Wizz Air’s UK departures were an average of 46 minutes and six seconds behind schedule in 2022, according to new figures.
This made the Hungarian budget carrier the worst major airline for flight delays from UK airports for the second year in a row.
The result was based on analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data by the PA news agency reported by the BBC.
That was more than three times longer than the previous year, when the airline was also ranked last for punctuality.
Wizz Air operates short-haul flights from UK airports including Birmingham, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Gatwick, Luton, Liverpool and Bristol.
The analysis took into account all scheduled and chartered departures from UK airports by airlines with more than 2,500 flights. Cancelled flights were not included.
The average delay for all these flights was 23 minutes.
After Wizz Air, Tui ranked second with an average delay of 40 minutes and 18 seconds, and Qatar Airways third with 31 minutes and 48 seconds.
British Airways recorded an average delay of 23 minutes while Norwegian Air achieved the best performance with an average delay of just 13 minutes and 42 seconds.
Last May and June were the worst months for punctuality as the aviation sector failed to recruit and train enough staff to cope with a surge in demand for holidays following the ending of the UK’s Covid-19 travel restrictions.
CAA consumer director Paul Smith claimed “too many passengers faced disappointing levels of delays” last year.
“The CAA has regularly asked for stronger consumer enforcement powers, including the ability to impose fines on airlines,” he said.
“When things do go wrong, we expect airlines to proactively provide passengers with information about their rights when flights are disrupted, as well as offer timely support and assistance.
“We’ve already raised concerns about Wizz Air and are working closely with the airline to improve outcomes for consumers.”
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “These figures are worrying, but will be no surprise to passengers who’ve had to endure shoddy treatment from airlines for years.”
A spokesperson for trade body Airlines UK said: “The whole industry knows how important punctuality is for customers.
“Last year was not representative due to the late unwinding of Covid restrictions which required a very steep ramp up.
“Since then, the sector has invested huge resources into increased resilience for this summer and we can’t wait to welcome people back for their well-earned breaks.”
A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “At Wizz Air, we do everything possible to ensure that passengers reach their destination on time and with minimal delay. We invest heavily into time performance, which is key to our ultra-efficient business model.
“A number of issues affecting the global aviation industry contributed to a worse time performance in 2022. These issues resulted from a widespread shortage in staff, in particular within air traffic control, ground operations and baggage handling, security and across airports.
“We are committed to constantly reviewing and refining our processes to mitigate these issues and we have been seeing an overall improvement in the on-time performance of our routes and are confident our passengers are seeing this too. The duration of Wizz UK flight delays have reduced by more than 40% on 2022 levels this year, to 26 minutes on average, marking a significant improvement from our 2022 average of 46 minutes.”