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Gran Canaria Airport (LPA): flight delays and compensation

Gran Canaria 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 Gran Canaria 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 Gran Canaria (LPA) today

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About the airport

Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) serves Gran Canaria, Spain. On the routes Eurostat reports, 13,474,680 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 37th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Madrid, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura.

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 Gran Canaria – 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 LPAReturn
Madrid MAD1,970,0451,766 km€400€400
Tenerife TFN974,985112 km€250€250
Lanzarote ACE851,589207 km€250€250
Fuerteventura FUE691,346160 km€250€250
Barcelona BCN524,7802,174 km€400€400
Amsterdam AMS369,2863,183 km€400€400
Düsseldorf DUS364,6793,190 km€400€400
London LGW333,6242,879 km€400£350
Oslo OSL322,3704,105 km€400€400
Frankfurt FRA315,4063,184 km€400€400
Manchester MAN312,4203,024 km€400£350
Seville SVQ286,2901,378 km€250€250
Málaga AGP243,4851,410 km€250€250
London STN243,2002,964 km€400£350
La Palma SPC241,045244 km€250€250
Copenhagen CPH226,6473,805 km€400€400
Stockholm ARN223,7004,335 km€400€400
Tenerife TFS208,115117 km€250€250
Dublin DUB199,2892,932 km€400€400
Bristol BRS190,1642,815 km€400£350
Bilbao BIO187,6352,042 km€400€400
Birmingham BHX184,0032,951 km€400£350
Santiago de Compostela SCQ183,5201,778 km€400€400
Helsinki HEL170,2794,696 km€400€400
Berlin BER170,0923,615 km€400€400
Munich MUC169,9383,254 km€400€400
Hamburg HAM158,7013,528 km€400€400
Brussels BRU152,5823,051 km€400€400
Hanover HAJ143,0043,424 km€400€400
Stuttgart STR134,9773,125 km€400€400

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

Air traffic flow delays at Gran Canaria (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, 70,713 flights arrived at LPA; 4,108 of them were held back this way, 2,177 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 1.28 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • aerodrome capacity59%
  • special event22%
  • weather17%
  • airspace management1%
  • 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: 13 December 2025 – 8,990 minutes, mostly weather; 29 March 2025 – 6,470 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity; 4 January 2025 – 3,998 minutes, mostly aerodrome capacity.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 53,387 arrivals, 0.54 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly aerodrome capacity (64%) and weather (29%).

Check what happened at LPA on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (17% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (2%) 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 Gran Canaria Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 70,713 arrivals at LPA in 2025; 4,108 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 2,177 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was aerodrome capacity (59%); weather accounted for 17%.
  • The worst day was 13 December 2025, with 8,990 minutes of flow delay, mostly weather.
  • 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

    Check your flight from Gran Canaria

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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 Gran Canaria Airport?

    Yes. LPA 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 Gran Canaria 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.