,559 flights.
There were 31 million passengers on 292,764 flights in the previous quarter.
This Q2 total represents a 23% fall in passengers compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.
The average load factor was 80%, down just five percentage points on Q2 2019.
The CCA said: “With all Covid travel restrictions lifted at the end of March 2022 in the UK, quarter two saw strong indications of consumer confidence in air travel, with the number of passengers travelling more than double that of the previous quarter (Q1 2022) and flights seeing a 63% increase.
“Performance was also boosted by the Easter and May half term breaks, including the Jubilee celebrations during this period. In fact, June passengers peaked at 82% of 2019 levels in week 23 (week commencing June 6).”
However, the CAA said increased passenger demand proved “challenging” for the industry, leading to travel disruption including flight cancellations and delays.
The average flight delay increased to 25 minutes per flight – up from 12 minutes in Q1 2022, and up from 15 minutes in Q2 2019.
Less than two-thirds (59%) of flights were determined to have left “on-time”, down from 79% in Q1 2022.
At the height of the disruption, cancellations peaked at about 4.7% of all flights. However, the average for the quarter was 1.6%, up from 0.7% in Q2 2019.
To minimise future disruption, airlines have been revising schedules, while hubs such as Heathrow have been keeping a cap on departures.
Last month, the bosses of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the CAA published a joint open letter to airlines about cancellations and refunds – and reminding airlines about their consumer law obligations.
More: Extended Heathrow passenger cap ‘compounds passenger misery’