It’s not a title we’re massively buzzing to hear about… but Manchester Airport has just been named in the top 10 UK airports with the longest delays.
It’s all according to a new study by travel tips and discount platform, Tripplo.
We can all pretty much agree that delays are one of the worst parts about flying, but where in the country are you most likely to get held up and find yourself having to kill a couple of hours waiting around? In a bid to get to the bottom of this, Trippolo has analysed the latest travel data from the Civil Aviation Authority to see which UK airports were experiencing the longest delays on average.
Manchester Airport has, unfortunately, found itself sitting within the not-so-coveted top 10 – but thankfully, our region wasn’t found to be the worst offender in the study.
Manchester Airport has been named in top 10 UK airports with the longest delays / Credit: Natali Quijano | Suhyeon Choi (via Unsplash)
That honour (if you can even call it that) has been awarded to Aberdeen in Scotland, where the airport sees the longest delays of any in the UK.
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With an average delay of 20.70 minutes from 6,757 flights studied – which is over four minutes longer than any other airport – the latest data from December 2023 shows that the average delay at Aberdeen that month was 26.04 minutes.
Second place on the list goes to Isle of Man Airport, also known as Ronaldsway Airport, where there was an average delays of 22.53 minutes, and then the UK’s second-busiest airport, London Gatwick, has claimed the third spot, with an average delay of 15.47 minutes for 58,762 flights studied in 2023.
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Manchester Airport comes in fourth place on the list.
It’s all according to a new study by travel tips and discount platform, Tripplo / Credit: Anete Lūsiņa (via Unsplash)
Our region‘s travel hub saw average delays of 14.02 minutes in 2023 for a total of 39,771 flights that were studied, and data from December showed the average delay that month to be 21.63 minutes.
Rounding out the top five is another London airport in Luton, while some of the other airports featuring in the top 10 include Heathrow, Bristol, and Edinburgh.
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Top 10 UK airports with the longest average delays
Aberdeen – 20.7 minutes
Isle of Man – 16.22 minutes
Gatwick – 15.47 minutes
Manchester – 14.02 minutes
Luton – 13.58 minutes
Heathrow – 13.56 minutes
Edinburgh – 13.31 minutes
Teeside – 12.51 minutes
Bristol – 12.44 minutes
Stanstead – 12.43 minutes
“While it’s never ideal for any of your flights to be delayed, you’ll likely experience it at some point, especially if you’re a frequent flyer,” commented Axel Hernborg, who is the founder of Tripplo.com, on the study’s finding.
“That being said, it’s interesting to see the big difference in the length of delays at certain UK airports, and it will be worth seeing if this correlates with the number of cancellations at each of these airports as well.
“With the summer holidays also coming up, whether the amount of cancellations we have seen across the UK in recent years keeps up will be worth noting too.”
Featured Image – Albert Bridge (via Pxhere / Geograph)
Trending
Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
Trending
Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.
Emily Sergeant -
6th March 2024 
