4 Reasons Why It’s Best to Book an Early Morning Flight

We’ve all experienced having our flight delayed, and it’s not pleasant. In some cases, it can ruin a day or even 2 of your long-awaited vacation. Studies show that flights departing early in the morning are less likely to be delayed than those departing in the afternoon. If we think about it: the last flight of the day that an aircraft operates arrives at the destination around 22:00 or later, stays overnight and doesn’t depart until 06:00. That flight may have been on time, or even 3 hours late. Arriving at 01:00 after a 3-hour delay doesn’t mean that the staff won’t have enough time to refuel and prepare the aircraft for departure at 06:00. Therefore, chances of delays are slim. Meanwhile, a flight departing around 16:00 may be operated by an aircraft that has done anywhere from 2 to 5 flights that day. If one of those flights was delayed, then all subsequent flights will get delayed. Then come runaway delays and more reasons to delay a flight. That’s why flights departing in the afternoon have a higher chance of being delayed.

According to Forbes, airspace is likely to be less crowded in the morning, after all the flights from the previous day have landed. Generally, not many flights fly in the middle of the night except flights between North America and Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In other words, the airspace over the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans will be busy overnight while the North American airspace would be almost empty. But as the sun rises and more flights start to depart, the runaways get busier and air traffic controllers start to delay departures and landings in order to ensure smooth operations.

Putting flight delays aside, you’re most likely travelling in hopes of experiencing the many wonders that our wonderful world has to offer. Wouldn’t you want to arrive early at the destination in order to enjoy the rest of the day exploring? If you’re travelling to explore a city like New York, you can arrive in the late morning, have lunch, do some exploring then catch an evening Broadway show. Or if you’re travelling to an all-inclusive resort in a tropical destination, can anything beat arriving around 11:00am, having lunch and afternoon cocktails then catching up on sleep with a siesta on the beach? Compare that to landing at your destination around 15:00, and by the time you arrive at your accommodation, the sunset is only 1 hour away.