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The UK's worst airports for flight delays have been ranked, with one major hub coming out on top for all the wrong reasons. Manchester Airport (MAN) has been named the worst in the country for delays, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data by the Press Association.

The findings have prompted a warning that passengers may struggle to book flights from the airport "with any real confidence". Departures from the UK's third busiest airport were running an average of 19-and-a-half minutes late in 2025. Although this marked a slight improvement of 30 seconds over the previous year, it was still worse than any other UK airport. Flight disruption is often caused by factors beyond airports' direct control, including air traffic control issues and adverse weather. However, the figures highlight ongoing concerns for travellers.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said airport choice "shouldn't make or break your trip", but warned that "too many holidays got off to a terrible start last year".

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He added: "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.

"For passengers already wary of travel uncertainty, seeing such consistent underperformance makes it difficult to book with any real confidence."

Birmingham Airport (BHX) recorded the second-worst punctuality, with average delays of 18 minutes and 42 seconds. It was followed by Bournemouth Airport (BOH) in third place at 17 minutes and 18 seconds.

At the other end of the scale, Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL) - located less than 30 miles from Manchester - had the most punctual departures, with average delays of just nine minutes and 24 seconds.

The analysis covered scheduled and charter departures from 23 UK commercial airports with at least 1,000 outbound flights last year. Cancellations were not included. Across the UK, average departure delays fell to 14 minutes and 54 seconds in 2025 - down from 18 minutes and 24 seconds the year before.

Despite its poor ranking, Manchester remains a key aviation hub. It is the only UK airport outside Heathrow Airport with two runways and handled around 32 million passengers last year. The airport has also undergone major redevelopment, including a £1.3billion, 10-year transformation programme that modernised and expanded Terminal 2 and led to the closure of Terminal 1. Work to revamp Terminal 3 is ongoing.

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport 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.

"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."

A spokesman for Bournemouth Airport said the reason for delays are outside its control "in the majority of cases", and it is "one of the UK's top-ranked regional airports for passenger satisfaction".

A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: "Flight delays can happen for several reasons including industrial action and bad weather, some of which are out of an airport's control. Last month over half of all aircraft left on time and we continue to work hard to improve punctuality. Our colleagues work tirelessly to provide brilliant passenger service, with the vast majority of people rating their experience as excellent."

A spokesperson for the trade body, AirportsUK, said passengers are "benefitting from improvements in the service they receive", and delays in 2025 were "down significantly on the previous year".