How often are these flights late or cancelled?
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd
In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 17.4% of 12,066 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.
Put the other way round, 82.6% of 12,066 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
17.4% of 12,066 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.4% of 12,066 movements | 1.8% of 12,066 movements | 27.6–62.5 minutes; delayed denominator 1,882–3,836 | 0.4% of 12,066 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 12,066 movements passed the three-hour mark.
The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 1.8% of 12,066 movements.
| Delay | Share and sample | One event per movements |
|---|---|---|
| More than 15 minutes | 15.6% of 12,066 movements | 6.4 |
| More than 30 minutes | 8.4% of 12,066 movements | 11.9 |
| More than 60 minutes | 3.7% of 12,066 movements | 26.8 |
| More than 120 minutes | 1.1% of 12,066 movements | 87.4 |
| More than 180 minutes | 0.4% of 12,066 movements | 246.2 |
| More than 360 minutes | 0.1% of 12,066 movements | 1,723.7 |
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?
1.1% of 12,066 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: Sep 2020, 6.9% of 145 movements. Worst month: May 2024, 35.5% of 1,077 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 | 19.1% of 787 movements |
| Feb 2018 | 17.2% of 697 movements |
| Mar 2018 | 27.3% of 889 movements |
| Apr 2018 | 12.3% of 997 movements |
| May 2018 | 17.3% of 1,022 movements |
| Jun 2018 | 23.3% of 988 movements |
| Jul 2018 | 20.1% of 1,040 movements |
| Aug 2018 | 18.5% of 1,058 movements |
| Sep 2018 | 10.9% of 973 movements |
| Oct 2018 | 11.4% of 991 movements |
| Nov 2018 | 21.2% of 921 movements |
| Dec 2018 | 20.4% of 955 movements |
| Jan 2019 | 17.3% of 942 movements |
| Feb 2019 | 17.5% of 845 movements |
| Mar 2019 | 18.2% of 938 movements |
| Apr 2019 | 19.8% of 997 movements |
| May 2019 | 17.2% of 1,022 movements |
| Jun 2019 | 29.2% of 1,012 movements |
| Jul 2019 | 22.0% of 1,064 movements |
| Aug 2019 | 19.5% of 1,080 movements |
| Sep 2019 | 13.0% of 983 movements |
| Oct 2019 | 15.0% of 1,010 movements |
| Nov 2019 | 13.9% of 970 movements |
| Dec 2019 | 18.9% of 1,012 movements |
| Jan 2020 | 11.8% of 966 movements |
| Feb 2020 | 16.7% of 893 movements |
| Mar 2020 | 23.0% of 752 movements |
| Apr 2020 | 24.6% of 61 movements |
| May 2020 | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements |
| Jun 2020 | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements |
| Jul 2020 | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements |
| Aug 2020 | 7.0% of 86 movements |
| Sep 2020 | 6.9% of 145 movements |
| Oct 2020 | 9.6% of 209 movements |
| Nov 2020 | 13.6% of 177 movements |
| Dec 2020 | 27.4% of 266 movements |
| Jan 2021 | 23.8% of 227 movements |
| Feb 2021 | 23.5% of 170 movements |
| Mar 2021 | 24.8% of 206 movements |
| Apr 2021 | 21.2% of 208 movements |
| May 2021 | 8.3% of 193 movements |
| Jun 2021 | 17.8% of 236 movements |
| Jul 2021 | 13.0% of 315 movements |
| Aug 2021 | 25.2% of 349 movements |
| Sep 2021 | 18.1% of 447 movements |
| Oct 2021 | 16.5% of 480 movements |
| Nov 2021 | 20.0% of 604 movements |
| Dec 2021 | 28.8% of 649 movements |
| Jan 2022 | 20.8% of 711 movements |
| Feb 2022 | 19.9% of 664 movements |
| Mar 2022 | 23.0% of 786 movements |
| Apr 2022 | 22.7% of 867 movements |
| May 2022 | 21.9% of 893 movements |
| Jun 2022 | 32.2% of 905 movements |
| Jul 2022 | 33.6% of 917 movements |
| Aug 2022 | 23.0% of 894 movements |
| Sep 2022 | 21.5% of 861 movements |
| Oct 2022 | 15.7% of 892 movements |
| Nov 2022 | 15.9% of 873 movements |
| Dec 2022 | 33.4% of 915 movements |
| Jan 2023 | 23.3% of 937 movements |
| Feb 2023 | 23.1% of 853 movements |
| Mar 2023 | 25.3% of 971 movements |
| Apr 2023 | 19.5% of 945 movements |
| May 2023 | 22.1% of 992 movements |
| Jun 2023 | 29.7% of 981 movements |
| Jul 2023 | 25.8% of 1,039 movements |
| Aug 2023 | 26.3% of 1,056 movements |
| Sep 2023 | 20.2% of 996 movements |
| Oct 2023 | 18.2% of 1,022 movements |
| Nov 2023 | 17.9% of 928 movements |
| Dec 2023 | 26.6% of 990 movements |
| Jan 2024 | 23.4% of 965 movements |
| Feb 2024 | 17.2% of 888 movements |
| Mar 2024 | 17.0% of 980 movements |
| Apr 2024 | 29.7% of 1,003 movements |
| May 2024 | 35.5% of 1,077 movements |
| Jun 2024 | 28.3% of 1,061 movements |
| Jul 2024 | 33.3% of 1,089 movements |
| Aug 2024 | 28.3% of 1,083 movements |
| Sep 2024 | 31.3% of 1,064 movements |
| Oct 2024 | 22.6% of 1,053 movements |
| Nov 2024 | 29.6% of 973 movements |
| Dec 2024 | 28.7% of 997 movements |
| Jan 2025 | 23.7% of 993 movements |
| Feb 2025 | 13.1% of 894 movements |
| Mar 2025 | 23.1% of 1,014 movements |
| Apr 2025 | 14.6% of 1,039 movements |
| May 2025 | 21.1% of 1,080 movements |
| Jun 2025 | 14.4% of 1,045 movements |
| Jul 2025 | 16.0% of 1,086 movements |
| Aug 2025 | 14.3% of 1,092 movements |
| Sep 2025 | 11.4% of 1,044 movements |
| Oct 2025 | 13.4% of 1,045 movements |
| Nov 2025 | 16.6% of 962 movements |
| Dec 2025 | 21.9% of 977 movements |
| Jan 2026 | 21.9% of 980 movements |
| Feb 2026 | 16.8% of 881 movements |
| Mar 2026 | 17.3% of 978 movements |
| Apr 2026 | 20.6% of 994 movements |
| May 2026 | 19.2% of 1,025 movements |
| Jun 2026 | 20.2% of 1,002 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 | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements | no complete baseline | not enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month |
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Departures | suppressed: fewer than twenty movements | no complete baseline | not enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Arrivals | 33.6% of 917 movements | 21.9% across 7,670 flights | returned after 2 months |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Departures | 66.9% of 916 movements | 27.1% across 7,515 flights | returned after 3 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Arrivals | 26.3% of 1,056 movements | 23.2% across 11,153 flights | returned the next month |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Departures | 30.5% of 1,056 movements | 29.3% across 11,119 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Arrivals | 23.1% of 1,014 movements | 26.8% across 12,267 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Departures | 23.1% of 1,004 movements | 32.6% across 12,242 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, 28.3% across 7 months. Lowest median: Oct, 15.4% 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.
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
| Month | Median | Observed range | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21.9% | 17.3–23.7% | 7 months, 6,315 flights |
| Feb | 17.2% | 13.1–23.1% | 7 months, 5,722 flights |
| Mar | 23.0% | 17.0–27.3% | 7 months, 6,556 flights |
| Apr | 19.8% | 12.3–29.7% | 7 months, 6,842 flights |
| May | 21.1% | 17.2–35.5% | 7 months, 7,111 flights |
| Jun | 28.3% | 14.4–32.2% | 7 months, 6,994 flights |
| Jul | 23.9% | 16.0–33.6% | 6 months, 6,235 flights |
| Aug | 21.3% | 14.3–28.3% | 6 months, 6,263 flights |
| Sep | 16.6% | 10.9–31.3% | 6 months, 5,921 flights |
| Oct | 15.4% | 11.4–22.6% | 6 months, 6,013 flights |
| Nov | 17.3% | 13.9–29.6% | 6 months, 5,627 flights |
| Dec | 24.2% | 18.9–33.4% | 6 months, 5,846 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 ↔ JOHANNESBURG, 8.7% of 368 movements. Highest disruption: LHR ↔ DUBAI, 37.6% of 141 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow ↔ Johannesburg | 8.7% of 368 movements | 1.9% of 368 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Delhi | 9.0% of 730 movements | 0.7% of 730 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Seattle (Tacoma) | 9.4% of 287 movements | 1.7% of 287 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Cape Town | 9.6% of 187 movements | 1.1% of 187 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Bridgetown | 10.6% of 113 movements | no events in 113 movements | descriptive comparison |
| MAN ↔ ATLANTA | 10.7% of 317 movements | 0.9% of 317 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ TAMPA | 11.3% of 310 movements | 2.3% of 310 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ CANCUN | 11.4% of 79 movements | 1.3% of 79 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Los Angeles International | 11.7% of 896 movements | 1.1% of 896 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ ANTIGUA | 11.8% of 85 movements | 2.4% of 85 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Boston | 12.7% of 557 movements | 1.8% of 557 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Miami International | 13.3% of 682 movements | 2.3% of 682 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Seoul (Incheon) | 13.5% of 89 movements | 1.1% of 89 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Las Vegas | 14.2% of 365 movements | 0.3% of 365 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Manchester ↔ New York (Jf Kennedy) | 15.7% of 299 movements | 1.3% of 299 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Toronto | 16.0% of 288 movements | 1.7% of 288 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Atlanta | 16.1% of 361 movements | 1.4% of 361 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ GRENADA | 17.1% of 82 movements | no events in 82 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Bangalore (Bengaluru) | 17.1% of 438 movements | 1.6% of 438 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Lagos | 18.1% of 215 movements | no events in 215 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Washington (Dulles) | 19.2% of 313 movements | 3.8% of 313 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ E-T-JOSHUA | 19.4% of 93 movements | 1.1% of 93 movements | descriptive comparison |
| MAN ↔ LAS-VEGAS | 20.0% of 80 movements | no events in 80 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ New York (Jf Kennedy) | 21.3% of 1,813 movements | 2.9% of 1,813 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Manchester ↔ Orlando | 22.0% of 441 movements | no events in 441 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ San Francisco | 23.0% of 539 movements | 0.9% of 539 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ MONTEGO-BAY | 23.5% of 166 movements | 9.6% of 166 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Orlando | 23.8% of 542 movements | 1.3% of 542 movements | descriptive comparison |
| MAN ↔ BRIDGETOWN | 25.0% of 76 movements | no events in 76 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Mumbai | 25.7% of 731 movements | 1.0% of 731 movements | descriptive comparison |
| EDI ↔ ORLANDO | 28.1% of 64 movements | no events in 64 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ MALE-INTERNATIONAL | 29.7% of 172 movements | 1.7% of 172 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Riyadh | 30.7% of 140 movements | 5.7% of 140 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Dubai | 37.6% of 141 movements | 9.2% of 141 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?
3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh | 28.1% of 64 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow | 17.3% of 10,785 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Manchester | 17.7% of 1,215 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
17.4% of 12,066 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 19.8% of 12,038 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 12,066 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
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 83,104 arrivals.
The bounds describe the published record, not every commercial service. Final point is not necessarily a nonstop destination.
Archive route pairs: 164.
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?
17.4% of 12,066 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.
How often are they cancelled?
1.8% of 12,066 movements at short notice.
How late is late?
27.6–62.5 minutes; delayed denominator 1,882–3,836
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.