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After spending months anticipating a holiday, a week spent packing and doing last minute admin, and several stressful hours going through check-in and security at the airport, the very last thing you want to hear is that your flight has been axed.
Cancelled flights are far more common in some UK airports than others. And now, flight compensation site AirAdvisor has looked at data from the Civil Aviation Authority to reveal the cancellation rates across 20 of the UK’s biggest airports in 2025. It also compared it to their rates in 2024 to figure out where cancellations are easing, and where they’re getting worse.
In reassuring news for anyone taking off from the capital, two London airports boast the fewest flight cancellations in the country and are among the UK’s five most dependable hubs.
Luton Airport ranked second in the UK for the fewest cancellations in 2025. Only 0.34 percent of its flights were cancelled in the period analysed, which is far less than the national average of 1.09 percent and a slight decrease compared to its 2024 rate of 0.5 percent.
Just below in third place was Stansted Airport with a cancellation rate of just 0.41 percent in 2025. That’s less than one in every 200 scheduled flights that were called off. Such a stellar track record is especially good news for Stansted, which is currently undergoing a huge expansion project with ambitions to overtake Gatwick (which had a cancellation rate of 0.8 percent) as the UK’s second busiest airport.
The good news is that cancellation rates fell across most of London’s major hubs. Although London Heathrow was one of the worst performing airports, it did ever so slightly better than the previous year with a decrease of 0.29 percent. London City also had one of the highest cancellation rates in the country in 2025 but still did better than 2024 by 1.42 percent. Gatwick’s rate also dropped by 0.6 percent.
ICYMI: The worst UK airline for delays has been named and shamed for 2025.
Plus: London Heathrow Airport has officially axed the 100ml liquids rule at security.
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