Many passengers believe that Ryanair has the biggest problem with punctuality in Europe. Meanwhile, the latest research shows that the Irish carrier is not the worst. In the ranking, the first place was taken by another line, which in the last year had the worst punctuality among the six largest carriers operating from Great Britain. Which is the carrier? Welcome to the article.

Who’s the worst?

Data from the United Kingdom Aviation Authority for the period from May 2024 to April 2025 showed that only 59,2% of TUI flights took off on time.

This is a clear decrease compared to 2019, when the line could boast a result of 67,2%. Quite a big decrease meant that the holiday giant came last in the punctuality ranking.

Just before TUI, Wizz Air found itself, which, after disastrous results during the pandemic, slightly improved its position – to 66% of punctual departures.

And often associated with delays, Ryanair was third from the bottom this time, with a score of 66,5%.

Other lines ranked slightly better:

· easyJet – 67,8% punctual starts,

· Jet2 – 68%,

· British Airways – 68,7%.

Despite this, even they have seen a decrease compared to 2019, when Jet2 was the punctuality leader, reaching as much as 81,8% of flights on time.

How do the lines translate?

In particular, air carriers are blamed for deficiencies in air traffic control. There is a shortage of controllers throughout Europe, and the enclosed airspaces – including over Ukraine and in the Middle East regions – are an additional challenge.

However, the UK’s NATO Air Traffic Control Board points out that the UK system is working well and is not responsible for most of the delays at national ports.

TUI and Wizz Air, on the other hand, explain their results by the fact that they want to maintain all scheduled flights even at the cost of delays. The airlines would rather wait a few hours for a replacement plane than cancel the trip altogether.

For passengers this means one thing – the flight will always take place, but often after a few long hours spent at the airport.

What about the passengers?

Under current rules, travelers are entitled to compensation for delayed flights.

The UK has two official passenger complaint handling systems:

· First AviationADR. – completely free,

· Second BA CEDR. – with a symbolic fee of 2 pounds.

Experts emphasize that it is worth making complaints even when the airline initially refuses to pay.

Statistics show that more than 90% of the delays in May 2025 had nothing to do with British air traffic controllers. This means that carriers cannot invoke the so-called. “force majeure”.