Everyone knows how annoying it is when your flight is delayed. You’ve spent hours travelling to the airport, arrived with time to spare and now your flight time has changed. But what if I told you there was a way to avoid travel delays?
Apparently, there are a few ways you can limit your chances of experiencing disruptions at the airport. Booking flights at a specific time and on particular routes can ensure your flight leaves on time.
Scott Keyes, the founder of Going.com shares which flights people should book if they want to limit their chances of travelling on a delayed flight.
“While there’s no way to control thunderstorms or predict meltdowns, that doesn’t mean travellers are completely helpless. There are two types of flights that have the best on-time performance: early morning flights and/or nonstop flights.” Keyes says.
Don’t like getting on an early flight? Well, unfortunately – but also fortunately – for you, booking one can actually increase the chances of a plane taking off on time by 20%, according to Keyes.
The data published by Going also showed that 86% of 6am to 7am flights arrived on time, whilst 66% of 10pm to 11pm flights landed as planned.
“While late-evening departures can be convenient, they’re also risky,” Gordon Smith, editor of Airliner World says.
“Budget firms typically assign just 30 minutes between landing and take-off all day long, so it doesn’t take much for schedules to go awry,” he explains.
“Problems can be compounded, with later services more likely to experience knock-on delays.”
Keyes goes on to explain why booking an earlier flight is the safest option. “The earlier your flight, the better your odds,” he adds.
“That’s because weather is generally better in the morning, and also because the plane is usually already at the airport, rather than arriving from elsewhere, and thus at risk if that inbound flight were to get cancelled.”
Equally, though booking a direct flight is expensive it can cut your chances of delays and cancellations. If there are any issues on the first flight this could affect any other connecting flights, Keyes shares:
“A 2-hour delay just means arriving 2 hours late, whereas a 2-hour delay on a connecting flight could mean a missed connection and a long wait to get to your final destination.”