Last minute air traffic control and airport strikes has led to a 39% spike in flight cancellations so far this year over pre-Covid 2019, new statistics show.
Calculations by flight analytics firm Cirium show that 3,070 flights departing from the UK have been cancelled so far this year, equating to 1.45% of all scheduled departures or one in every 69 flights.
The total number of flight cancellations is up 31% on the same period last year, when 2,340 UK departures were cancelled.
However, the UK’s flight cancellation rate in year-to-date has fallen from 1.72% in 2022 to 1.45%.
The number of flight cancellations from the UK so far in 2023 is 39% above 2019 levels, with only 2,211 departures cancelled during the same period pre-pandemic, according to the figures.
The UK’s flight cancellation rate averaged 0.91% during the first three months of 2019, whereas this year the figure has jumped to 1.45%.
On an annual basis, one in 63 flights from the UK were cancelled in 2022, compared to one in 116 between January and December 2019.
Cirium chief executive Jeremy Bowen said: “Despite 2023 signalling a return to smoother travel experiences across the aviation industry, a number of last-minute ATC and airport strikes has caused a spike in cancellations from the UK, hindering airlines’ already stretched operations.
“However, we have seen the UK’s flight cancellation rate year-to-date fall from 1.72% in 2022 to 1.45% in 2023, showing a slow but steady path to recovery.”
The figures emerged ahead of fresh industrial action threatened by security staff at Heathrow and Glasgow airports.