Istanbul Atatürk delays on Friday, 18 January 2019
Eurocontrol logged 1,258 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Istanbul Atatürk that day across 36 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 603 (6% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to aerodrome capacity. That makes it the 32nd worst day at Istanbul Atatürk since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LTBA · 2019-01-18
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. None of this day's delay sits in the categories airlines usually plead as extraordinary.
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
| Stockholm Arlanda | 960 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Hamburg | 665 min | ATC staffing |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 659 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Lisbon | 594 min | Airspace management |
| Catania | 570 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| London Heathrow | 390 min | ATC staffing |
| Brussels | 387 min | Weather |
| Paris Orly | 258 min | ATC capacity |
| Barcelona | 202 min | Environmental issues |
Other bad days at Istanbul Atatürk
| 20 February 2019 | 18,593 min | Weather |
| 24 February 2019 | 7,235 min | Weather |
| 9 January 2019 | 6,156 min | Weather |
| 21 February 2019 | 6,044 min | Weather |
| 29 March 2019 | 4,504 min | Weather |
| 14 January 2019 | 3,035 min | Weather |
| 10 January 2019 | 2,943 min | Weather |
| 4 February 2019 | 2,905 min | ATC equipment |
Questions
My flight from Istanbul Atatürk on 18 January 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 Istanbul Atatürk disruption on 18 January 2019 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Istanbul Atatürk on this day; the delay was attributed to aerodrome capacity.
Does a bad day at Istanbul Atatürk 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 Istanbul Atatürk.
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 Istanbul Atatürk delay days.