The worst airports for flight delays
A new global study from luggage storage network Stasher reveals the best and worst airports in terms of flight delays
The study analysed 106 airports and found that those in Southeast Asia were some of the worst for flight delays. In fact, Soekarno-Hatta Int Airport in Indonesia came 106th on the list, with a score of zero out of 10, making it the worst airport for flight delays; Ninoy Aquinto Int Airport in the Philippines ranked 104th, with a score of 3.17 (the third worst); and Tan Son Nhat Int Airport in Vietnam came 101st, with a score of 3.73 (the sixth worst).
Stasher noted that these poor results could reflect Southeast Asia’s growing number of business travellers and tourists and the related infrastructure, which has failed to keep up with the surge in demand. “The Asia-Pacific region is expected to experience 5.5 per cent growth in passenger air traffic, compared with an estimated world average of 4.4 per cent,” Stasher said. “Flights in the region are also frequently impacted by unpredictable, adverse weather conditions, especially during local rainy seasons.”
England’s Stansted Airport in London scored 2.59 out of 10, making it the second worst airport out of all 106 analysed, and Stasher also revealed that Stansted came first in a 2018 investigation into the worst airports in the UK, which Stansted blamed on ‘adverse weather and air traffic issues’. Stasher added: “The airport does seem to be taking its negative reputation seriously though, and reports reveal it has received a multimillion-pound investment from Ryanair to help deliver significant service improvements to flight punctuality.”
Other European airports that suffer some of the worst flight delays include Brussels Airport in Belgium, ranking fourth worst (3.46); Lisbon Airport in Portugal, which, at fifth worst, scored 3.68; and Charles de Gaulle Airport in France, which ranked seventh worst at number 100 (4.10). Frankfurt am Main Airport (4.43) and Barcelona-El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport (4.49), respectively in Germany and Spain, came ninth and tenth on the list of the worst airports for flight delays. Cairo Int Airport in Egypt also made it onto the list of the worst airports for flight delays, coming eighth, with a score of 4.26.
In contrast to the worst airports for flight delays, half of those of the top 10 best-scoring airports are in East Asia. Tokyo Haneda Airport (8.91, second best) and Kansai International (8.30, fourth best) in Japan, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (8.18, sixth best) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (7.96, eighth best) in China and Taoyuan International Airport (7.96, ninth best) in Taiwan all achieved excellent scores for their low number of delayed flights.
Stasher revealed that the airport with the least flight delays was Sheremetyevo Int Airport in Russia, scoring a full 10 and making it the best airport for timely flights out of all 106 on the list. “It was the only airport with less than 10 per cent of delayed flights over a year,” explained Stasher. “Just six per cent of flights were delayed for longer than 15 minutes.” The Russian airport also ranked as the overall best airport in the world in the study, which scored it highly on categories such as affordable parking costs, the number of lounges it offers passengers and airport hotel quality.
“Our latest study has produced some fascinating and unexpected results,” commented Anthony Collias, Co-Founder and CCO of Stasher. “It’s great to see so many airports with a low flight delay rating, and those who are underperforming, investing money and expanding infrastructure to improve the passenger experience.”