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Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE): flight delays and compensation

Nantes Atlantique 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 Nantes Atlantique 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.

About the airport

Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) serves Nantes, France. On the routes Eurostat reports, 5,492,491 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 83rd-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Barcelona.

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 Nantes – 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 NTEReturn
Paris CDG434,836372 km€250€250
Marseille MRS403,802674 km€250€250
Lyon LYS332,435537 km€250€250
Barcelona BCN290,560714 km€250€250
Nice NCE270,239790 km€250€250
Geneva GVA244,212597 km€250€250
Porto OPO233,343865 km€250€250
Lisbon LIS228,6441,113 km€250€250
Amsterdam AMS221,045733 km€250€250
Toulouse TLS210,386455 km€250€250
Montpellier MPL185,736589 km€250€250
Palma de Mallorca PMI173,387915 km€250€250
Madrid MAD170,870757 km€250€250
London STN159,025543 km€250£220
Rome FCO151,7491,248 km€250€250
London LGW144,221456 km€250£220
Dublin DUB137,546772 km€250€250
Crete HER106,8432,578 km€400€400
Málaga AGP93,6471,189 km€250€250
Ajaccio AJA92,3891,008 km€250€250
Tenerife TFS88,5302,491 km€400€400
Figari FSC80,1981,057 km€250€250
Seville SVQ76,7751,138 km€250€250
Lanzarote ACE76,5602,275 km€400€400
Bastia BIA75,4461,012 km€250€250
Faro FAO70,0771,242 km€250€250
Milan MXP66,517810 km€250€250
Strasbourg SXB65,631706 km€250€250
Athens ATH62,7272,317 km€400€400
Istanbul IST58,2772,488 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 Atlantique (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, 26,821 flights arrived at NTE; 471 of them were held back this way, 304 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.51 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • weather90%
  • ATC capacity5%
  • ATC staffing3%
  • other2%

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: 3 October 2025 – 2,553 minutes, mostly weather; 5 June 2025 – 1,846 minutes, mostly weather; 14 September 2025 – 1,126 minutes, mostly weather.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 20,703 arrivals, 0.42 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly weather (57%) and ATC capacity (27%).

Check what happened at NTE on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (90% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (8%) 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 Nantes Atlantique Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 26,821 arrivals at NTE in 2025; 471 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 304 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was weather (90%).
  • The worst day was 3 October 2025, with 2,553 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

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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 Nantes Atlantique Airport?

    Yes. NTE 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 Nantes Atlantique 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.