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London Heathrow Airport (LHR): flight delays and compensation

London Heathrow Airport – annual passengers: 83+ 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 Heathrow 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 (LHR) today

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About the airport

Heathrow is the UK's largest airport and the main hub of British Airways. Almost every major European and long-haul airline serves it, and a large share of its passengers are connecting between short-haul and long-haul flights. The airport runs close to the capacity of its two runways, which leaves little slack when something goes wrong.

Since Brexit, flights departing from Heathrow are covered by UK261 – the UK version of EU 261/2004 with the same conditions and £220, £350 or £520 per passenger. Flights from an EU airport to Heathrow are covered by EU261 whatever the airline, and flights from outside Europe to Heathrow are covered by UK261 when a UK or EU airline operates them.

How punctual is London Heathrow? (2025)

Flights operated
475,582

2025, at UK airports

On time (≤ 15 min late)
76.8%

close to the UK average (72.7%)

3 hours or more late
0.49%

1 in 204 flights · close to the UK average

Cancelled
1.32%

6,376 flights · worse than the UK average

Average delay
12.8 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 Heathrow

AirlineFlightsOn time3 h+ lateCancelledAvg delay
British Airways240,78277.6%0.34%1.26%12 min
Virgin Atlantic22,85681.6%0.34%1.41%10 min
American Airlines15,39673.7%1.90%2.79%23 min
Lufthansa14,48577.3%0.07%1.57%10 min
United Airlines13,54976.4%1.56%1.83%17 min
Aer Lingus13,43377.8%0.15%0.94%10 min
SAS9,81186.2%0.09%0.77%7 min
SWISS8,59070.8%0.05%1.28%13 min
Eurowings8,41374.0%0.11%0.92%13 min
Delta Air Lines6,98677.3%1.24%1.74%14 min
Air Canada6,01376.3%1.26%2.75%15 min
Qatar Airways5,90078.2%0.83%0.39%12 min
Iberia5,76879.3%0.17%0.65%10 min
KLM5,40075.7%0.07%2.30%12 min
Air France4,93073.1%0.26%1.68%14 min

Top destinations from London Heathrow – 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 LHRReturn
New York15,0040.76%1.82%5,540 km£520UK/EU airline only
Dublin11,8510.15%1.16%450 km£220€250
Amsterdam11,2190.13%1.85%370 km£220€250
Frankfurt11,0220.14%1.81%654 km£220€250
Munich9,5660.11%1.60%941 km£220€250
Madrid9,4420.19%0.79%1,243 km£220€250
Paris9,2510.17%1.64%347 km£220€250
Geneva8,7880.08%1.35%754 km£220€250
Zurich8,6060.08%1.10%788 km£220€250
Edinburgh7,7250.17%1.45%534 km£220£220
Lisbon7,5400.29%1.10%1,565 km£350€400
Copenhagen7,1640.07%1.13%979 km£220€250
Glasgow7,0720.08%1.56%555 km£220£220
Doha7,0180.75%0.79%5,241 km£520UK/EU airline only
Barcelona6,9210.29%1.21%1,148 km£220€250
Dubai6,8770.30%1.04%5,497 km£520UK/EU airline only
Istanbul6,4970.17%0.44%2,488 km£350UK/EU airline only
New York6,4081.79%2.05%5,563 km£520UK/EU airline only
Vienna6,0740.07%0.78%1,275 km£220€250
Los Angeles6,0420.94%1.32%8,760 km£520UK/EU airline only
Athens6,0350.11%0.89%2,426 km£350€400
Stockholm5,7410.10%0.64%1,462 km£220€250
Chicago5,5761.52%2.42%6,345 km£520UK/EU airline only
Rome5,4650.27%0.82%1,443 km£220€250
Düsseldorf5,4590.16%1.00%501 km£220€250
Delhi5,4571.67%1.02%6,731 km£520UK/EU airline only
Boston5,3760.77%1.50%5,240 km£520UK/EU airline only
Nice5,2400.21%1.52%1,041 km£220€250
Oslo5,2160.17%0.80%1,205 km£220€250
Mumbai5,1011.08%1.09%7,212 km£520UK/EU airline only

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

Air traffic flow delays at Heathrow (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, 240,069 flights arrived at LHR; 20,326 of them were held back this way, 8,268 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 1.51 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • weather87%
  • ATC capacity6%
  • aerodrome capacity3%
  • other3%
  • special event1%
  • ATC staffing0%

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: 19 July 2025 – 12,640 minutes, mostly weather; 1 March 2025 – 11,703 minutes, mostly weather; 17 December 2025 – 8,453 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 176,646 arrivals, 1.05 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly weather (67%) and aerodrome capacity (15%).

Check what happened at LHR on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (87% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (7%) 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 Heathrow Airport

  • Capacity: with both runways almost fully used, a weather-related slowdown (low cloud, fog or strong winds) quickly leads to flow restrictions and cancellations. Weather itself is usually an extraordinary circumstance; the airline still owes you care and re-routing.
  • Late-arriving aircraft and crew from earlier rotations – the airline's own operational risk, so compensation is normally due.
  • Air traffic control failures, such as the NATS system failure of August 2023, and the electrical substation fire that closed the airport in March 2025 – generally extraordinary circumstances.
  • Missed connections between terminals: on a single booking, what counts is your arrival time at the final destination.

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

  • If you miss a connection at Heathrow on a single booking, compensation is based on the distance from your first departure airport to your final destination.
  • If you are stranded overnight, the airline must provide a hotel and transport; keep receipts if you have to pay yourself and claim the costs back.
  • If the airline rejects your claim and is a member of an ADR scheme, escalation is free; if it is not, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) can look at the complaint.

Frequently asked questions

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

Yes. Since Brexit the United Kingdom applies its own rule with the same content (UK261): any flight departing from London Heathrow 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 Heathrow 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.