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Frankfurt delays on Wednesday, 24 April 2019

Eurocontrol logged 2,411 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Frankfurt that day across 59 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 700 (8% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to weather. That makes it the 140th worst day at Frankfurt since January 2019.

Eurocontrol record · EDDF · 2019-04-24

ATFM arrival delay2,411 min
Arrivals held 15+ min59 of 700
Weather2,411 min · 100%
Weather observed (METAR)ADVERSE
Lowest visibility · max gust9,994 m · 46 kt
PhenomenaSquall, Thunderstorm

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?

The day the flight was due to leave, in local time where it left. For an overnight flight, that is the evening you set off.

Same flight number twice that day? Add the departure code

Free. No account. The airline is not contacted.

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 weather. 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

Amsterdam Schiphol8,116 minSpecial event
Lisbon3,236 minWeather
Palma de Mallorca1,956 minATC equipment
Nice Côte d’Azur1,243 minWeather
Paris Orly1,049 minAerodrome capacity
Brussels1,033 minWeather
Vienna992 minWeather
Madrid Barajas863 minATC capacity
London Heathrow609 minWeather

Other bad days at Frankfurt

19 November 202419,266 minAerodrome capacity
27 July 202513,020 minWeather
17 May 202312,854 minAerodrome capacity
25 May 202312,594 minAerodrome capacity
3 June 201912,042 minWeather
20 May 201911,706 minWeather
16 May 202311,523 minAerodrome capacity
12 November 202411,237 minAerodrome capacity

Questions

My flight from Frankfurt on 24 April 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 Frankfurt's air-traffic delay to 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 Frankfurt disruption on 24 April 2019 caused by weather?

Partly or wholly: 100% of the 2,411 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show squall, thunderstorm, lowest visibility 9994 m and strongest gust 46 kt.

Does a bad day at Frankfurt 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 Frankfurt.

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 Frankfurt delay days.