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London Heathrow flight delays: the record, day by day

Eurocontrol attributes air-traffic delay to Heathrow on the days it happens, with the cause. On its 25 worst days since 2019 the airport lost 307,696 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 Heathrow 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
27 December 202419,801301Weather
11 December 202216,044164Weather
24 November 202415,802200Weather
29 December 202415,708261Weather
7 December 202414,938187Weather
18 October 202413,656151Weather
6 March 202413,182162Weather
6 February 202013,153164Weather
23 November 202413,107237Weather
19 July 202512,640141Weather
19 November 202312,564193ATC staffing
22 January 202312,012189Weather
16 February 202011,941203Weather
1 March 202511,703157Weather
1 October 201911,345210Weather

Most recent days with delay logged

DateDelay minLateCause
30 September 20263353Weather
29 September 202664714Weather
28 September 20261,23035Weather
27 September 20261130ATC capacity
25 September 20262,93570Weather
24 September 20261562Aerodrome capacity
22 September 20261,44446Weather
20 September 20262895Weather
19 September 20261,07728Weather
18 September 202663713ATC capacity
17 September 20261,32533Weather
16 September 20263516ATC capacity
14 September 20261,34035Weather
13 September 20261722ATC capacity
12 September 20261,40737Weather

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

What usually goes wrong at Heathrow

Weather91%
ATC staffing4%
Aerodrome capacity3%
ATC capacity2%

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 Heathrow

British Airways compensationVirgin Atlantic compensationAer Lingus compensationVueling compensation

Questions

Is a delay at Heathrow 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 Heathrow 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 Heathrow 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 Heathrow that day.

Which airlines' passengers can claim after a Heathrow delay?

Any airline departing Heathrow 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.