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London Gatwick Airport (LGW): flight delays and compensation

London Gatwick Airport – annual passengers: 43+ million (2024). A UK airport: flights departing from here are covered by UK261, and flights to London 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 London Gatwick Airport is covered by UK261 (£220/£350/£520); flights to London from an EU airport are covered by EU261 – the conditions are the same. UK261 applies to every departure. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the enforcement body; many UK airlines belong to a CAA-approved ADR scheme (AviationADR or CEDR). Time limit: 6 years in England and Wales, 5 years in Scotland.

Live at London (LGW) today

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About the airport

Gatwick is London's second-largest airport and one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world. easyJet has its largest base here, British Airways runs a leisure-focused operation, and many holiday and low-cost routes across Europe start at Gatwick.

Flights departing from Gatwick are covered by UK261 (£220/£350/£520). Flights into Gatwick from an EU airport are covered by EU261 with any airline.

How punctual is London Gatwick? (2025)

Flights operated
259,335

2025, at UK airports

On time (≤ 15 min late)
70.0%

close to the UK average (72.7%)

3 hours or more late
0.59%

1 in 169 flights · close to the UK average

Cancelled
0.82%

2,145 flights · better than the UK average

Average delay
16.8 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 London Gatwick

AirlineFlightsOn time3 h+ lateCancelledAvg delay
easyJet121,85870.0%0.49%0.75%16 min
British Airways33,98166.2%0.87%0.79%21 min
Vueling17,74075.6%0.31%0.79%13 min
Wizz Air14,47970.6%0.83%0.28%18 min
TUI Airways13,06558.1%0.72%0.31%24 min
Norwegian10,56580.1%0.12%0.70%10 min
Ryanair7,97473.3%0.26%0.14%14 min
Aurigny4,23572.9%1.09%1.76%17 min
Turkish Airlines2,55777.0%0.16%0.27%11 min
TAP Air Portugal2,40864.3%0.41%1.59%17 min
Norse Atlantic Airways2,21469.1%2.32%1.29%27 min
Emirates2,18973.9%0.27%0.18%12 min
SunExpress1,69367.8%0.06%0.29%15 min
Air Europa1,45979.8%0.14%0.07%10 min
airBaltic1,43173.2%0.14%0.07%13 min

Top destinations from London Gatwick – and what a delay is worth

The 30 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 LGWReturn
Barcelona7,8720.47%0.94%1,110 km£220€250
Málaga7,6340.69%0.61%1,646 km£350€400
Dublin5,7960.29%0.16%485 km£220€250
Alicante5,3020.38%0.08%1,432 km£220€250
Faro5,0870.47%0.61%1,688 km£350€400
Rome4,9050.41%0.14%1,406 km£220€250
Geneva4,8380.76%1.41%715 km£220€250
Milan4,6701.07%0.81%899 km£220€250
Palma de Mallorca4,3751.07%1.62%1,310 km£220€250
Guernsey4,2351.09%1.76%–––
Jersey4,0230.37%0.54%–––
Tenerife3,9640.40%0.35%2,913 km£350€400
Antalya3,7810.74%0.55%2,908 km£350UK/EU airline only
Madrid3,7720.11%0.29%1,213 km£220€250
Amsterdam3,6320.33%0.95%364 km£220€250
Marrakesh3,6050.19%0.19%2,267 km£350UK/EU airline only
Istanbul3,5980.42%0.17%2,461 km£350UK/EU airline only
Copenhagen3,4570.03%0.83%983 km£220€250
Nice3,3401.10%1.39%1,001 km£220€250
Glasgow3,3110.24%0.24%595 km£220£220
Malta3,2740.76%0.09%2,063 km£350€400
Lisbon3,1961.00%2.47%1,544 km£350€400
Seville3,0780.29%0.42%1,592 km£350€400
Porto3,0430.62%1.36%1,279 km£220€250
Athens2,9760.33%0.73%2,393 km£350€400
Paris2,8990.38%2.09%308 km£220€250
Edinburgh2,8910.24%0.48%573 km£220£220
Belfast2,7960.36%0.43%561 km£220£220
Lanzarote2,7900.54%0.36%2,711 km£350€400
Dalaman2,7260.62%0.51%2,792 km£350UK/EU airline only

All routes from London Gatwick: route list · UK delay statistics

Air traffic flow delays at Gatwick (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, 131,549 flights arrived at LGW; 8,615 of them were held back this way, 4,346 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 1.33 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • weather64%
  • aerodrome capacity34%
  • ATC staffing1%
  • ATC capacity1%
  • other0%
  • equipment (ATC)0%

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: 29 September 2025 – 4,891 minutes, mostly weather; 6 July 2025 – 4,838 minutes, mostly weather; 18 July 2025 – 4,026 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 100,120 arrivals, 1.33 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly aerodrome capacity (48%) and weather (44%).

Check what happened at LGW on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (64% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (3%) 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 London Gatwick Airport

  • Single runway: any disruption – a runway inspection, a disabled aircraft, a thunderstorm – affects the whole schedule for the rest of the day.
  • Knock-on delays from earlier rotations on short-haul aircraft, especially on summer evenings – the airline's operational risk.
  • Air traffic control restrictions, including staff shortages in the control tower in past summers. Airlines usually argue these are extraordinary circumstances; whether that holds depends on the facts of each case.

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

  • Write down the reason the crew or the app gives for the delay; airlines sometimes give a different reason when they reply to a claim.
  • If you are offered a voucher instead of compensation, you do not have to accept it – vouchers require your signed agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from London Gatwick Airport?

Yes. Since Brexit the United Kingdom applies its own rule with the same content (UK261): any flight departing from London Gatwick 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 London Gatwick 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. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
  2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL
  3. UK flight punctuality statistics 2025 – UK Civil Aviation Authority
  4. 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.