Given the publicity and the scale of operations, you'd think it was a fair few more than 3% of UK flights that were canceled last month. It is testament to the hard work of many, including ground workers. In reality, it isn't as bad as many expected.
But don't get comfortable: it'll be much worse in the coming months. British Airways has canceled a further 10,000+ flights between July and October, a similar number to easyJet, while Flybe has removed a good chunk of its services. The new Flybe took off three months ago and is, of course, only very small.
97% of UK flights in June operated
The UK had some 63,579 scheduled departures in June, as shown below, organized by the percentage of flights that operated. It is adapted from material created by Suzanne Lugthart using Cirium data. Of the 63,579, some 1,795 were canceled. It means more than 97% of flights took off, although it doesn't indicate when they did, with poorer punctuality commonplace.
It's important to note that including non-UK airlines might be unfair as the UK is but a slice of their total operations. Including them might make others look far worse simply because of much greater exposure.
Less than 3% of UK flights were canceled. Some 300,000 passengers will have lost out on the flight they chose, although they should have got to their destination eventually – I was 12 hours late – and be eligible for compensation. However, like others, I'm still awaiting the compensation – in my case, from Wizz Air.
|
Airline |
June's scheduled departures |
Canceled departures |
% that operated |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Jet2 |
5,740 |
11 |
99.81% |
|
Ryanair |
10,887 |
27 |
99.75% |
|
TUI |
4,091 |
27 |
99.34% |
|
Blue Islands |
812 |
11 |
98.65% |
|
United Airlines |
722 |
11 |
98.48% |
|
Vueling |
919 |
16 |
98.26% |
|
American Airlines |
681 |
16 |
97.65% |
|
Loganair |
4,430 |
111 |
97.49% |
|
All carriers |
63,579 |
1,795 |
97.17% |
|
British Airways/BA CityFlyer |
12,126 |
429 |
96.46% |
|
Wizz Air/Wizz Air UK |
2,710 |
102 |
96.24% |
|
Iberia Express |
341 |
11 |
96.77% |
|
Lufthansa |
845 |
28 |
96.69% |
|
KLM/KLM Cityhopper |
1,718 |
108 |
93.71% |
|
SAS |
467 |
21 |
95.50% |
|
easyJet |
16,091 |
742 |
95.39% |
|
Eastern Airways |
629 |
64 |
89.83% |
|
Eurowings |
370 |
60 |
83.78% |
Stay aware: Sign up for my weekly new routes newsletter.
easyJet and BA had 65% of cuts
It should not be surprising that easyJet and BA were overwhelmingly responsible for the UK's canceled flights in June. They removed 1,171, two-thirds of the total (65%).
In contrast, Ryanair – with the third-highest number of planned services – canceled just 27. Some 99.75% of the ULCC's flights went against just 95.39% for easyJet. No wonder easyJet's COO resigned, especially given the significantly bigger headache across the rest of the summer. Whether this was really the reason he left is unclear.
But it wasn't Ryanair that operated the most significant proportion of planned services – Jet2 did. Some 99.81% of its flights ran, a highly impressive figure. But context is needed. It was neck-and-neck with Ryanair, which had nearly twice as many flights. Which 'won'?
In contrast, German carrier Eurowings saw just 83.78% of UK flights operated – a very low proportion – on a network spanning 14 routes across 7 UK airports, including from London Heathrow, Newquay, and Newcastle.
Discover more aviation news.
New routes are coming
It'd be wrong to assume that a period of turbulence means new routes don't go ahead. They do. It helps that they're a minuscule amount of total UK operations.
Between 27th June and 10th July alone, some 24 new UK routes have (or will) begin, excluding resumptions and very time-limited services. They're across Aer Lingus Regional, BA, BA CityFlyer, easyJet, Edelweiss, Vueling, and Wizz Air UK. They include Manchester to Inverness with easyJet.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.