Flight times are reportedly getting longer by airlines, in a bid to avoid compensation payouts.
The new report by Which? Travel found that journey times had been increased by up to 30 minutes to make the flights seem more punctual than they were.
Compensation can be claimed if a flight is more than three hours delayed, and can be hundreds of pounds depending on the length of the journey.
The changes are known as “schedule-padding” by exaggerating the time it takes to arrive at the destination.
The report revealed, of the 125 flights they analysed, 76 took longer than ten years ago.
Nine out of 11 Ryanair flights (82 per cent) were slower, along with 16 out to 26 EasyJet flights (62 per cent), with British Airways and Virgin also falling foul of the longer journey times (87 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively).
This is in spite of technological advances which means flight times are shorter than ever, with a recent London to New York flight taking just five hours and 13 minutes.
Keith Mason, professor of air transport management at Cranfield University, told Which? that the padding of times enabled airlines to record good punctuality records.
“The problem for airlines is that if there’s any delay, then [there is] the knock-on effect through the rest of the flying programme that day,” he also added.
When contacted by Which?, British Airways stated the increase in times was due to “airspace congestion”.
Routes to the Far East were affected due to alternative routes being taken following the Ukraine plane attack in 2014.
Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic confirmed it was because of slower flying to reduce fuel consumption. A Ryanair spokesman also said times were adjusted to “reflect the average flight times recorded”.
This means that a slow airline which is often delayed could mean they increase the journey times to reduce the change of flight compensation.
Ryanair has recently suffered from a number of delayed and cancelled flights following pilot and cabin crew strikes.
The airline stated that their recent flight strikes which resulted in cancelled flights were due to “extraordinary circumstances,” and so would not be issuing compensation to travellers.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) however, claimed the airline was at fault and should provide compensation.
Passengers can claim for compensation for a delayed flight up to six years later.
Compensation can range from £226 for flights at least three hours delated and less than 1,500km in length, to £543 for a four hour or more play, and a flight of more than 3,500km.
