Heathrow Airport's reputation suffered another knock today when the Association of European Airlines said the hub is Europe's worst airport for flight delays.

The AEA's survey, which examined the on-time performance of 27 major European airports, showed that nearly half of Heathrow's flights for the first three months of 2008 were at least 15 minutues late.

The report came hot on the heels of recent statistics released by the Civil Aviation Authority, which showed that Heathrow's punctuality is at a 7-year low.

Heathrow Airport Flight Delays

The AEA reprt said the average departure delay was 39.5 minutues for January-March 2008, compared to 35 minutues in the final quarter of 2007.

For flights arriving at Heathrow, there was an average delay of 46.6 minutes.

In terms of specific flight delays, the AEA said that air traffic control delays were responsible for over 15% of these delays.

Loading and handling inefficiencies were responsible for 11.1% of the Heathrow's flight delays.

Airport Delays

Heathrow's operator BAA reacted to the AEA report by saying the figures showed again why Heathrow needs a third runway in order to release capacity constraints on the two runways currently operating.

BAA said: "Heathrow's two runways are operating at capacity, which means small events such as adverse weather, can cause major delays and disruption. Other airports, which have plenty of spare runway capacity, do not suffer these problems. These figures are the latest evidence of the problems caused by a lack of capacity at Heathrow".

Source - Airport International's London Reporter

Recent Related News Items:

Heathrow Congestion -

Half of All Heathrow Flights Delayed

Heathrow Criticism -

Air Transport Association Head Criticises Heathrow

BA Chief Gives Heathrow Airport Warning