Istanbul Atatürk delays on Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Eurocontrol logged 1,591 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Istanbul Atatürk that day across 39 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 554 (7% of the day's arrivals), with 52% of the delay attributed to weather. That makes it the 25th worst day at Istanbul Atatürk since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LTBA · 2019-03-12
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 52% 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 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 Schiphol | 6,836 min | Weather |
| London Heathrow | 4,086 min | Weather |
| London City | 2,547 min | Weather |
| Cannes Mandelieu | 1,195 min | Special event |
| Brussels | 1,154 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| Madrid Barajas | 783 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Catania | 489 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Leipzig Halle | 351 min | Weather |
| Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International | 217 min | Aerodrome capacity |
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 12 March 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 52% of Istanbul Atatürk'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 Istanbul Atatürk disruption on 12 March 2019 caused by weather?
Partly or wholly: 52% of the 1,591 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show thunderstorm, lowest visibility 6003 m and strongest gust 28 kt.
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.