Heathrow delays on Tuesday, 3 December 2024
Eurocontrol logged 1,414 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at London Heathrow that day across 29 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 643 (5% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to atc capacity.
Eurocontrol record · EGLL · 2024-12-03
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 atc capacity. 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
| Madrid Barajas | 1,206 min | Weather |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 906 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Athens | 630 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Frankfurt | 516 min | Weather |
| Zürich | 254 min | Weather |
| Gran Canaria | 206 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Sevilla | 119 min | ATC capacity |
| Toussus le Noble | 60 min | ATC staffing |
| Porto | 57 min | Weather |
Other bad days at Heathrow
| 27 December 2024 | 19,801 min | Weather |
| 11 December 2022 | 16,044 min | Weather |
| 24 November 2024 | 15,802 min | Weather |
| 29 December 2024 | 15,708 min | Weather |
| 7 December 2024 | 14,938 min | Weather |
| 18 October 2024 | 13,656 min | Weather |
| 6 March 2024 | 13,182 min | Weather |
| 6 February 2020 | 13,153 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Heathrow on 3 December 2024 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 Heathrow's air-traffic delay to atc capacity, 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 Heathrow disruption on 3 December 2024 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Heathrow on this day; the delay was attributed to atc capacity.
Does a bad day at Heathrow 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 Heathrow.
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 Heathrow delay days.