The latest UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Aviation Trends Report, which covers the second quarter of 2026, reveals that London Southend Airport (SEN) is the UK’s most punctual airport. SEN achieved 84% of its flights departing or arriving on time (within 15 minutes of schedule).
Accolades
The airport is based on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, approximately 36 miles from the centre of London. SEN rose from its position of third most punctual UK airport in the rankings last quarter to first place, overtaking Liverpool (with 82% of flights on time) and Aberdeen (83%). The rankings show that SEN is also London’s most punctual airport, as it was seven percentage points ahead of its nearest rival, London Heathrow (LHR), a further gain of two percentage points on last quarter.
Jude Winstanley, SEN Chief Executive Officer said:
“In a week that has been dominated by air traffic issues across the country, I am incredibly proud to be able to tell passengers across East London, Essex and East Anglia that if they want their holiday to start – and end – on time, London Southend should be their first choice.”
In June this year, SEN also retained its 2025 title of the UK’s ‘fastest-growing airport’ as it reported its passenger numbers more than tripled in the first three months of 2026. At the time, Winstanley described these statistics as “SENsational”.
Top airlines
The CAA report also found that Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) topped the rankings for being the most punctual with 85% of flights departing or arriving on time in Q2, 2026. In March of this year, SAS also was ranked the world’s most punctual airline according to aviation analytics company Cirium. Its nearest competitor this quarter in the UK was Loganair with a strong 81%.
The worst performing airline in the top-20 UK rankings was found to be TUI Airways with just 58% of its flights departing or arriving on time to airports in Q2, 2026.
In terms of passenger numbers, Ryanair was up 9% on last year, to top the latest rankings with over 17 million terminal passengers. EasyJet also fared well, up 2% on last year with over 16.4 million terminal passengers. Emirates and Qatar Airways saw the biggest falls in annual UK terminal passenger numbers, down 46% and 42% respectively.
Have you ever flown from London Southend Airport? Would these positive punctuality figures make you consider doing so? Let us know in the comments below.
