Brussels delays on Friday, 20 September 2019
Eurocontrol logged 1,705 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Brussels that day across 49 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 364 (13% of the day's arrivals), with 97% of the delay attributed to atc staffing. That makes it the 27th worst day at Brussels since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · EBBR · 2019-09-20
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 100% 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
| Madrid Barajas | 5,377 min | Weather |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 3,492 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Athens | 1,543 min | ATC capacity |
| Venice | 1,309 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Lisbon | 1,266 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| London Gatwick | 1,241 min | ATC capacity |
| Zürich | 1,216 min | Weather |
| Barcelona | 1,081 min | ATC capacity |
| Geneva | 647 min | Weather |
Other bad days at Brussels
| 28 March 2019 | 6,174 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 4 July 2026 | 4,317 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 30 January 2019 | 4,239 min | Weather |
| 20 January 2020 | 4,028 min | Weather |
| 20 March 2019 | 3,803 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 28 July 2025 | 3,648 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 11 August 2025 | 3,393 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 12 June 2025 | 3,136 min | Aerodrome capacity |
Questions
My flight from Brussels on 20 September 2019 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 100% of Brussels' air-traffic delay to atc staffing and weather, 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 Brussels disruption on 20 September 2019 caused by weather?
Partly or wholly: 3% of the 1,705 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show fog, lowest visibility 9994 m and strongest gust none reported kt.
Does a bad day at Brussels 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 Brussels.
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 Brussels delay days.