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Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC): flight delays and compensation

Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

Live at Alicante (ALC) today

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About the airport

Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC) serves Alicante, Spain. On the routes Eurostat reports, 17,065,466 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 27th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Manchester, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Alicante – and what a delay is worth

The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom ALCReturn
Manchester MAN902,0411,681 km€400£350
London LGW789,0141,431 km€250£220
Barcelona BCN582,616404 km€250€250
Amsterdam AMS580,4051,613 km€400€400
Brussels BRU544,5871,458 km€250€250
Palma de Mallorca PMI495,445318 km€250€250
Bristol BRS486,6941,466 km€250£220
London STN486,3481,514 km€400£350
Stockholm ARN414,3342,711 km€400€400
Oslo OSL410,0902,570 km€400€400
Birmingham BHX404,8321,579 km€400£350
Leeds LBA381,1491,735 km€400£350
East Midlands EMA366,7871,619 km€400£350
Madrid MAD345,575357 km€250€250
Eindhoven EIN342,1231,536 km€400€400
Liverpool LPL336,3271,683 km€400£350
London LTN335,1691,511 km€400£350
Dublin DUB322,5381,740 km€400€400
Newcastle NCL302,9111,865 km€400£350
Paris ORY301,4711,185 km€250€250
Belfast BFS257,7971,870 km€400£350
Copenhagen CPH257,7562,165 km€400€400
Brussels CRL256,8301,411 km€250€250
Glasgow GLA251,0211,977 km€400£350
Edinburgh EDI250,2731,976 km€400£350
Santiago de Compostela SCQ233,612838 km€250€250
Warsaw WAW227,9912,270 km€400€400
Rome FCO214,6141,157 km€250€250
Gothenburg GOT208,6982,348 km€400€400
Bilbao BIO201,470592 km€250€250

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Alicante-Elche (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 62,942 flights arrived at ALC; 685 of them were held back this way, 217 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.15 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • aerodrome capacity76%
  • weather18%
  • other5%
  • ATC capacity1%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 1 April 2025 – 827 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 28 June 2025 – 670 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 14 August 2025 – 562 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 52,694 arrivals, 0.25 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (worse than 2025), mainly aerodrome capacity (76%) and weather (19%).

Check what happened at ALC on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (18% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (1%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 62,942 arrivals at ALC in 2025; 685 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 217 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was aerodrome capacity (76%); weather accounted for 18%.
  • The worst day was 1 April 2025, with 827 minutes of flow delay, mostly aerodrome capacity.
  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

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    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
    • AirHelp: Trustpilot 4.5/5

    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport?

    Yes. ALC is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
    2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.