More than 382,000 passengers across Ireland suffered from disruptions when travelling on a plane between January and March this year.
That is according to new research from AirHelp – the leading travel tech company which supports passengers with their compensation rights concerning flight disruption.
With over 19,000 registered flights departing from Ireland, 2.5 million people planned a trip during this period.
According to the data, approximately 15% of travellers experienced disruptions. Whilst most of the Irish passengers faced delays under 3 hours, meaning they were not eligible for financial compensation, over 33,000 people had the right to claim and receive financial compensation from their airline. What’s more, over 36,000 people had their trips cancelled altogether.
Kerry County Airport was found to have the highest disruption rate of 17%, affecting over 7,200 passengers between January and March. Dublin Airport follows closely with a disruption rate of 14%.
Meanwhile, the most punctual airport during this period was Cork Airport, with 13% of passengers disrupted during this period.
When looking at the most disrupted routes from Irish airports, with more than 20,000 passengers, Dublin Airport to Abu Dhabi International ranked the highest with over 42% of flights disrupted between January and March. Dublin Airport also takes the second and fourth spot on the ranking, with its routes to Zurich and Lisbon having disruption rates of 26% and 23%. In third place is Cork Airport to London Stansted Airport, with 25% of passengers facing delays or cancellations.
On the other hand, the luckiest passengers were those who travelled from Dublin Airport to New York/JFK – with over 93% of the flights taking place between January and March departing on time. Dublin Airport to Berlin Brandenburg Airport and Kerry County Airport to Dublin Airport are the other routes with the highest percentage of punctuality at 92% and 91% respectively.
“With one of the most reliable and accurate collections of flight data in the world, we aim to provide holidaymakers and business travellers with an in-depth look at how airlines and airports are performing. We are currently facing ongoing strikes and rising disruptions levels, which not only highlights the areas the industry has for improvement, but the opportunities to provide passengers with the best experience possible,” said Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp.
