UK's worst airport revealed as damning new report warns its 'difficult for passengers to book with any real confidence'
Britain's worst airport has been revealed in a damning new report warning the travel hub is so unreliable it is "difficult for passengers to book with any real confidence".
Manchester Airport earned the unwanted title of the UK's worst-performing airport for punctuality in 2025, with flights departing an average of 19-and-a-half minutes late.
Analysis of Civil Aviation Authority )CAA) data found the UK's third busiest airport ranked bottom out of 23 commercial airports, despite improving by just 30 seconds on the previous year.
The findings prompted a stark warning from Which? Travel editor Rory Boland, who said: "Manchester Airport has ranked last in our airport survey for four consecutive years and these new CAA figures validate why this is a particularly poor place to be stranded during delays."
He added: "For passengers already wary of travel uncertainty, seeing such consistent underperformance makes it difficult to book with any real confidence."
Birmingham Airport recorded the second worst punctuality figures, with departures averaging 18 minutes and 42 seconds late, while Bournemouth Airport placed third with delays of 17 minutes and 18 seconds.
By contrast, Liverpool John Lennon Airport was ranked Britain's most punctual, with flights departing an average of just nine minutes and 24 seconds behind schedule - despite being less than 30 miles from Manchester.
The fresh analysis examined scheduled and charter departures from UK commercial airports handling at least 1,000 outbound flights in 2025, excluding cancellations.
Across all airports surveyed, average delays fell to 14 minutes and 54 seconds - down from 18 minutes and 24 seconds in 2024.
Manchester Airport defended its performance, insisting many causes of disruption were beyond its control.
A spokesman said: “Punctuality is affected by factors that are outside of an airport’s control.
“The two most significant factors contributing to delays in the last year have been industrial action affecting air traffic control in Europe, and the weather.
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“These were exacerbated by airspace restrictions above conflict zones meaning airports with significant long-haul networks, like Manchester, were more significantly affected than others.
“As an industry we are working collectively to achieve the best possible on-time departure rates, while protecting flight schedules and avoiding the need for cancellations.”
Manchester, which handles around 32 million passengers a year and is the only UK airport outside Heathrow with two runways, has recently completed a £1.3billion transformation programme, including the expansion of Terminal 2 and closure of Terminal 1.
Refurbishment work on Terminal 3 is still ongoing.
Bournemouth Airport said delays were beyond its control "in the majority of cases," while insisting it remains "one of the UK's top-ranked regional airports for passenger satisfaction".
CAA consumer chief Anna Bowles urged airports and airlines to focus on "delivering punctual and reliable journeys for passengers wherever possible," warning delays can have a "real impact for people heading off on holidays".
Passengers hit by major disruption may be entitled to food, drink, accommodation and compensation of up to £520 if delays are caused by issues within an airline's control, such as crew shortages or aircraft faults.
However, disruption caused by air traffic control issues is classed as an extraordinary circumstance, meaning airlines are not required to pay compensation.
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