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London Stansted flight delays: the record, day by day

Eurocontrol attributes air-traffic delay to Stansted on the days it happens, with the cause. On its 25 worst days since 2019 the airport lost 117,248 minutes of arrival delay, mostly to weather and atc equipment. Days with nothing logged are a strong point for any passenger whose flight was late for another reason.

Was your Stansted 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
28 December 202415,828187Weather
27 December 202412,424181Weather
12 December 20229,642132Weather
8 September 20267,05735ATC equipment
9 February 20206,73776Weather
8 March 20266,523121Weather
29 December 20245,752116Weather
18 February 20225,61774Weather
21 January 20244,59176Weather
9 March 20264,19093Weather
8 December 20243,82094Weather
12 October 20233,52773ATC staffing
11 December 20223,32762Weather
26 December 20243,13458Weather
24 January 20193,04063Weather

Most recent days with delay logged

DateDelay minLateCause
24 September 20263159Weather
14 September 20262567Weather
12 September 2026711Weather
11 September 20261634Aerodrome capacity
8 September 20267,05735ATC equipment
30 August 20263336Weather
28 August 2026641Weather
10 August 20261191Aerodrome capacity
29 July 20261585Aerodrome capacity
24 July 20262186Aerodrome capacity
27 June 20262096Weather
22 June 20261001Weather
15 June 2026932Weather
10 June 20261,29737Weather
9 June 20261463ATC capacity

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

What usually goes wrong at Stansted

Weather87%
ATC equipment10%
ATC staffing2%
Other2%

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 Stansted

Ryanair compensationJet2.com compensation

Questions

Is a delay at Stansted 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 Stansted 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 Stansted 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 Stansted that day.

Which airlines' passengers can claim after a Stansted delay?

Any airline departing Stansted 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.