Madrid Barajas delays on Wednesday, 3 July 2019
Eurocontrol logged 2,173 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Madrid Barajas that day across 64 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 655 (10% of the day's arrivals), with 96% of the delay attributed to special event. That makes it the 82nd worst day at Madrid Barajas since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LEMD · 2019-07-03
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 4% 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.
- The usual defences have little behind them on this day. The logged cause was special event, which is arguable at best. A refusal citing weather or air traffic control should be answered with this record.
- 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
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 5,401 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Athens | 4,515 min | ATC capacity |
| Lisbon | 3,126 min | Airspace management |
| Rodos | 1,482 min | ATC staffing |
| London Gatwick | 1,276 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Brussels | 1,272 min | Weather |
| Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International | 824 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Barcelona | 749 min | Environmental issues |
| Mikonos | 641 min | ATC capacity |
Other bad days at Madrid Barajas
| 14 December 2019 | 10,768 min | Weather |
| 11 November 2024 | 8,034 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 3 January 2020 | 7,863 min | Weather |
| 10 December 2019 | 7,663 min | Weather |
| 26 August 2019 | 7,294 min | Weather |
| 13 November 2024 | 6,377 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 9 November 2024 | 6,198 min | Weather |
| 11 December 2019 | 5,695 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Madrid Barajas on 3 July 2019 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. Eurocontrol's record for this day does not show the kind of cause airlines usually plead, so a refusal on those grounds would be weak. Run the free check on your flight number for the verified answer.
Was the Madrid Barajas disruption on 3 July 2019 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Madrid Barajas on this day; the delay was attributed to special event.
Does a bad day at Madrid Barajas 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 Madrid Barajas.
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 Madrid Barajas delay days.