Why you should swap Manchester for Liverpool Airport

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK’s aviation regulator, has published its latest quarterly report on aviation trends, highlighting the number of passengers flying, how full aircraft are and the extent flight disruptions between July and September 2024. This includes the peak summer holiday period.

The CAA found that although aviation is recovering from the pandemic, the numbers have not yet reached the peak of 2019. Between July and September, the number of passengers reached 88.7 million, an increase of 6 % compared to the same quarter of 2023, although it remains lower than the same period of 2019, which was 90 million.

The number of flights departing from UK airports stood at 596,000 in total, an increase of 3% on the third quarter of 2023, while the percentage of seats occupied on planes was 86%, up 1 % compared to the same period last year.

These airports are the best and worst for delays

Although the disruptions were very slightly better than a year ago, there is still some way to go before they improve on 2019 levels.

CAA data shows that the UK airports with the lowest percentage of on-time flights were Gatwick (42 per cent), Stansted (52 per cent) and Manchester (53 per cent), three of the busiest airports in the country behind Heathrow.

Manchester hosts around 10 per cent of the country’s passengers, behind Gatwick’s 15 per cent, and only slightly more than Stansted.

In contrast, the airports with the highest percentage of flights on time were Belfast City (76 per cent), Aberdeen (74 per cent) and Liverpool (72 per cent).

Liverpool John Lennon Airport is just 30 miles west of Manchester Airport and although smaller, serving around 1.5% of the country’s passengers, it offers a smoother passenger experience.

In September it was named the UK’s best airport in an annual edition Which? survey, for the second consecutive year. Around 5,000 people were surveyed about their experiences at UK airports over the previous year, taking into consideration factors such as seats, staff, check-in queues, baggage drop-off, passport control and security.

Which? readers said Liverpool Airport had exceptionally “friendly” and “good-humoured” staff, as well as short wait times at baggage drop-off and security.

They also praised its efficiency in Wi-Fi, seating, baggage claim and queues at the check-in counter and passport control.

Terminals one and three at Manchester Airport come in at the bottom of the survey, with one terminal just three places higher. The airport experienced significant disruption just before the third quarter in June, due to a power outage. More than 60 departures – about a quarter of all flights departing from the airport that day – were canceled, along with 50 incoming flights.

This month, the airport launched a private terminal, Aether, which offers a paid premium service to all passengers, regardless of their flight status.

The disruption is slowly improving

The CAA report reveals that flight punctuality – defined as journeys arriving or departing from the boarding gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time – has improved by 1 per cent since the same quarter of the year. last year, at 57 percent. Although this is a slight increase, this figure is still lower than the 69% figure from the third quarter of 2019.

The average passenger delay was 25 minutes, up from 26 minutes in 2013, but six minutes longer than the 2019 average.

The number of cancellations decreased from 1.86 percent in 2023 to 1.42 percent this year. The same period in 2019 was 1.07 percent.

Delays also vary from airline to airline

While air traffic control can play an important role in airport delays, airlines also have some responsibility. The CAA found that Irish regional carrier Emerald Airlines had the highest percentage of flights on time in the third quarter, at 84 per cent.

Loganair (78%) and SAS (76%) were slightly further behind in the ranking, made up of the UK’s 20 largest airlines during the quarter in terms of movements.

At the other end of the scale, Swiss Airlines had only 45 percent of its flights departing on time. Eurowings followed closely with 46 percent, followed by TUI Airways with 49 percent.