Hamburg delays on Friday, 17 May 2019
Eurocontrol logged 1,941 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Hamburg that day across 50 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 242 (21% of the day's arrivals), with 87% of the delay attributed to aerodrome capacity. That makes it the 3rd worst day at Hamburg since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · EDDH · 2019-05-17
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 13% 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.
- The usual defences have little behind them on this day. The logged cause was aerodrome capacity, which is arguable at best. A refusal citing weather or air traffic control should be answered with this record.
- 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
| Barcelona | 8,012 min | Weather |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 7,220 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Lisbon | 2,009 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Warszawa Chopina | 1,013 min | Weather |
| London Gatwick | 775 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Istanbul | 682 min | Weather |
| Vienna | 681 min | Weather |
| Paris Orly | 522 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Zürich | 458 min | Environmental issues |
Other bad days at Hamburg
| 8 May 2019 | 6,319 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 20 May 2019 | 3,149 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 2 April 2019 | 1,389 min | ATC staffing |
| 13 July 2023 | 1,357 min | Accident or incident |
| 19 May 2019 | 1,218 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 21 May 2019 | 1,202 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 26 September 2019 | 1,171 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Hamburg on 17 May 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. Eurocontrol's record for this day does not show the kind of cause airlines usually plead, so a refusal on those grounds would be weak. Run the free check on your flight number for the verified answer.
Was the Hamburg disruption on 17 May 2019 caused by weather?
Partly or wholly: 13% of the 1,941 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show no significant phenomena, lowest visibility 3492 m and strongest gust none reported kt.
Does a bad day at Hamburg 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 Hamburg.
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 Hamburg delay days.