More than a fifth of flights departing from Heathrow Airport were delayed last year, operator BAA said today, although this was an improvement on snow-hit 2010.
BAA said 21% of flights left Heathrow 15 minutes or longer after the scheduled departure time in 2011, although this was better than 29% the previous year, which was hit by volcanic ash and severe winter weather.
The delays came as Heathrow handled 69.4 million passengers in 2011, smashing a four-year-old record and helping BAA to narrow its losses from Heathrow and Stansted to £255.8 million, from £316.6 million.
While the year-on-year growth was flattered by weak figures the previous year - when traffic was hit by volcanic ash, industrial action and severe winter weather - the numbers still broke the 67.9 million record set in 2007, BAA said.
The airline operator, part owned by Spain's Ferrovial, said it was still considering whether to fight a requirement to sell Stansted, after it lost an appeal against the decision earlier this month.