AirHelp has identified that over one million UK passengers have been eligible to claim approximately £383,000,000 due to flight delays and cancellations in 2017. Based on this year’s AirHelp Score, UK airlines Monarch and Ryanair were rated as some of the worst in the world.
LONDON – AirHelp has revealed that over one million UK passengers have been affected by flight cancellations and severe delays of three hours or more. AirHelp has calculated that UK passengers are eligible to claim approximately £383,000,000 in compensation in 2017 (1st January 2017 – 1st November 2017).
The busiest travel month in the UK for 2017 was August, unsurprisingly falling on a busy month for tourism. Based on the percentage of disrupted flights departing from UK airports, Malaga experienced the highest volume of flight disruptions, with Amsterdam and Edinburgh following closely behind.
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Top five disrupted destinations (1st January 2017 – 1st November 2017) |
Percentage of flights delayed and cancelled (1st January 2017 – 1st November 2017) |
|
1. Malaga, Spain |
20.7% |
|
2. Amsterdam, Netherlands |
20.6% |
|
3. Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
19.9% |
|
4. Glasgow, United Kingdom |
19.4% |
|
5. Dublin, Ireland |
19.2% |
As the 2017 AirHelp Score unveiled earlier this year, airports in the UK are considered as some of the worst in the world with London Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh airports falling into the worst global airports for their quality and service, the number of delayed flights throughout the period, and track record on paying flight delay compensation. The AirHelp Score also unveiled that UK airlines Monarch and Ryanair were amongst some of the worst airlines in the rating. Interestingly, we have since seen Monarch go into administration in October and Ryanair fall into flight cancellation chaos over the last few months, affecting more than two million passengers and causing UK flight prices to dramatically increase.
Earlier in the year, even the UK’s flagship airline, British Airways faced two IT system failures within a space of a month, causing thousands of passengers plans to be disrupted and reportedly costing the airline approximately £100 million in compensation payout alone.
Some of the more unusual reasons cited by airlines for flight delays in the UK this year included a scorpion and mouse on board a plane, and a lack of toilet roll. In fact, the presence of the mouse and scorpion could have costed British Airways up to almost £154,000 in compensation charges on each incident alone.
Paloma Salmeron Planells, AirHelp representative comments: “2017 has been a big year for air passenger travel, particularly in the UK with the collapse of Monarch and Ryanair’s rota fiasco, which has played a big part in flight cancellations.
“In the event of a delayed or cancelled flight, passengers may be legally entitled to receive up to £510 in compensation fees from airlines. However, despite this less than 2% of travellers will file for this compensation, not knowing that they are eligible.
“We urge passengers who may have been affected by delays or cancellations this year to read up on their rights to ensure that they’re not missing out on the compensation that they’re legally entitled to. At AirHelp, our mission is to help passengers get the compensation that they rightfully deserve.”
Flying for Christmas: Best and worst travel dates over the festive break
Also, AirHelp warns those flying for the festivities to avoid travelling on the last Friday before Christmas, as it is set to be the busiest day to fly in December.
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December 2015 (1st – 31st December) |
December 2016 (1st – 31st December) |
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Friday 18th December |
Friday 23rd December |
Best and worst days to fly
The findings reveal that over 169,000 UK passengers have been affected by flight cancellations and severe delays of three hours or more, resulting in those affected being eligible to claim approximately £55,326,000 in compensation in December during the last two years. The findings have also revealed that passengers choosing to fly on a Wednesday or Thursday are less likely to face delays and cancellations than those planning to fly towards the end of the week (Friday and Sunday).
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December 2015 (1st – 31st December) |
December 2016 (1st – 31st December) |
||
|
Best day to fly (based on the percentage of on-time performance) |
Thursday (81.5%) |
Best day to fly (based on the percentage of on-time performance) |
Wednesday (77.6%) |
|
Worst day to fly (based on the percentage of on-time performance) |
Sunday (73.3%) |
Worst day to fly (based on the percentage of on-time performance) |
Friday (67.6%) |
Top five disrupted destinations
Based on the percentage of disrupted flights departing from UK airports, Geneva, Glasgow and Dublin have experienced high volumes of flight delays during the last two years in December.
|
December 2015 (1st – 31st December) |
December 2016 (1st – 31st December) |
||
|
1. |
Tenerife, Spain (48.4%) |
1. |
Geneva, Switzerland (37.9%) |
|
2. |
Madrid, Spain (44.3%) |
2. |
Amsterdam, Netherlands (27.0%) |
|
3. |
Geneva, Switzerland (43.9%) |
3. |
Edinburgh, United Kingdom (25.5%) |
|
4. |
Dublin, Ireland (23.7%) |
4. |
Glasgow, United Kingdom (24.5%) |
|
5. |
Glasgow, United Kingdom (20.1%) |
5. |
Dublin, Ireland (20.0%) |
Best and worst times to fly
Those yet to book their flights home or away this Christmas, are advised by AirHelp to book their flight departing later in the evening. Findings, based on trends and data from the last two years, have identified that passengers travelling in the middle of the night (from 10pm – 5am) have experienced less delays and cancellations, than those scheduled during the day.
Paloma Salmeron Planells comments: “While UK airports will be preparing for a surge of passenger travel in the lead up to Christmas; delayed, cancelled or overbooked flights must be at the expense of the airlines and not the passengers.
“In the event of a delayed or cancelled flight, passengers may be legally entitled to receive up to £510 in compensation fees from airlines. However, despite this less than 2% of travellers will file for this compensation, not knowing that they are eligible.
“We urge those who are yet to book their flights over the festive period to avoid departing on Friday 22nd December. Those who may be affected by delays or cancellations are advised to check for live updates from the airport as well as to read up on their rights to ensure that they’re not missing out on the compensation that they’re legally entitled to. At AirHelp, our mission is to help passengers get the compensation that they rightfully deserve.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
