Zürich delays on Sunday, 17 December 2023
Eurocontrol logged 1,326 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Zürich that day across 29 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 316 (9% of the day's arrivals), with 58% of the delay attributed to weather.
Eurocontrol record · LSZH · 2023-12-17
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 58% 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 weather. 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 Heathrow | 2,002 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Paris Orly | 1,543 min | Weather |
| Frankfurt | 1,469 min | Weather |
| Lisbon | 1,025 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Bordeaux Mérignac | 514 min | ATC equipment |
| Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International | 502 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Dublin | 479 min | ATC staffing |
| Gran Canaria | 375 min | ATC capacity |
| Toulouse Blagnac | 365 min | Weather |
Other bad days at Zürich
| 9 May 2025 | 13,287 min | Weather |
| 24 June 2024 | 9,508 min | Weather |
| 6 April 2025 | 8,351 min | Weather |
| 2 April 2025 | 6,691 min | Weather |
| 24 September 2023 | 6,581 min | Weather |
| 20 May 2026 | 5,842 min | Other |
| 7 July 2019 | 5,773 min | Weather |
| 22 April 2026 | 5,589 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Zürich on 17 December 2023 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 58% of Zürich's air-traffic delay to weather, 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 Zürich disruption on 17 December 2023 caused by weather?
Partly or wholly: 58% of the 1,326 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show fog, freezing precipitation, lowest visibility 499 m and strongest gust none reported kt.
Does a bad day at Zürich 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 Zürich.
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 Zürich delay days.