Delays at Dublin Airport are getting worse

The delays at Dublin Airport are getting worse instead of better, according to the latest survey by the Association of European Airlines. It showed that Dublin Airport had the third highest rate of delays in departures within Europe between July and September this year.

London's Gatwick Airport came top of the table for flight delays, with almost 45 per cent of departures delayed an average of 36.5 minutes.

Some 36.6 per cent of departures were delayed for more than 15 minutes at Dublin Airport, compared with 27.6 per cent in the previous quarter.

The length of delays has also increased, with an average delay of 45.5 minutes recorded at Dublin between July and September. This compared with an average delay of 38.9 minutes in the previous quarter.

Of the 27 airports surveyed, just seven saw an increase in the delay rate between July and September. They were Gatwick, Madrid, Dublin, Rome, Paris Orly, Manchester and Frankfurt.Eighteen airports showed a reduction in the delay over that period.

The late arrival of incoming flights was the main reason for delays in departures, with 17.6 per cent of delays blamed on this factor. Airport and air traffic control problems accounted for 12.8 per cent of delays.

An Aer Rianta spokeswoman said flight delays were at "an unacceptably high level". Ms Siobhan Moore pointed out that just 3.1 per cent of the delays were due to airport-related reasons.

She said Aer Rianta was concerned to reverse this "worrying trend" and was encouraging airlines and air traffic control officials to address the causes of these delays.

However, Ryanair blamed the airport for the delays and pointed out that its rate of delays was far lower than that of many high-fare airlines.