Ryanair and its smaller budget rival Jet2.com have been judged the most reliable airlines flying out of passenger chaos-stricken UK airports this summer.
London’s under-resourced and under-staffed Heathrow and Gatwick airports have imposed caps on daily departing passenger numbers this summer in a bid to cope with a surge in post-pandemic travel demand.
Passengers across Europe have suffered flight delays and cancellations, lost luggage and airport overcrowding as travel demand has outweighed many airports’ readiness for the recovery.
Ryanair may have seen some of its own pilots and cabin crew strike across mainland Europe, but has generally said the disruption has been minimal.
But, in the UK the airline has benefitted from others’ misfortune – putting on ‘rescue’ flights for holidaymakers stranded by rival airlines’ cancellations, and adding to its flight schedule at Stansted, while other carriers lower capacity at London’s other two big airports.
Research by travel data company OAG shows that Ryanair and low fares holiday airline Jet2.com – which services Irish-based customers out of Belfast – were the two most reliable and punctual airlines flying out of the UK this summer, in terms of showing the fewest cancellations.
Jet2, as previously reported here, was the only carrier not to cancel a single UK-based flight in July.
