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Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport (MPL): flight delays and compensation

Montpellier-Méditerranée 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 Montpellier-Méditerranée 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 Montpellier (MPL) today

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About the airport

Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport (MPL) serves Montpellier, France. On the routes Eurostat reports, 1,316,229 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 165th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Paris, Paris, Nantes, London.

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 Montpellier – and what a delay is worth

The 14 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 MPLReturn
Paris CDG428,053614 km€250€250
Paris ORY234,297586 km€250€250
Nantes NTE185,736589 km€250€250
London LGW162,939898 km€250£220
Amsterdam AMS71,538973 km€250€250
Basel BSL36,577526 km€250€250
Lille LIL27,714780 km€250€250
Brest BES27,282843 km€250€250
Copenhagen CPH25,8821,476 km€250€250
Caen CFR25,604709 km€250€250
Strasbourg SXB23,899620 km€250€250
Seville SVQ23,2561,077 km€250€250
Rome FCO23,198705 km€250€250
Istanbul IST20,2542,041 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 Montpellier-Méditerranée (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, 12,499 flights arrived at MPL; 1 of them were held back this way, 1 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.01 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • equipment (ATC)100%

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: 26 November 2025 – 166 minutes, mostly equipment (ATC).

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 8,838 arrivals, 0.00 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025).

Check what happened at MPL 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.

Typical delay causes at Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 12,499 arrivals at MPL in 2025; 1 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 1 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was equipment (ATC) (100%).
  • The worst day was 26 November 2025, with 166 minutes of flow delay, mostly equipment (ATC).
  • 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 Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport?

    Yes. MPL 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 Montpellier-Méditerranée 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.