UK FLIGHT DELAY INDEX

derived from CAA punctuality statistics for UK reporting airports

How often are these flights late or cancelled?

Qatar Airways

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 20.4% of 5,365 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.

Put the other way round, 79.6% of 5,365 movements met the fifteen-minute convention. These are historical observations, not a forecast.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Source: CAA punctuality statistics · snapshot 17/08/2026 10:24 · method route-record-v2.1 · Versioned claims, formulas and entity mapping.

0 operations (0.00%) excluded because their published percentages could not be reconciled to whole numbers. Excluded operations enter neither the numerator nor the denominator. Outcome figures and comparisons are unavailable when the excluded share exceeds fifteen percent.

The four numbers at a glance

20.4% of 5,365 movements were disrupted over July 2025 to June 2026.

Average delay covers delayed movements only. Its range reflects rounded source means and the unknown count of exactly punctual movements.

DisruptionShort-notice cancellationsDelay among delayed movementsOver three hours
20.4% of 5,365 movements5.1% of 5,365 movements17.7–52.5 minutes; delayed denominator 822–2,1550.4% of 5,365 movements
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

When late, how late?

0.4% of 5,365 movements passed the three-hour mark.

The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 5.1% of 5,365 movements.

DelayShare and sampleOne event per movements
More than 15 minutes15.3% of 5,365 movements6.5
More than 30 minutes5.8% of 5,365 movements17.1
More than 60 minutes1.8% of 5,365 movements55.9
More than 120 minutes0.6% of 5,365 movements167.7
More than 180 minutes0.4% of 5,365 movements255.5
More than 360 minutes0.0% of 5,365 movements2,682.5
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Slightly late or occasionally a disaster?

0.6% of 5,365 movements passed two hours.

The histogram shows the published delay bands. Bucket shares use all reported operations, including unmatched records; cancellations are reported separately.

Nine delay buckets, minutes; share of all recorded operations>15 early1,27023.7%15–1 early1,66931.1%0–15 late1,33324.8%16–305099.5%31–602174.0%61…120641.2%121…180110.2%181…360190.4%>36020.0%D=5,365
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Better or worse since the start of the archive?

Best month: Nov 2020, 2.0% of 204 movements. Worst month: Mar 2026, 83.7% of 313 movements.

The line traces every month. Lower disruption is better; gaps are never zeros. Pandemic readings describe a different operating regime.

Monthly disruption share; gaps mean no published dataJan 2018: 30.7%; sample: 3192018Feb 2018: 19.0%; sample: 289Mar 2018: 12.2%; sample: 320Apr 2018: 12.6%; sample: 309May 2018: 3.1%; sample: 359Jun 2018: 6.5%; sample: 400Jul 2018: 11.9%; sample: 420Aug 2018: 19.2%; sample: 421Sep 2018: 30.8%; sample: 413Oct 2018: 23.9%; sample: 414Nov 2018: 9.2%; sample: 404Dec 2018: 17.3%; sample: 421Jan 2019: 24.5%; sample: 4202019Feb 2019: 13.9%; sample: 380Mar 2019: 20.9%; sample: 421Apr 2019: 29.4%; sample: 405May 2019: 11.6%; sample: 404Jun 2019: 19.0%; sample: 416Jul 2019: 19.0%; sample: 479Aug 2019: 24.8%; sample: 480Sep 2019: 29.8%; sample: 463Oct 2019: 24.6%; sample: 455Nov 2019: 11.0%; sample: 428Dec 2019: 17.8%; sample: 443Jan 2020: 16.5%; sample: 4432020Feb 2020: 33.2%; sample: 416Mar 2020: 9.5%; sample: 370Apr 2020: 16.1%; sample: 118May 2020: 24.6%; sample: 61Jun 2020: 3.3%; sample: 91Jul 2020: 6.7%; sample: 150Aug 2020: 4.3%; sample: 161Sep 2020: 7.6%; sample: 198Oct 2020: 4.2%; sample: 216Nov 2020: 2.0%; sample: 204Dec 2020: 11.0%; sample: 228Jan 2021: 4.1%; sample: 2172021Feb 2021: 5.1%; sample: 177Mar 2021: 21.1%; sample: 133Apr 2021: 62.5%; sample: 24May 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2021: 53.2%; sample: 109Jul 2021: 7.9%; sample: 76Aug 2021: 20.8%; sample: 106Sep 2021: 26.2%; sample: 145Oct 2021: 17.1%; sample: 205Nov 2021: 12.9%; sample: 201Dec 2021: 39.3%; sample: 234Jan 2022: 38.1%; sample: 2152022Feb 2022: 37.4%; sample: 227Mar 2022: 36.5%; sample: 252Apr 2022: 51.0%; sample: 245May 2022: 39.4%; sample: 254Jun 2022: 33.2%; sample: 283Jul 2022: 36.2%; sample: 312Aug 2022: 26.9%; sample: 327Sep 2022: 37.2%; sample: 304Oct 2022: 39.9%; sample: 313Nov 2022: 9.1%; sample: 330Dec 2022: 19.6%; sample: 326Jan 2023: 26.3%; sample: 3122023Feb 2023: 16.4%; sample: 292Mar 2023: 19.5%; sample: 329Apr 2023: 9.3%; sample: 344May 2023: 11.3%; sample: 363Jun 2023: 12.7%; sample: 363Jul 2023: 21.2%; sample: 439Aug 2023: 11.1%; sample: 442Sep 2023: 12.7%; sample: 408Oct 2023: 24.0%; sample: 412Nov 2023: 23.6%; sample: 424Dec 2023: 23.8%; sample: 453Jan 2024: 24.1%; sample: 4522024Feb 2024: 28.7%; sample: 422Mar 2024: 7.3%; sample: 454Apr 2024: 24.4%; sample: 451May 2024: 17.1%; sample: 463Jun 2024: 20.7%; sample: 450Jul 2024: 12.7%; sample: 465Aug 2024: 15.2%; sample: 466Sep 2024: 12.3%; sample: 448Oct 2024: 27.3%; sample: 451Nov 2024: 5.6%; sample: 464Dec 2024: 9.8%; sample: 479Jan 2025: 12.7%; sample: 4802025Feb 2025: 7.4%; sample: 432Mar 2025: 6.3%; sample: 457Apr 2025: 9.0%; sample: 479May 2025: 10.3%; sample: 475Jun 2025: 28.2%; sample: 486Jul 2025: 6.5%; sample: 508Aug 2025: 12.9%; sample: 511Sep 2025: 17.7%; sample: 491Oct 2025: 14.6%; sample: 513Nov 2025: 6.0%; sample: 520Dec 2025: 16.9%; sample: 537Jan 2026: 28.3%; sample: 5372026Feb 2026: 18.7%; sample: 455Mar 2026: 83.7%; sample: 313Apr 2026: 26.4%; sample: 254May 2026: 11.3%; sample: 353Jun 2026: 27.9%; sample: 373Pandemic regime Jun 2020Summer 2022 breakdown Jul 2022NATS system failure Aug 2023Heathrow fire closure Mar 2025100%0%
Every monthly observation
MonthDisruption on arrivals
Jan 201830.7% of 319 movements
Feb 201819.0% of 289 movements
Mar 201812.2% of 320 movements
Apr 201812.6% of 309 movements
May 20183.1% of 359 movements
Jun 20186.5% of 400 movements
Jul 201811.9% of 420 movements
Aug 201819.2% of 421 movements
Sep 201830.8% of 413 movements
Oct 201823.9% of 414 movements
Nov 20189.2% of 404 movements
Dec 201817.3% of 421 movements
Jan 201924.5% of 420 movements
Feb 201913.9% of 380 movements
Mar 201920.9% of 421 movements
Apr 201929.4% of 405 movements
May 201911.6% of 404 movements
Jun 201919.0% of 416 movements
Jul 201919.0% of 479 movements
Aug 201924.8% of 480 movements
Sep 201929.8% of 463 movements
Oct 201924.6% of 455 movements
Nov 201911.0% of 428 movements
Dec 201917.8% of 443 movements
Jan 202016.5% of 443 movements
Feb 202033.2% of 416 movements
Mar 20209.5% of 370 movements
Apr 202016.1% of 118 movements
May 202024.6% of 61 movements
Jun 20203.3% of 91 movements
Jul 20206.7% of 150 movements
Aug 20204.3% of 161 movements
Sep 20207.6% of 198 movements
Oct 20204.2% of 216 movements
Nov 20202.0% of 204 movements
Dec 202011.0% of 228 movements
Jan 20214.1% of 217 movements
Feb 20215.1% of 177 movements
Mar 202121.1% of 133 movements
Apr 202162.5% of 24 movements — small sample, not ranked
May 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 202153.2% of 109 movements
Jul 20217.9% of 76 movements
Aug 202120.8% of 106 movements
Sep 202126.2% of 145 movements
Oct 202117.1% of 205 movements
Nov 202112.9% of 201 movements
Dec 202139.3% of 234 movements
Jan 202238.1% of 215 movements
Feb 202237.4% of 227 movements
Mar 202236.5% of 252 movements
Apr 202251.0% of 245 movements
May 202239.4% of 254 movements
Jun 202233.2% of 283 movements
Jul 202236.2% of 312 movements
Aug 202226.9% of 327 movements
Sep 202237.2% of 304 movements
Oct 202239.9% of 313 movements
Nov 20229.1% of 330 movements
Dec 202219.6% of 326 movements
Jan 202326.3% of 312 movements
Feb 202316.4% of 292 movements
Mar 202319.5% of 329 movements
Apr 20239.3% of 344 movements
May 202311.3% of 363 movements
Jun 202312.7% of 363 movements
Jul 202321.2% of 439 movements
Aug 202311.1% of 442 movements
Sep 202312.7% of 408 movements
Oct 202324.0% of 412 movements
Nov 202323.6% of 424 movements
Dec 202323.8% of 453 movements
Jan 202424.1% of 452 movements
Feb 202428.7% of 422 movements
Mar 20247.3% of 454 movements
Apr 202424.4% of 451 movements
May 202417.1% of 463 movements
Jun 202420.7% of 450 movements
Jul 202412.7% of 465 movements
Aug 202415.2% of 466 movements
Sep 202412.3% of 448 movements
Oct 202427.3% of 451 movements
Nov 20245.6% of 464 movements
Dec 20249.8% of 479 movements
Jan 202512.7% of 480 movements
Feb 20257.4% of 432 movements
Mar 20256.3% of 457 movements
Apr 20259.0% of 479 movements
May 202510.3% of 475 movements
Jun 202528.2% of 486 movements
Jul 20256.5% of 508 movements
Aug 202512.9% of 511 movements
Sep 202517.7% of 491 movements
Oct 202514.6% of 513 movements
Nov 20256.0% of 520 movements
Dec 202516.9% of 537 movements
Jan 202628.3% of 537 movements
Feb 202618.7% of 455 movements
Mar 202683.7% of 313 movements
Apr 202626.4% of 254 movements
May 202611.3% of 353 movements
Jun 202627.9% of 373 movements
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

What did the big disruptions do here?

Each event is compared with the twelve preceding calendar months and the first later return to baseline.

A worse month is not proof the named event caused it. The open data carry no delay-cause field. Recovery is observed for at most eight subsequent months.

EventDirectionDisruption that monthBaseline beforeReturn to baseline
Pandemic regime · Jun 2020Arrivals3.3% of 91 movements20.5% across 4,572 flightsreturned the next month
Pandemic regime · Jun 2020Departures20.0% of 95 movements23.7% across 4,574 flightsreturned after 4 months
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Arrivals36.2% of 312 movements30.0% across 2,443 flightsreturned the next month
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Departures81.7% of 312 movements60.5% across 2,458 flightsreturned after 2 months
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Arrivals11.1% of 442 movements20.8% across 4,042 flightsreturned the next month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Departures43.1% of 441 movements37.8% across 4,046 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Arrivals6.3% of 457 movements14.4% across 5,503 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Departures16.2% of 457 movements33.2% across 5,504 flightsreturned the next month
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Which time of year has been hardest?

Highest median: Jan, 26.3% across 7 months. Lowest median: Nov, 9.1% across 6 months.

Even the same calendar month differs across years. This is a record, not a forecast; pandemic years are excluded from the summaries.

Each cell is one calendar month of one year; the number is the share of that month’s arrivals that were disrupted. Darker means worse. A blank cell means no published data, not zero.

Seasonality: calendar month by year; share and nJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec201924.5% of 420 movements13.9% of 380 movements20.9% of 421 movements29.4% of 405 movements11.6% of 404 movements19.0% of 416 movements19.0% of 479 movements24.8% of 480 movements29.8% of 463 movements24.6% of 455 movements11.0% of 428 movements17.8% of 443 movements202016.5% of 443 movements33.2% of 416 movements9.5% of 370 movements16.1% of 118 movements24.6% of 61 movements3.3% of 91 movements6.7% of 150 movements4.3% of 161 movements7.6% of 198 movements4.2% of 216 movements2.0% of 204 movements11.0% of 228 movements20214.1% of 217 movements5.1% of 177 movements21.1% of 133 movements62.5% of 24 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movements53.2% of 109 movements7.9% of 76 movements20.8% of 106 movements26.2% of 145 movements17.1% of 205 movements12.9% of 201 movements39.3% of 234 movements202238.1% of 215 movements37.4% of 227 movements36.5% of 252 movements51.0% of 245 movements39.4% of 254 movements33.2% of 283 movements36.2% of 312 movements26.9% of 327 movements37.2% of 304 movements39.9% of 313 movements9.1% of 330 movements19.6% of 326 movements202326.3% of 312 movements16.4% of 292 movements19.5% of 329 movements9.3% of 344 movements11.3% of 363 movements12.7% of 363 movements21.2% of 439 movements11.1% of 442 movements12.7% of 408 movements24.0% of 412 movements23.6% of 424 movements23.8% of 453 movements202424.1% of 452 movements28.7% of 422 movements7.3% of 454 movements24.4% of 451 movements17.1% of 463 movements20.7% of 450 movements12.7% of 465 movements15.2% of 466 movements12.3% of 448 movements27.3% of 451 movements5.6% of 464 movements9.8% of 479 movements202512.7% of 480 movements7.4% of 432 movements6.3% of 457 movements9.0% of 479 movements10.3% of 475 movements28.2% of 486 movements6.5% of 508 movements12.9% of 511 movements17.7% of 491 movements14.6% of 513 movements6.0% of 520 movements16.9% of 537 movements202628.3% of 537 movements18.7% of 455 movements83.7% of 313 movements26.4% of 254 movements11.3% of 353 movements27.9% of 373 movementsno datano datano datano datano datano data
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
MonthMedianObserved rangeSample
Jan26.3%12.7–38.1%7 months, 2,735 flights
Feb18.7%7.4–37.4%7 months, 2,497 flights
Mar19.5%6.3–83.7%7 months, 2,546 flights
Apr24.4%9.0–51.0%7 months, 2,487 flights
May11.3%3.1–39.4%7 months, 2,671 flights
Jun20.7%6.5–33.2%7 months, 2,771 flights
Jul15.8%6.5–36.2%6 months, 2,623 flights
Aug17.2%11.1–26.9%6 months, 2,647 flights
Sep23.8%12.3–37.2%6 months, 2,527 flights
Oct24.3%14.6–39.9%6 months, 2,558 flights
Nov9.1%5.6–23.6%6 months, 2,570 flights
Dec17.6%9.8–23.8%6 months, 2,659 flights
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Which routes have the best and worst record?

Lowest disruption: LHR ↔ DOHA-HAMAD, 19.6% of 2,746 movements. Highest disruption: BHX ↔ DOHA-HAMAD, 21.2% of 335 movements.

The airline table uses this carrier on each route; airport and country tables combine carriers. Each figure is arrivals into its UK airport. Only sufficiently large exact samples enter the ordered comparison.

Observed disruption share by optionLhr ↔ Doha-Hamad19.6% of 2,746 flightsEdi ↔ Doha-Hamad20.0% of 619 flightsLgw ↔ Doha-Hamad20.3% of 477 flightsMan ↔ Doha-Hamad20.8% of 1,163 flightsBhx ↔ Doha-Hamad21.2% of 335 flights
All route comparisons and sample flags
RouteDisruptionCancellationsSample flag
Heathrow ↔ Doha Hamad19.6% of 2,746 movements3.6% of 2,746 movementsdescriptive comparison
Edinburgh ↔ Doha Hamad20.0% of 619 movements7.1% of 619 movementsdescriptive comparison
LGW ↔ DOHA-HAMAD20.3% of 477 movements7.8% of 477 movementsdescriptive comparison
Manchester ↔ Doha Hamad20.8% of 1,163 movements5.6% of 1,163 movementsdescriptive comparison
BHX ↔ DOHA-HAMAD21.2% of 335 movements4.5% of 335 movementsdescriptive comparison
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Which UK airports appear in this record?

5 published groups have enough arrivals to describe.

These operations are not matched for season, aircraft or time of day. The table makes no causal comparison.

UK airportDisruptionSample flag
Birmingham21.2% of 335 movementsdescriptive comparison
Edinburgh20.0% of 619 movementsdescriptive comparison
Gatwick20.3% of 477 movementsdescriptive comparison
Heathrow20.1% of 2,769 movementsdescriptive comparison
Manchester20.9% of 1,165 movementsdescriptive comparison
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Arrivals vs departures

20.4% of 5,365 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 35.8% of 5,363 movements departures.

The directions have separate denominators. A departure delay does not establish late arrival at the final destination; legal conditions differ by direction and carrier.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Movements past the three-hour mark

0.4% of 5,365 movements were more than three hours late over July 2025 to June 2026.

Cancellation is counted separately and is not a three-hour delay. Monthly counts cannot establish a passenger claim.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Facts about this record

Qatar Airways appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 35,585 arrivals.

The bounds describe the published record, not every commercial service. Final point is not necessarily a nonstop destination.

Archive route pairs: 44.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

What this data cannot tell you

Delay cause, individual passenger experience, commercial decisions and future performance are not established here.

Also absent are aircraft type, within-month time-of-day splits and cancellations made ahead of the short-notice reporting window.

0 operations (0.00%) excluded because their published percentages could not be reconciled to whole numbers. Excluded operations enter neither the numerator nor the denominator. Outcome figures and comparisons are unavailable when the excluded share exceeds fifteen percent.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Quick answers

These answers use the same populations and window as the tables above.

Every percentage retains its denominator.

How disrupted are these arrivals?

20.4% of 5,365 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.

How often are they cancelled?

5.1% of 5,365 movements at short notice.

How late is late?

17.7–52.5 minutes; delayed denominator 822–2,155

Are services improving?

The monthly line records past changes; it is not a forecast or a causal comparison.

Which routes are compared?

The route table uses separately identified UK airport and final-point pairs, with small samples flagged.

Does this cover my flight?

Only published aggregate movements; the circumstances of any individual flight are unknown.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

How this was calculated

Source: CAA punctuality statistics · snapshot 17/08/2026 10:24 · method route-record-v2.1 · Versioned claims, formulas and entity mapping.

Integer bucket counts are recovered from rounding intervals over D=M+C+U with their sum constrained to M. Ambiguous counts remain ranges; failed reconciliation is quarantined.

Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.

Your trip has already gone wrong

The monthly line and events table show whether your month was typical or unusual in the published record.

Nothing here decides an individual case or what a passenger may be owed.

CAA: the official route to complain
Definitions, denominators and limits

Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.