Paris Le Bourget delays on Sunday, 29 May 2022
Eurocontrol logged 4,813 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Paris Le Bourget that day across 63 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 189 (33% of the day's arrivals), with 55% of the delay attributed to atc capacity. That makes it the 2nd worst day at Paris Le Bourget since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LFPB · 2022-05-29
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 99% 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
| London Gatwick | 3,283 min | ATC staffing |
| Nice Côte d’Azur | 2,687 min | ATC staffing |
| Istanbul | 2,206 min | Special event |
| Frankfurt | 1,542 min | Weather |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 860 min | ATC staffing |
| Heraklion | 824 min | ATC capacity |
| Lisbon | 797 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Paris Orly | 737 min | ATC capacity |
| Zürich | 686 min | Environmental issues |
Other bad days at Paris Le Bourget
| 28 May 2022 | 10,437 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| 6 June 2023 | 3,612 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 21 January 2025 | 3,455 min | Weather |
| 19 June 2025 | 3,236 min | Special event |
| 3 October 2021 | 3,041 min | ATC capacity |
| 16 September 2022 | 2,966 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 17 January 2025 | 2,922 min | Weather |
| 29 January 2026 | 2,884 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Paris Le Bourget on 29 May 2022 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 99% of Paris Le Bourget's air-traffic delay to atc capacity and atc staffing, 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 Paris Le Bourget disruption on 29 May 2022 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Paris Le Bourget on this day; the delay was attributed to atc capacity.
Does a bad day at Paris Le Bourget 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 Paris Le Bourget.
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 Paris Le Bourget delay days.