Consumer group Which? found that more UK flights are delayed now than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the UK’s six major airlines, TUI Airways ranked worst for punctuality, followed by Wizz Air and Ryanair.
- IATA Code
-
W6
- ICAO Code
-
WZZ
- Year Founded
-
2003
- CEO
-
József Váradi
In response, TUI airways defended its record, stating that it cancels fewer flights than its airline rivals. According to the report, airlines attribute the delays to an increasing shortage of aviation staff, particularly air traffic controllers (ATC). The consumer group analyzed data from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) covering the 12 months to April 2025 and compared it with pre-pandemic figures.
Poor Punctuality Record
According to Which?, TUI Airways was ranked the worst airline in the UK for punctuality. Only 59.2% of its flights departed within 15 minutes of schedule, down from 67.2% before the pandemic. A TUI spokesperson told Which? that “punctuality is very important to us and remains a top priority.”
However, the airline added that what matters even more is ensuring that every flight operates without cancellations. Which? found that between May 2024 and April 2025, TUI canceled just 0.21% of its flights. This was significantly lower than British Airways, which, despite being the most punctual airline, canceled 2.33% of its flights. In a comment, the TUI Airways spokesperson added:
“So, sometimes we have flights delayed by a couple of hours because we need to get a replacement aircraft ready. But for guests the good news is: their flight isn’t canceled and they can still fly.. So yes, we want to be more punctual, but we also keep our credo to never cancel, which is the even more important topic for our holiday guests.”
Wizz Air Ranked As The Second-Worst
Following TUI Airways, Wizz Air ranked as the second-worst airline for delayed UK departures. Between May 2024 and April 2025, the low-cost carrier had 66% of its flights depart on time, an improvement compared with the pre-pandemic period in 2019, when 66.8% of its flights departed on time.
Ryanair was next, with 66.5% of flights departing on schedule during the same 12-month period. easyJet followed with a punctuality rate of 67.8%. Jet2.com performed slightly better at 68%, while the UK flag carrier, British Airways, topped the list with 68.7% of flights leaving on time.
|
Airlines |
Flight On Time (%) |
|---|---|
|
TUI Airways |
59.2% |
|
Wizz Air |
66% |
|
Ryanair |
66.8% |
|
easyJet |
67.8% |
|
Jet2.com |
68% |
|
British Airways |
68.7% |
Commenting on punctuality performance, a Wizz Air spokesperson said that some delays are “outside of our control, and we do whatever we can to avoid cancellations.” The spokesperson added that, despite the delays, the carrier achieved one of the best flight completion rates in the industry in 2024 at 99.4%. This figure has further improved to 99.9% for flights from the UK between January and April this year.
British Airways Leads In Cancellations
While being one of the most punctual airlines, 
British Airways topped the rankings for cancellations between May 2024 and April 2025. British low-cost carrier easyJet followed with 1.05% of its UK flights canceled during the period. Wizz Air ranked third with 0.74% of its flights canceled, while both Ryanair and TUI recorded 0.21%. Jet2, the second most punctual airline reviewed by Which?, had the lowest cancellation rate of all at just 0.12%.
According to Which? Deputy Editor Naomi Leach, airlines across the United Kingdom need to improve how they communicate with and support passengers during delays, particularly by informing them of their right to claim compensation.
She added that “thousands of travelers could be entitled to compensation if they have experienced delays, so it is always worth submitting a claim to your airline and escalating the complaint if compensation is refused.”
