Why your flight is taking longer – despite faster planes
IN the future, flights are likely to take longer than they have done in previous years.
While advancements in technology often result in more efficient services, the popularity of travelling abroad means it could slow down your take off.
As airlines and airports seek to increase the number of flights, holidaymakers are likely to spend more time on the plane – because the tarmac is so busy.
The duration of a flight is measured from when the plane leaves the departure gate and arrives at the arrival gate.
And with airports getting busier, there are likely to be more obstacles preventing planes from leaving on time.
Vice president of planning and revenue at Breeze Airways, Max Barrus, said the “block times” which is the time it takes from the departing gate to the arriving gate, have grown by as much as nine per cent.
This means a flight that could have been two hours long would now be 2hr25.
He told the Washington Post: “It sounds crazy because the airplanes didn’t slow down, but there are a lot of inefficiencies in the system.”
To counteract this, airlines are putting “buffers” into their flight duration, called schedule padding.
For example, this is when an airline states that a flight will take 80 minutes when it really takes an hour, so carriers have a little leeway in case of flight delays.
Max added: “The reality is you can’t fix every single potential problem that could occur on a given day of travel, but you can build a little bit of padding into the schedule.”
However, many airlines have strongly denied that they’ve been padding flight schedules in this way over the years.
Flight times have also been getting lengthier because airlines have been trying to save cash on fuel.
A couple of budget airlines have asked their pilots to fly two minutes slower every hour.
According to Business Insider, airlines can save millions of pounds every year this way.
In 2008, JetBlue saved £10 million by increasing their flight times.
Meanwhile, Sun Online previously explained what can cause turbulence during flights – another factor that could slow down a journey.
Here’s why it’s quicker flying back to the UK than out of it.