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Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS): flight delays and compensation

Lyon Saint-Exupéry 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 Lyon Saint-Exupéry 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 Lyon (LYS) today

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About the airport

Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) serves Lyon, France. On the routes Eurostat reports, 7,000,315 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 69th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Paris, Bordeaux, Nantes, Lisbon.

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 Lyon – 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 LYSReturn
Paris CDG559,818412 km€250€250
Bordeaux BOD369,338465 km€250€250
Nantes NTE332,435537 km€250€250
Lisbon LIS321,6031,399 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA312,513544 km€250€250
Porto OPO305,0641,215 km€250€250
London LGW297,849717 km€250£220
Barcelona BCN279,342549 km€250€250
Rome FCO273,635721 km€250€250
Amsterdam AMS272,887732 km€250€250
Madrid MAD270,206912 km€250€250
Istanbul SAW261,9322,023 km€400€400*
Toulouse TLS226,326376 km€250€250
Istanbul IST215,2721,962 km€400€400*
London LHR215,245758 km€250£220
Munich MUC189,916585 km€250€250
Palma de Mallorca PMI157,863713 km€250€250
Brussels BRU148,762577 km€250€250
Venice VCE124,239565 km€250€250
Dublin DUB123,3281,182 km€250€250
Athens ATH114,4921,780 km€400€400
Biarritz BIQ113,186580 km€250€250
Crete HER103,9702,044 km€400€400
London LTN98,247791 km€250£220
Ajaccio AJA92,983517 km€250€250
Bastia BIA90,897497 km€250€250
Brest BES88,333780 km€250€250
Faro FAO83,1321,455 km€250€250
Nice NCE83,077285 km€250€250
Naples NAP77,558918 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 Saint-Exupéry (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, 46,851 flights arrived at LYS; 24 of them were held back this way, 8 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.01 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • ATC capacity60%
  • equipment (ATC)23%
  • industrial action (ATC)6%
  • ATC staffing5%
  • aerodrome capacity5%

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 September 2025 – 206 minutes, mostly ATC capacity; 4 May 2025 – 114 minutes, mostly equipment (ATC); 13 June 2025 – 90 minutes, mostly ATC capacity.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 34,571 arrivals, 0.00 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025).

Air traffic control strike days recorded for LYS since 2024: 10 September 2025 (31 min).

Check what happened at LYS on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (0% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (89%), ATC strikes (6%) 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 Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 46,851 arrivals at LYS in 2025; 24 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 8 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was ATC capacity (60%).
  • The worst day was 1 September 2025, with 206 minutes of flow delay, mostly ATC 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 Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport?

    Yes. LYS 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 Lyon Saint-Exupéry 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.