The proportion of on-time flights at UK airports had still not recovered to pre-Covid 2019 levels in the final quarter of last year, according to new data.
Total passenger numbers rose by 6% year-on-year to 69 million, with flights operated up 3% to almost 500,000.
The percentage of on-time flights for the quarter was up by 4% to 71%, and the average delay per flight down by one minute to 17 minutes.
However, this was still not at the 2019 pre-pandemic numbers of 80% and 12 minutes respectively, the latest Civil Aviation Authority trends survey shows.
Gatwick was reported to have the worst record for the percentage of on-time flights with an average of just 66% operating on time, behind Stansted, Southend and Manchester airport.
Aberdeen airport achieved the best punctuality record with 79% of on-time flights, just ahead of Liverpool, East Midlands and Belfast City all on 78%.
Heathrow’s flight punctuality was recorded as 71%, the same as Birmingham and Bristol airports.
Aer Lingus regional operator Emerald Airlines was top for airline punctuality with an average of 83% of flights on time, against Wizz Air at 77%, Jet2.com at 76%, British Airways at 72%, Virgin Atlantic at 71%, EasyJet at 70% and Ryanair at 68%.
The worst performer was Channel Islands carrier Aurigny Air Services with a 61% on-time performance in the quarter. This put it below Swiss at 65% and Emirates at 67%, the report showed.
Total passenger numbers rebounded last year back to the same level as pre-pandemic at 296 million terminal passengers, similar to the 300 million flying in 2019-20 and exceeding all other previous years up to 1990.
The passenger load factor in the final three months of 2024 reached 81%, up two percentage points on the same quarter a year earlier.