Istanbul delays on Monday, 29 November 2021
Eurocontrol logged 13,652 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Istanbul that day across 85 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 380 (22% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to weather. That makes it the 3rd worst day at Istanbul since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LTFM · 2021-11-29
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?
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
| Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen | 381 min | Weather |
| Cologne Bonn | 179 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 176 min | ATC capacity |
| Bâle Mulhouse | 137 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Toussus le Noble | 73 min | ATC staffing |
| Grenoble Isère | 47 min | Weather |
| Catania | 29 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Paris Orly | 26 min | ATC staffing |
| Paris Le Bourget | 8 min | ATC staffing |
Other bad days at Istanbul
| 1 October 2023 | 24,929 min | Weather |
| 5 February 2023 | 14,910 min | Weather |
| 30 November 2021 | 12,549 min | Weather |
| 26 January 2022 | 11,900 min | Weather |
| 28 September 2023 | 10,666 min | Weather |
| 11 November 2023 | 10,381 min | Weather |
| 8 February 2023 | 9,243 min | Weather |
| 28 August 2024 | 7,549 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Istanbul on 29 November 2021 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 Istanbul'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 disruption on 29 November 2021 caused by weather?
Partly or wholly: 100% of the 13,652 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show thunderstorm, lowest visibility 3492 m and strongest gust 59 kt.
Does a bad day at Istanbul 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.
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 delay days.