Leeds Bradford named among worst UK airports for flight cancellations
Research using Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) statistics covering January to November 2024 has found that Leeds Bradford Airport was among the major airports worst affected by flight cancellations last year.
According to the CAA’s publicly available data, an average of 1.8 per cent of flights from Leeds Bradford Airport each month were cancelled between January and November. Southampton (3.3 per cent) and London City (2.9 per cent) airports top the list.
In 2023, CAA data suggests on average 3 per cent of flights from Leeds Bradford were cancelled each month, representing a significant reduction in the number of grounded flights, year-on-year.
The new analysis was conducted by flight compensation specialists, AirAdvisor who are reminding passengers affected by flight cancellations that they may be due up to £520 in compensation from their airline.
On its website, the CAA defines cancelled flights “as the non-operation of a previously planned flight, announced less than 24 hours before or after its scheduled departure time.”
The CAA’s statistics suggest that last January dozens of flights representing 7.1 per cent of flights from Leeds Bradford were cancelled. In February, 2 per cent of flights from the airport were grounded.
Anton Radchenko, CEO of AirAdvisor explains: “Stormy weather, snow and fog often result in cancellations, with January and February being notoriously troublesome months for airports due to bad weather.
“Storms Isha and Jocelyn in January 2024 had a particularly damaging effect on services to and from Leeds Bradford Airport.”
“In July, the global IT outage resulted in around 5,000 flights worldwide being cancelled, in what was a very challenging few days for the aviation industry. Across the month, cancellations at the airport rose to 1.8 per cent. In June and August, the rate fell to less than 0.5 per cent for both months.
Discussing the steps passengers should take when their travel plans are disrupted by a cancelled flight, Anton says: “There’s a whole multitude of reasons for flights to be cancelled, which might not always be properly communicated to passengers by airlines, so it’s always worth filing a claim if you are affected.
“When your flight is cancelled with less than two weeks’ notice and you’re flying with a UK or EU-based carrier or within the UK or EU, you may be due up to £520 in compensation. If you flight is cancelled, you are entitled to request a seat on an alternative flight to your destination.
“If your airline can’t rebook you within a reasonable amount of time, then they must find an alternate flight even if this is with a different airline.
“If you choose not to travel, you are entitled to a full ticket refund. Speak to a representative from your airline at the airport, if there is a seat available on another carrier’s flight, they are required to book it for you, at their expense.
“The key to filing a successful compensation claim for a cancelled flight is to act quickly. Use a compensation calculator to establish what you might be owed and submit your claim with as much information as possible.
Airports like Liverpool, Luton and Bournemouth, which some most months of the year faced no cancellations at all, fared better in the research’s results.
Average flight cancellations at UK airports between January and November 2024
Southampton - 3.3%London City - 2.9%Cardiff - 2.2%Glasgow - 2.1%Leeds Bradford - 1.8%Heathrow - 1.65%Gatwick - 1.4%Newcastle - 1%Edinburgh - 1.16%Manchester - 0.9%Birmingham - 0.9%Bristol - 0.7%Stansted - 0.65%Liverpool - 0.52%Luton - 0.5%Belfast - 0.4%East Midlands - 0.3%Bournemouth - 0.04%
Source - CAA punctuality statistics: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/flight-punctuality/uk-flight-punctuality-statistics/2024/