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Belfast City (George Best) Airport (BHD): flight delays and compensation

Belfast City (George Best) Airport. A UK airport: flights departing from here are covered by UK261, and flights to Belfast from the EU by EU261 – under the same conditions. 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 Belfast City (George Best) Airport is covered by UK261 (£220/£350/£520); flights to Belfast from an EU airport are covered by EU261 – the conditions are the same. If the airline turns your claim down, you can escalate to its ADR scheme or to the CAA, and then to the small claims court.

About the airport

Belfast City (George Best) handled 27,491 commercial flights in 2025 according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the 15th-highest number among the 25 UK airports the CAA reports on. The busiest airlines here were Aer Lingus, British Airways, easyJet; the busiest destinations London, Birmingham, Manchester.

Every flight departing from Belfast City (George Best) is covered by UK261, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered by EU261 if they depart from an EU airport, and by UK261 if a UK or EU airline operates them from elsewhere.

How punctual is Belfast City (George Best)? (2025)

Flights operated
27,491

2025, at UK airports

On time (≤ 15 min late)
78.0%

close to the UK average (72.7%)

3 hours or more late
0.63%

1 in 159 flights · close to the UK average

Cancelled
2.30%

647 flights · worse than the UK average

Average delay
12.2 min

UK average 15.1 min

Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics 2025 – departures and arrivals combined, measured against the schedule at the UK airport. How we use this data

Airlines at Belfast City (George Best)

AirlineFlightsOn time3 h+ lateCancelledAvg delay
Aer Lingus14,12074.6%0.91%3.53%14 min
British Airways6,08683.4%0.23%1.28%8 min
easyJet4,78280.6%0.42%0.38%10 min
KLM1,41874.1%0.14%1.66%13 min
Loganair98886.1%0.90%0.90%10 min

Top destinations from Belfast City (George Best) – and what a delay is worth

The 18 busiest destinations in 2025, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation: UK261 (£) on the way out, and on the way back EU261 (€) from EU airports or UK261 with a UK/EU airline.

DestinationFlights3 h+ lateCancelledDistanceFrom BHDReturn
London4,5180.20%1.33%503 km£220£220
Birmingham3,4800.69%4.21%363 km£220£220
Manchester2,8371.10%2.91%274 km£220£220
Leeds2,2270.90%4.46%286 km£220£220
Edinburgh2,1550.79%4.14%217 km£220£220
London2,0070.35%0.25%542 km£220£220
Southampton1,6680.77%2.00%508 km£220£220
London1,5080.20%1.18%526 km£220£220
Amsterdam1,4190.14%1.66%749 km£220€250
Glasgow1,2511.03%1.26%167 km£220£220
Liverpool7410.00%0.27%244 km£220£220
Cardiff7161.10%1.78%396 km£220£220
London5720.00%0.00%476 km£220£220
Aberdeen5290.93%1.12%367 km£220£220
East Midlands3831.03%1.54%359 km£220£220
Bristol3641.10%0.00%417 km£220£220
Inverness3471.15%0.57%344 km£220£220
Exeter3201.24%2.14%463 km£220£220

All routes from Belfast City (George Best): route list · UK delay statistics

Air traffic flow delays at George Best Belfast City (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, 14,278 flights arrived at BHD; 5 of them were held back this way, 2 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.00 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • ATC staffing100%

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: 10 June 2025 – 35 minutes, mostly ATC staffing; 9 June 2025 – 19 minutes, mostly ATC staffing; 5 March 2025 – 7 minutes, mostly ATC staffing.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 11,768 arrivals, 0.00 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025).

Check what happened at BHD on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (0% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (100%) 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.

Delays at Belfast City (George Best) in numbers

  • In 2025, 78.0% of flights at Belfast City (George Best) were on time or less than 15 minutes late (UK average 72.7%).
  • 0.63% of flights – about 1 in 159 – were 3 hours or more late, the threshold for compensation if the airline was responsible.
  • 2.30% of planned flights were cancelled (647 flights; UK average 1.04%).
  • The average delay was 12.2 minutes (UK average 15.1 minutes).

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

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Local information

  • Complaints about UK261 go first to the airline; if it is a member of an alternative dispute resolution scheme (AviationADR or CEDR), you can escalate there after 8 weeks or a final response – otherwise to the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team. See our how-to-claim guide.
  • Time limits in the UK: 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 5 years in Scotland.
  • Keep your boarding pass, booking confirmation and receipts for meals, transport or a hotel – you can claim reasonable costs back if the airline did not provide care.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Belfast City (George Best) Airport?

Yes. Since Brexit the United Kingdom applies its own rule with the same content (UK261): any flight departing from Belfast City (George Best) Airport can give £220, £350 or £520 depending on distance, under the same conditions as EU261.

Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Belfast City (George Best) Airport?

If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, under EU261, with any airline. If it departed from outside the EU and the UK: only if a UK or 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. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL
  2. UK flight punctuality statistics 2025 – UK Civil Aviation Authority
  3. Delays and cancellations – your rights – UK Civil Aviation Authority

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