After suffering from continued air traffic control (ATC) disruptions, departures from the West Sussex airport were delayed by more than 23 minutes on average in 2024.
In 2023, its flights were delayed by nearly 27 minutes – so the airport, which is the UK’s second busiest, has seen an improvement.
A spokesperson said the airport had a “robust plan” to improve things further in 2025, including a new method to separate arriving aircraft, and trialling the co-ordination of connecting jet bridges to planes remotely.
They said Gatwick remains “the world’s most efficient single-runway airport, with flights departing or arriving every 55 seconds”.
Gatwick was badly impacted by ATC staff shortages both in Europe and in its own control tower last year, which a 2024 report by the Royal Aeronautical Society suggested may be in part due to the pandemic.
It said staffing was reduced because of a downturn in traffic during lockdowns, and recruiting and training new ATC workers can take up to three years.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, said passengers should expect better than “stuck in terminals” for hours “with little information or support”.
At the other end of the table…
Belfast City airport recorded the best punctuality in the UK for the second year in a row.
Its typical delay per flight was less than 12 minutes.
The average delay for flights from major UK airports was 18 minutes and 24 seconds in 2024, down from 20 minutes and 42 seconds in 2023.
Read more from Sky News:
Husband describes ‘horror’ as wife killed on golf course
Police appeal over ‘senseless’ damage to seven statues
“Aviation continues to recover from the pandemic, and operates in an extremely busy, global environment with resilience challenges,” said a spokesperson for trade body AirportsUK.
“It is therefore positive that the data shows delays continue to come down as everyone in aviation works together to provide the best possible service to passengers.”
