Heathrow worst for delays

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The world's busiest airport, London Heathrow, saw more delays than any other major European airport last year -- for the second consecutive year, an airline group said Tuesday.

The Association of European Airlines, which represents more than 30 European carriers, said flights from all airports were still seeing an increasing number of delays, a trend that started in 2003 even before new security checks lengthened lines at airports two years ago.

Some 35 percent of flights at Heathrow were delayed last year, the AEA said. Heathrow handles more than 480,000 flights a year and is Europe's main hub for flights to the rest of the world.

In general, the airlines say 40 percent of flights at all airports see delays because the aircraft is not ready to depart -- either because bags and passengers have not been loaded on time or there is a small problem with the plane.

Most other flights are delayed because of bad weather, too much traffic at airports or failure to win speedy approval from air traffic control to allow take off.

"This last category of so-called 'slot delays' highlights the perennial problem of European airspace congestion," the AEA said, blaming bottlenecks at a few key European airports.

It said it was hopeful that things would change as regulators try to reduce zigzag flight route through European airspace controlled by a patchwork of national governments -- which makes air travel over Europe some 70 percent less cost efficient than the U.S.

An EU experts' group said last year that fragmented air traffic control placed an unnecessary financial burden on airlines and passengers amounting to 3.3 billion euros ($4.4 billion) annually and also added to air traffic bottlenecks and increased air pollution.

After Heathrow, London's Gatwick, Rome, Dublin and Paris Charles de Gaulle saw the worst delays, the AEA said.

For a timely flight, Brussels wins over the other 26 major airports as the most punctual air hub, the AEA said. Just under 17 percent of Brussels flights saw delays. Germany's Duesseldorf; Vienna; Oslo and Milan-Linate also scored well for punctuality. E-mail to a friend

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