Rodos delays on Sunday, 15 September 2019
Eurocontrol logged 2,166 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Rodos that day across 46 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 125 (37% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to atc staffing. That makes it the 9th worst day at Rodos since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LGRP · 2019-09-15
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 staffing. 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 | 4,250 min | Weather |
| Zürich | 1,680 min | Weather |
| Venice | 1,266 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| London Gatwick | 1,134 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 1,129 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Barcelona | 867 min | Environmental issues |
| London Luton | 735 min | ATC capacity |
| Lisbon | 665 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Athens | 652 min | ATC capacity |
Other bad days at Rodos
| 31 August 2019 | 3,633 min | ATC staffing |
| 30 June 2019 | 2,720 min | ATC staffing |
| 18 August 2019 | 2,549 min | ATC staffing |
| 3 August 2019 | 2,498 min | ATC staffing |
| 17 August 2019 | 2,396 min | ATC staffing |
| 5 May 2019 | 2,356 min | Weather |
| 7 July 2019 | 2,208 min | ATC staffing |
| 18 October 2020 | 2,189 min | ATC equipment |
Questions
My flight from Rodos on 15 September 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. On this day Eurocontrol attributed 100% of Rodos' air-traffic delay to 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 Rodos disruption on 15 September 2019 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Rodos on this day; the delay was attributed to atc staffing.
Does a bad day at Rodos 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 Rodos.
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 Rodos delay days.