How often are these flights late or cancelled?
SAS
In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 17.3% of 6,570 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.
Put the other way round, 82.7% of 6,570 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
17.3% of 6,570 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.
| Disruption | Short-notice cancellations | Delay among delayed movements | Over three hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.3% of 6,570 movements | 2.0% of 6,570 movements | 15.4–51.6 minutes; delayed denominator 1,004–2,950 | 0.1% of 6,570 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?
0.1% of 6,570 movements passed the three-hour mark.
The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 2.0% of 6,570 movements.
| Delay | Share and sample | One event per movements |
|---|---|---|
| More than 15 minutes | 15.3% of 6,570 movements | 6.5 |
| More than 30 minutes | 6.5% of 6,570 movements | 15.5 |
| More than 60 minutes | 1.9% of 6,570 movements | 53.0 |
| More than 120 minutes | 0.3% of 6,570 movements | 312.9 |
| More than 180 minutes | 0.1% of 6,570 movements | 1,642.5 |
| More than 360 minutes | no events in 6,570 movements | No observed events; this is not zero risk. |
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?
0.3% of 6,570 movements passed two hours.
The histogram shows the published delay bands. Bucket shares use all reported operations, including unmatched records; cancellations are reported separately.
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: Aug 2020, 3.1% of 196 movements. Worst month: Dec 2022, 45.0% of 509 movements.
The line traces every month. Lower disruption is better; gaps are never zeros. Pandemic readings describe a different operating regime.
Every monthly observation
| Month | Disruption on arrivals |
|---|---|
| Jan 2018 | 29.9% of 545 movements |
| Feb 2018 | 20.4% of 565 movements |
| Mar 2018 | 32.0% of 674 movements |
| Apr 2018 | 29.7% of 713 movements |
| May 2018 | 19.7% of 720 movements |
| Jun 2018 | 33.4% of 701 movements |
| Jul 2018 | 35.5% of 684 movements |
| Aug 2018 | 27.8% of 731 movements |
| Sep 2018 | 34.2% of 781 movements |
| Oct 2018 | 32.2% of 777 movements |
| Nov 2018 | 27.1% of 661 movements |
| Dec 2018 | 35.8% of 595 movements |
| Jan 2019 | 19.7% of 557 movements |
| Feb 2019 | 24.5% of 620 movements |
| Mar 2019 | 29.6% of 723 movements |
| Apr 2019 | 24.2% of 708 movements |
| May 2019 | 17.1% of 779 movements |
| Jun 2019 | 37.2% of 701 movements |
| Jul 2019 | 27.9% of 685 movements |
| Aug 2019 | 23.3% of 760 movements |
| Sep 2019 | 29.9% of 720 movements |
| Oct 2019 | 28.3% of 725 movements |
| Nov 2019 | 19.6% of 682 movements |
| Dec 2019 | 28.4% of 591 movements |
| Jan 2020 | 21.1% of 593 movements |
| Feb 2020 | 35.0% of 611 movements |
| Mar 2020 | 24.7% of 388 movements |
| Apr 2020 | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements |
| May 2020 | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements |
| Jun 2020 | 7.3% of 55 movements |
| Jul 2020 | 3.7% of 135 movements |
| Aug 2020 | 3.1% of 196 movements |
| Sep 2020 | 4.9% of 184 movements |
| Oct 2020 | 3.5% of 171 movements |
| Nov 2020 | 10.6% of 123 movements |
| Dec 2020 | 17.3% of 133 movements |
| Jan 2021 | 18.0% of 100 movements |
| Feb 2021 | 18.6% of 59 movements |
| Mar 2021 | 4.7% of 64 movements |
| Apr 2021 | 11.8% of 76 movements |
| May 2021 | 4.3% of 93 movements |
| Jun 2021 | 5.4% of 129 movements |
| Jul 2021 | 14.9% of 121 movements |
| Aug 2021 | 7.6% of 131 movements |
| Sep 2021 | 8.6% of 185 movements |
| Oct 2021 | 16.7% of 258 movements |
| Nov 2021 | 17.8% of 286 movements |
| Dec 2021 | 36.4% of 264 movements |
| Jan 2022 | 18.6% of 199 movements |
| Feb 2022 | 31.5% of 184 movements |
| Mar 2022 | 12.3% of 333 movements |
| Apr 2022 | 21.5% of 503 movements |
| May 2022 | 29.9% of 542 movements |
| Jun 2022 | 42.3% of 489 movements |
| Jul 2022 | 29.3% of 460 movements |
| Aug 2022 | 24.8% of 456 movements |
| Sep 2022 | 29.2% of 513 movements |
| Oct 2022 | 25.4% of 516 movements |
| Nov 2022 | 20.3% of 553 movements |
| Dec 2022 | 45.0% of 509 movements |
| Jan 2023 | 28.8% of 521 movements |
| Feb 2023 | 19.2% of 489 movements |
| Mar 2023 | 28.2% of 570 movements |
| Apr 2023 | 20.1% of 548 movements |
| May 2023 | 18.9% of 629 movements |
| Jun 2023 | 38.1% of 627 movements |
| Jul 2023 | 34.9% of 644 movements |
| Aug 2023 | 26.6% of 662 movements |
| Sep 2023 | 36.1% of 668 movements |
| Oct 2023 | 30.1% of 691 movements |
| Nov 2023 | 27.4% of 624 movements |
| Dec 2023 | 42.8% of 577 movements |
| Jan 2024 | 26.7% of 510 movements |
| Feb 2024 | 28.5% of 575 movements |
| Mar 2024 | 17.7% of 616 movements |
| Apr 2024 | 27.8% of 598 movements |
| May 2024 | 19.8% of 658 movements |
| Jun 2024 | 25.3% of 609 movements |
| Jul 2024 | 24.3% of 575 movements |
| Aug 2024 | 21.9% of 634 movements |
| Sep 2024 | 27.4% of 599 movements |
| Oct 2024 | 21.1% of 620 movements |
| Nov 2024 | 17.7% of 547 movements |
| Dec 2024 | 27.2% of 504 movements |
| Jan 2025 | 25.3% of 451 movements |
| Feb 2025 | 8.5% of 483 movements |
| Mar 2025 | 8.4% of 560 movements |
| Apr 2025 | 9.2% of 544 movements |
| May 2025 | 6.2% of 545 movements |
| Jun 2025 | 16.1% of 595 movements |
| Jul 2025 | 14.3% of 545 movements |
| Aug 2025 | 10.3% of 601 movements |
| Sep 2025 | 28.2% of 546 movements |
| Oct 2025 | 17.7% of 583 movements |
| Nov 2025 | 13.1% of 527 movements |
| Dec 2025 | 20.3% of 543 movements |
| Jan 2026 | 26.7% of 505 movements |
| Feb 2026 | 22.5% of 507 movements |
| Mar 2026 | 14.0% of 501 movements |
| Apr 2026 | 10.1% of 553 movements |
| May 2026 | 11.6% of 588 movements |
| Jun 2026 | 20.7% of 571 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.
| Event | Direction | Disruption that month | Baseline before | Return to baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Arrivals | 7.3% of 55 movements | no complete baseline | not enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month |
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Departures | 9.1% of 55 movements | no complete baseline | not enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Arrivals | 29.3% of 460 movements | 21.5% across 3,495 flights | returned after 4 months |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Departures | 43.8% of 454 movements | 20.1% across 3,484 flights | returned after 4 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Arrivals | 26.6% of 662 movements | 27.7% across 6,575 flights | returned after 3 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Departures | 27.8% of 662 movements | 27.9% across 6,558 flights | returned after 2 months |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Arrivals | 8.4% of 560 movements | 22.0% across 6,894 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Departures | 10.0% of 559 movements | 20.4% across 6,894 flights | returned 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: Jun, 33.4% across 7 months. Lowest median: Mar, 17.7% across 7 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.
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
| Month | Median | Observed range | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.7% | 18.6–29.9% | 7 months, 3,288 flights |
| Feb | 22.5% | 8.5–31.5% | 7 months, 3,423 flights |
| Mar | 17.7% | 8.4–32.0% | 7 months, 3,977 flights |
| Apr | 21.5% | 9.2–29.7% | 7 months, 4,167 flights |
| May | 18.9% | 6.2–29.9% | 7 months, 4,461 flights |
| Jun | 33.4% | 16.1–42.3% | 7 months, 4,293 flights |
| Jul | 28.6% | 14.3–35.5% | 6 months, 3,593 flights |
| Aug | 24.0% | 10.3–27.8% | 6 months, 3,844 flights |
| Sep | 29.6% | 27.4–36.1% | 6 months, 3,827 flights |
| Oct | 26.8% | 17.7–32.2% | 6 months, 3,912 flights |
| Nov | 20.0% | 13.1–27.4% | 6 months, 3,594 flights |
| Dec | 32.1% | 20.3–45.0% | 6 months, 3,319 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: ABZ ↔ STAVANGER, 12.0% of 426 movements. Highest disruption: MAN ↔ COPENHAGEN, 21.8% of 643 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.
All route comparisons and sample flags
| Route | Disruption | Cancellations | Sample flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen ↔ Stavanger | 12.0% of 426 movements | 3.3% of 426 movements | descriptive comparison |
| EDI ↔ STOCKHOLM-ARLANDA | 12.6% of 223 movements | 1.3% of 223 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Edinburgh ↔ Copenhagen | 13.9% of 108 movements | 0.9% of 108 movements | descriptive comparison |
| BHX ↔ COPENHAGEN | 14.8% of 290 movements | 3.4% of 290 movements | descriptive comparison |
| ABZ ↔ COPENHAGEN | 15.2% of 79 movements | no events in 79 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Manchester ↔ Oslo (Gardermoen) | 15.5% of 502 movements | 1.8% of 502 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Oslo (Gardermoen) | 16.0% of 1,346 movements | 3.4% of 1,346 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Stockholm (Arlanda) | 16.5% of 1,363 movements | 1.0% of 1,363 movements | descriptive comparison |
| MAN ↔ STOCKHOLM-ARLANDA | 20.4% of 383 movements | 2.1% of 383 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Copenhagen | 20.8% of 1,205 movements | 1.4% of 1,205 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Manchester ↔ Copenhagen | 21.8% of 643 movements | 1.7% of 643 movements | descriptive 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 airport | Disruption | Sample flag |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 12.5% of 505 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Birmingham | 14.8% of 290 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Edinburgh | 13.3% of 332 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow | 17.7% of 3,915 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Manchester | 19.4% of 1,528 movements | descriptive 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
17.3% of 6,570 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 19.0% of 6,568 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
0.1% of 6,570 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
SAS appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 50,070 arrivals.
The bounds describe the published record, not every commercial service. Final point is not necessarily a nonstop destination.
Archive route pairs: 63.
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?
17.3% of 6,570 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.
How often are they cancelled?
2.0% of 6,570 movements at short notice.
How late is late?
15.4–51.6 minutes; delayed denominator 1,004–2,950
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 complainDefinitions, 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.