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Frankfurt delays on Sunday, 28 July 2019

Eurocontrol logged 4,868 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Frankfurt that day across 108 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 762 (14% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to weather. That makes it the 54th worst day at Frankfurt since January 2019.

Eurocontrol record · EDDF · 2019-07-28

ATFM arrival delay4,868 min
Arrivals held 15+ min108 of 762
Weather4,868 min · 100%
Weather observed (METAR)CLEAR
Lowest visibility · max gust9,994 m · none

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

London Gatwick5,607 minEquipment (non-ATC)
Athens4,860 minATC capacity
Zürich4,810 minWeather
Mikonos3,131 minAerodrome capacity
Munich2,352 minWeather
Porto2,146 minWeather
Rodos2,129 minATC staffing
Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International2,070 minAerodrome capacity
Tenerife North1,821 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 28 July 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 28 July 2019 caused by weather?

Partly or wholly: 100% of the 4,868 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show no significant phenomena, lowest visibility 9994 m and strongest gust none reported 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.