PASSENGERS travelling to or from Scotland’s busiest airport have faced delays in one in three flights, a survey has revealed, contributing to a spike in compensation claims.
More than 110,000 flights to and from the capital’s airport this year, more than 27 per cent, were delayed by at least fifteen minutes, an increase from 20.1 per cent two years ago.
Further analysis shows that flights to or from Scotland's airports have seen a 30 per cent rise in long delays eligible for compensation in the last two years, with those travelling out of the country's busiest terminal facing waits in nearly one in three journeys.
Some 1222 flights to or from Scotland's three busiest airports were delayed by at least three hours, up on the 939 in 2014/15, meaning thousands of passengers could be entitled to compensation.
Under current EU regulations, passengers are entitled to compensation if delayed by more than three hours. Holidaymakers flying short-haul would potentially be able to claim €250 if they are delayed by more than three hours, while long-haul passengers could claim €300 if their plane landed between three or four hours late, or €600 if their flight was at least four hours behind schedule.
The biggest rise in lengthy waits in Scotland came at Aberdeen airport which had 86 flights affected in two years ago but 325 now. The number of long delays of three hours of more rose by 12 per cent over the two years to 508 at Edinburgh Airport.
Consumer watchdog Which? said holidaymakers are most likely to face delays when travelling to and from Edinburgh Airport - and have raised concerns that the flight issues across Scotland are on the increase.
Delays to both inbound and outbound flights from airports can be caused by a variety of reasons, some of which can be beyond their control.
Alex Neill, Which? home products and services man aging director said: “There are few things more irritating than having to spend hours stuck in an airport terminal because of a delay, yet our research shows just how often flights are delayed to and from Scottish airports.
“If you’re unlucky enough to experience a severe delay, compensation is available. We think it’s time for airlines to start automatically compensating eligible passengers, but until they step up and do this, we urge people to check what they are entitled to.”
The new analysis reveals that across Scotland's three major airports, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, one in four of more than 240,000 flights arriving or departing were delayed by at least 15 minutes in 2016-17, up from 20 per cent in 2014/15.
Glasgow, the country’s second busiest airport, ranked second for delays with 25 per cent of nearly 85,000 flights taking off or landing at least 15 minutes later than scheduled.
Aberdeen ranked third, with 22 per cent of more than 45,000 flights recorded as late. Both airports saw the number of delays increase, rising two percentage points for Glasgow and three for Aberdeen respectively.
CAA data also showed that 19 per cent of almost 42,000 flights failed to take off or land on time at Newcastle, which is also used by many Scottish holidaymakers.
Which? said: "As we leave the EU, Which? believes the UK Government must maintain and protect passenger rights and look at the opportunity to go beyond current EU regulations.
"We are also calling for airlines to start automatically compensating eligible passengers who have experienced a severe delay to their journey. This would both simplify the existing claims process and also ensure that passengers are not pushed into the arms of claims management companies, who can take a large chunk of any compensation."
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