Birmingham delays on Monday, 18 July 2022
Eurocontrol logged 445 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Birmingham that day across 9 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 144 (6% of the day's arrivals), with 76% of the delay attributed to atc staffing. That makes it the 23rd worst day at Birmingham since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · EGBB · 2022-07-18
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 76% of this day's delay sits in categories airlines usually plead as extraordinary circumstances.
Were you on a flight that day?
What this means if your flight was late
Under UK261 and EU261 you are owed £220, £350 or £520 (or €250, €400, €600) per passenger for arriving three hours or more late, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures. Airport-wide records like this one are the airline's favourite evidence, and they cut both ways.
- Expect the airline to cite atc staffing. That is a real argument on this day, but it only covers delay actually caused by it. The airline must show the link to your flight and that it had reserve time and spare aircraft in place (Eglītis v Air Baltic). A flight that left late because the inbound aircraft was stuck on a technical fault is compensable whatever the weather did.
- Cancelled that day? Compensation depends on notice: under 14 days and no close re-routing means it is due, subject to the same extraordinary-circumstances test. You are always owed a refund or re-routing and care while you wait.
- Delayed under three hours? No fixed compensation, but food, drink and communications were owed after two hours on a short flight, and reasonable expenses are recoverable.
The free check pulls your flight's own record (actual arrival time against schedule) and pairs it with this day's data, so the verdict and the letter are specific to your flight, not to the airport.
Other airports the same day
| London Luton | 3,529 min | Other |
| Athens | 2,801 min | ATC capacity |
| London Gatwick | 2,493 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Lisbon | 1,685 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Nice Côte d’Azur | 1,271 min | ATC staffing |
| Naples | 1,014 min | Accident or incident |
| Mikonos | 900 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 877 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Heraklion | 758 min | ATC capacity |
| Cologne Bonn | 646 min | Aerodrome capacity |
Other bad days at Birmingham
| 9 January 2026 | 5,693 min | Weather |
| 22 June 2025 | 4,591 min | ATC staffing |
| 20 June 2025 | 3,288 min | ATC staffing |
| 15 November 2021 | 1,276 min | Weather |
| 28 August 2026 | 1,259 min | ATC staffing |
| 31 August 2025 | 1,172 min | ATC staffing |
| 21 June 2025 | 1,111 min | ATC staffing |
| 19 June 2025 | 1,076 min | ATC staffing |
Questions
My flight from Birmingham on 18 July 2022 was delayed. Can I claim compensation?
If you arrived at your final destination 3 hours or more late, the starting position is £220 to £520 per passenger depending on distance. The airline can refuse only by proving extraordinary circumstances that affected your specific flight. On this day Eurocontrol attributed 76% of Birmingham's air-traffic delay to atc staffing, so expect that argument; it still has to be linked to your flight. Run the free check on your flight number for the verified answer.
Was the Birmingham disruption on 18 July 2022 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Birmingham on this day; the delay was attributed to atc staffing.
Does a bad day at Birmingham mean every delayed flight is exempt from compensation?
No. Air-traffic delay attributed to an airport explains some of the day's lateness, not all of it, and it is the airline that must prove your flight's delay was caused by it and could not have been avoided with reasonable measures such as schedule buffers and spare aircraft. Flights delayed by a technical fault, crew shortage or a late inbound aircraft from an unaffected airport are compensable regardless of what happened at Birmingham.
Sources: Eurocontrol Performance Review Unit, airport arrival ATFM delay by cause (daily); METAR observations via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive. This page describes the airport's day; your flight's own record decides your claim. All Birmingham delay days.