Would you pay more to fly with an airline with an excellent punctuality record? For a short-haul flight I think I probably would and a number of members said they would too…
On a weekend city-break to Europe, nobody schedules time to twiddle their thumbs at the airport, so flying with a punctual airline could make a big difference to your trip.
We asked Which? members whether they would pay more to fly with an airline with an excellent punctuality record. When buying a £250 ticket, 44% of you said you’d be happy to pay £25 to £50 more if the airline had an excellent, rather than average, punctuality record.
There are differences between airlines when it comes to punctuality – we looked at the eight largest UK based airlines and Ryanair, flying to 10 UK airports from the top 10 destinations with Which? Travel members.
Ryanair are usually towards the bottom of the table when it comes to overall satisfaction but our research – based on Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) punctuality stats – shows that it flies seven of the most punctual routes to the UK.
Punctual take offs
Overall, Flybe were the most punctual airline flying to 10 UK airports from Australia, Canary Islands, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States – the destinations most popular with Which? Travel members.
At the other end of the scale, Thomas Cook was the most delayed overall, including flights for Spain, Turkey and Portugal. Thomson also had lengthy delays, with flights to the United states being delayed by 51 mins.
If your flight is delayed, you could be in line for compensation – up to €600 per person for the longest delays on long-haul flights. But our research shows that not nearly enough people are claiming what they’re owed. You could try using our template letters
Only four in 10 people who were delayed by more than three hours went on to claim money back from the airline. But with our delay rights recently being confirmed by the Supreme Court, airlines have less wriggle room when it comes to turning down delay claims. You could try using our template letter to make a start.
Have you been delayed by more than three hours? Did you claim any money back?