Fresh figures have exposed which UK airports perform worst for flight delays.

Manchester Airport has been named the nation's worst for flight delays, prompting warnings that travellers cannot book journeys from there "with any real confidence".

The northern hub is England's third busiest, yet departures ran an average of 19-and-a-half minutes late in 2025, according to an analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data by the Press Association.

While this time represents an improvement on previous years, the delays remained longer than at any other airport.

Flight delays are frequently triggered by factors beyond airports' control, including air traffic control (ATC) disruption and adverse weather.

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

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 recorded the second worst flight punctuality last year, with an average delay of 18 minutes and 42 seconds.

In third place was Bournemouth Airport (17 minutes and 18 seconds).

Just a short distance from Manchester, Liverpool John Lennon Airport boasted the most reliable flights, recording an average delay of merely nine minutes and 24 seconds.

Cancellations were excluded from the analysis, which examined scheduled and chartered departures from the 23 commercial UK airports handling at least 1,000 outbound flights last year.

In total, the average delay for departures last year stood at 14 minutes and 54 seconds, an improvement from 18 minutes and 24 seconds in 2024.

Manchester is Britain's only dual-runway airport apart from Heathrow, and served 32 million passengers last year.

Work to revamp Terminal 3 continues, while a decade-long £1.3 billion transformation which included modernising and doubling the size of Terminal 2, alongside the closure of Terminal 1, was recently finished.

A spokesperson for the 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 stated that the causes of delays are beyond its control "in the majority of cases", adding that it is "one of the UK's top-ranked regional airports for passenger satisfaction".

Depending on the length of the delay and the distance of the route, travellers are entitled to reasonable refreshments, a means of communication and overnight accommodation where necessary.

Airlines frequently fail to provide this when widespread delays are affecting large numbers of passengers.

Travellers may also be eligible to claim compensation of up to £520 from their airline if the delay is deemed to have been within its control, such as an aircraft fault or pilot illness.

Air traffic control issues are regarded as an "extraordinary circumstance", meaning those affected are not entitled to any financial payout.

Anna Bowles, head of consumer at the CAA, called on the aviation industry to remain "focused on delivering punctual and reliable journeys for passengers wherever possible", warning that delays have a "real impact for people heading off on holidays".

She added: "When disruption occurs, how the industry responds really matters.

"Passengers should be kept informed and given the care and support they are entitled to."

A spokesperson for 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".

The full breakdown is below:

1. Manchester (19 minutes and 30 seconds)

2. Birmingham (18 minutes and 42 seconds)

3. Bournemouth (17 minutes and 18 seconds)

4. Southampton (16 minutes and 36 seconds)

5. Gatwick (16 minutes and 24 seconds)

6. Newcastle (15 minutes and 48 seconds)

=7. Leeds Bradford (15 minutes and 36 seconds)

=7. Stansted (15 minutes and 36 seconds)

9. Edinburgh (15 minutes and 24 seconds)

10. Teesside (15 minutes and six seconds)

=11. Cardiff (14 minutes and 54 seconds)

=11. Exeter (14 minutes and 54 seconds)

13. Bristol (14 minutes and 36 seconds)

=14. London City (14 minutes and 12 seconds)

=14. Luton (14 minutes and 12 seconds)

16. Heathrow (12 minutes and 42 seconds)

17. Belfast International (12 minutes and 24 seconds)

=18. Glasgow (12 minutes and six seconds)

=18. Belfast City (12 minutes and six seconds)

20. East Midlands (11 minutes and 48 seconds)

21. Aberdeen (10 minutes and 54 seconds)

22. Southend (10 minutes and 24 seconds)

23. Liverpool John Lennon (Nine minutes and 24 seconds)