Europe's most delayed flights in 2018: Mykonos to London Gatwick tops it

Europe’s most disrupted flights have been revealed, with the route from Mykonos to Gatwick most likely to be delayed.

Three out of four flights from the Greek island to Gatwick were delayed during the period of 1 January to 10 October 2018, according to new research from Airhelp.

The route from Lisbon to Rome Ciampino and Lisbon to Brussels Charleroi were the second and third most disrupted routes, with 74.36 per cent and 73.99 per cent of flights delayed in 2018 respectively.

The route from Gatwick to Bucharest, Romania, was the most delayed one departing from the UK, with almost three quarters of passengers (71 per cent) suffering delays or cancellations during the period.

Flights leaving and arriving via UK airports were more likely to be delayed or cancelled than in any other European nation, with UK airports featuring in 25 of the 50 worst flight routes.

Routes in and out of Italian and German airports also suffered more than their fair share of delays and cancellations, according to the study.

Meanwhile, Airhelp found that passengers flying on a Tuesday were least likely to suffer delays and cancellations, with 78 per cent of flights arriving at their destination on time. But passengers on Sunday were most likely to experience disruption, with 29 per cent of flights delayed or cancelled on this day.

Airhelp aggregated data from sources including government agencies, airport databanks and flight-tracking vendors to put together the research. It classes a delay as over 15 minutes.

“This year, we’ve seen the worst European flight disruptions on record,” said Paloma Salmeron, air passenger rights expert at AirHelp. “UK air passengers have suffered an unprecedented level of flight disruptions this year, with over 186,000 departing flights delayed or cancelled to date in 2018 – that’s over 27,000 more UK flights affected than last year.”

The five most disrupted flight routes: UK departures

London Gatwick – Bucharest Henri Coanda: 71.6%

London Luton – Ibiza: 62.2%

London Gatwick – Cork International: 60.89%

Manchester International – Istanbul Ataturk: 59.12%

London City – Lisbon: 58.22%

The five most disrupted flight routes: UK arrivals

Mykonos – London Gatwick: 75.21%

Venice Marco Polo – London Luton: 68.27%

Basel – Manchester International: 65.25%

Munich International – London Luton: 62.08%

Prague Ruzyne – Bristol International: 60.48%