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London Gatwick flight delays: the record, day by day

Eurocontrol attributes air-traffic delay to Gatwick on the days it happens, with the cause. On its 25 worst days since 2019 the airport lost 338,883 minutes of arrival delay, mostly to weather and atc staffing. Days with nothing logged are a strong point for any passenger whose flight was late for another reason.

Was your Gatwick flight 3 hours late?

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.

Worst days on record

DateDelay minLateCause
8 September 202225,244213ATC staffing
28 December 202425,142234Weather
27 December 202422,454250Weather
31 August 202222,160209ATC staffing
18 October 202420,066240Weather
22 September 202316,908264ATC staffing
29 December 202416,739176Weather
24 September 202315,059196ATC staffing
2 August 202314,614197Weather
6 September 202313,291176ATC staffing
8 September 202412,903137ATC staffing
14 September 202312,646251ATC staffing
25 September 202311,271185ATC staffing
15 February 201910,484144Weather
26 July 20199,828188ATC equipment

Most recent days with delay logged

DateDelay minLateCause
30 September 2026591Aerodrome capacity
29 September 20261865Weather
27 September 202665722Aerodrome capacity
25 September 20262,22655Weather
24 September 20261,90853Aerodrome capacity
22 September 20261733Aerodrome capacity
21 September 202666115Aerodrome capacity
20 September 202657512Aerodrome capacity
18 September 20262,12254Aerodrome capacity
17 September 20261,53941Aerodrome capacity
16 September 202651814Aerodrome capacity
14 September 20262,25351Weather
13 September 20261,00326Aerodrome capacity
11 September 20261,73236Aerodrome capacity
10 September 202678521Aerodrome capacity

Data to 30 September 2026. Eurocontrol publishes about a month in arrears.

What usually goes wrong at Gatwick

Weather52%
ATC staffing34%
Aerodrome capacity9%
ATC equipment4%

Share of logged delay minutes across the worst and most recent days shown above. Weather, ATC staffing, ATC capacity and equipment failures are the causes airlines most often plead as extraordinary; airport capacity and unspecified delay are arguable.

Airlines based at Gatwick

easyJet compensationBritish Airways compensationTUI Airways compensationWizz Air compensationVueling compensation

Questions

Is a delay at Gatwick caused by weather always an extraordinary circumstance?

No. The airline must show that the weather actually affected your flight and that it took all reasonable measures. Eurocontrol logs weather delay at Gatwick on specific days; if your day is not one of them, the weather defence has nothing behind it. If it is, the airline still has to connect it to your flight.

How do I find out if my Gatwick flight was delayed 3 hours?

Enter the flight number and date in the checker above. It pulls the recorded arrival time, works out the delay against the schedule, and shows what Eurocontrol and the airport weather logged for Gatwick that day.

Which airlines' passengers can claim after a Gatwick delay?

Any airline departing Gatwick is covered by UK261 regardless of nationality. Arrivals are covered when the airline is a UK or EU carrier (for UK261).

Source: Eurocontrol Performance Review Unit, airport arrival ATFM delay by cause, daily. See also your rights and the compensation calculator.