One third of UK air travellers reported disruption to journeys in an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey in the first half of August, an improvement on late July but still unprecedentedly high.
The ONS survey of more than 2,000 UK adults over August 3-14 found 34% of those who travelled abroad in the previous eight weeks had experienced some form of disruption.
About one in five adults (22%) travelled abroad in the period of whom nine out of 10 (88%) travelled by air.
One in four (25%) of those suffering disruption reported flight cancellations, and four out of five (80%) reported delays to flights or increased waiting time onboard aircraft
Half (50%) reported abnormal queues at airports and one in four (24%) experienced longer waits for luggage.
Those aged 16-29 were most likely to have travelled abroad, with 26% having done so, but those aged 30-49 reported the greatest level of disruption with 39% reporting a journey was disrupted.
The overall disruption rate of 34% compared with 38% of travellers who reported disruption in the previous ONS survey carried out on July 20-31.
However, the earlier survey asked about disruption in the previous four weeks rather than eight and fewer adults had travelled in the period – 16% of adults in the four weeks to the end of July compared with 22% in the eight weeks to mid-August.
The data confirms a fall in the level of UK aviation disruption.
Nine out of 10 (87%) of those reporting disruption in the July survey suffered a flight delay, 56% reported longer queues at airports than normal and 30% reported a longer than normal wait for luggage.
The rate of flight cancellation was lower at 19% in the July survey, but this covered half the period of the August data.
The latest ONS data also looked at the impact of inflation.
Three-quarters (76%) of adults reported being ‘worried’ or ‘very worried’ about the rising cost of living, a proportion unchanged since April – but 96% cited the cost of food, 82% energy bills and 76% the price of fuel.
Three quarters (75%) of adults also said they were ‘worried’ or ‘very worried’ about climate change.
One in five (21%) reported the summer heatwave had affected their activities and one in seven (14%) said their health had been affected.