Flight cancellations soared by 20% and delays by 7% in the first quarter of 2015

• In the first four months of the year, flight cancellations are up 20% over last
• Number of delays have also increased 7% up to 2,427 so far this year
• According to EUclaim, the worst offenders include: Monarch and EasyJet

UK passengers faced more holiday chaos than during the same period last year, according to analysis from flight data specialist EUclaim.

In the first four months of the year, there have so far been 5,080 flight cancellations, compared to the 4,239 cancellations during the same period in 2014.

The number of delays also increased to 2,427 from 2,260 in 2014.

It's low-cost carrier Monarch that has seen the greatest increase in delays so far, with passengers suffering 64 incidents compared to 47 during the same period of time last year.

That's an increase of 30 per cent.

And EasyJet hasn't fared much better, experiencing a 19 per cent increase in delays.

During last year's first quarter, there were a reported 206 holdups, while this year has already seen 245.

But it may not be entirely the fault of the airlines.

Winter weather across Europe this year has been far worse than the same period last year and has particularly affected Jet2, easyJet and Monarch's routes to Chambery and Grenoble in France.

Similarly, delays and cancellations could also be attributed to a number of strikes on the continent.

The four-day Lufthansa strike in March resulted in some 116 cancellations of flights to the UK.

Strikes by Italian Air Traffic Controllers and security staff in Germany also compounded such a problem.

Still, despite the external factors, it's been a good year for Thomas Cook, which has reduced delays by 37 per cent, and British Airways also saw an 11 per cent reduction in stoppages.  (Source : dailymail.co.uk)

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