How often are these flights late or cancelled?
Japan
In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 21.4% of 1,735 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.
Put the other way round, 78.6% of 1,735 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
21.4% of 1,735 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21.4% of 1,735 movements | 0.8% of 1,735 movements | 30.1–73.8 minutes; delayed denominator 357–819 | 0.6% of 1,735 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?
0.6% of 1,735 movements passed the three-hour mark.
The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 0.8% of 1,735 movements.
| Delay | Share and sample | One event per movements |
|---|---|---|
| More than 15 minutes | 20.6% of 1,735 movements | 4.9 |
| More than 30 minutes | 10.9% of 1,735 movements | 9.2 |
| More than 60 minutes | 5.2% of 1,735 movements | 19.1 |
| More than 120 minutes | 2.4% of 1,735 movements | 42.3 |
| More than 180 minutes | 0.6% of 1,735 movements | 173.5 |
| More than 360 minutes | 0.2% of 1,735 movements | 433.8 |
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?
2.4% of 1,735 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: Dec 2020, no events in 54 movements. Worst month: Aug 2023, 41.0% of 144 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 | 25.5% of 145 movements |
| Feb 2018 | 5.4% of 147 movements |
| Mar 2018 | 8.5% of 164 movements |
| Apr 2018 | 12.0% of 158 movements |
| May 2018 | 9.6% of 157 movements |
| Jun 2018 | 5.0% of 141 movements |
| Jul 2018 | 7.4% of 162 movements |
| Aug 2018 | 14.2% of 162 movements |
| Sep 2018 | 12.7% of 158 movements |
| Oct 2018 | 19.1% of 157 movements |
| Nov 2018 | 13.3% of 158 movements |
| Dec 2018 | 12.7% of 158 movements |
| Jan 2019 | 5.0% of 161 movements |
| Feb 2019 | 16.2% of 148 movements |
| Mar 2019 | 15.9% of 164 movements |
| Apr 2019 | 16.5% of 176 movements |
| May 2019 | 9.5% of 179 movements |
| Jun 2019 | 15.9% of 176 movements |
| Jul 2019 | 15.9% of 182 movements |
| Aug 2019 | 17.7% of 181 movements |
| Sep 2019 | 20.3% of 172 movements |
| Oct 2019 | 31.1% of 180 movements |
| Nov 2019 | 21.6% of 171 movements |
| Dec 2019 | 34.7% of 170 movements |
| Jan 2020 | 25.3% of 166 movements |
| Feb 2020 | 32.9% of 164 movements |
| Mar 2020 | 9.2% of 163 movements |
| Apr 2020 | 6.0% of 50 movements |
| May 2020 | no events in 27 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Jun 2020 | no events in 24 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Jul 2020 | 2.8% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Aug 2020 | 3.7% of 27 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Sep 2020 | 6.7% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Oct 2020 | 2.1% of 48 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Nov 2020 | 2.3% of 44 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Dec 2020 | no events in 54 movements |
| Jan 2021 | no events in 55 movements |
| Feb 2021 | 2.2% of 46 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Mar 2021 | 6.5% of 62 movements |
| Apr 2021 | 1.4% of 73 movements |
| May 2021 | 5.7% of 70 movements |
| Jun 2021 | 3.6% of 56 movements |
| Jul 2021 | 8.1% of 86 movements |
| Aug 2021 | 5.6% of 89 movements |
| Sep 2021 | 11.7% of 77 movements |
| Oct 2021 | 8.8% of 80 movements |
| Nov 2021 | 1.6% of 64 movements |
| Dec 2021 | 1.5% of 65 movements |
| Jan 2022 | 1.8% of 55 movements |
| Feb 2022 | 2.1% of 48 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Mar 2022 | 39.4% of 66 movements |
| Apr 2022 | 13.3% of 45 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| May 2022 | 12.2% of 41 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Jun 2022 | 7.1% of 56 movements |
| Jul 2022 | 11.8% of 76 movements |
| Aug 2022 | 1.3% of 79 movements |
| Sep 2022 | 5.1% of 78 movements |
| Oct 2022 | 1.2% of 81 movements |
| Nov 2022 | 26.6% of 94 movements |
| Dec 2022 | 26.1% of 111 movements |
| Jan 2023 | 29.1% of 117 movements |
| Feb 2023 | 15.5% of 110 movements |
| Mar 2023 | 15.0% of 127 movements |
| Apr 2023 | 34.3% of 137 movements |
| May 2023 | 16.3% of 141 movements |
| Jun 2023 | 36.5% of 137 movements |
| Jul 2023 | 24.6% of 142 movements |
| Aug 2023 | 41.0% of 144 movements |
| Sep 2023 | 32.1% of 137 movements |
| Oct 2023 | 19.4% of 139 movements |
| Nov 2023 | 23.3% of 133 movements |
| Dec 2023 | 8.2% of 122 movements |
| Jan 2024 | 36.0% of 125 movements |
| Feb 2024 | 14.2% of 127 movements |
| Mar 2024 | 14.5% of 138 movements |
| Apr 2024 | 15.9% of 151 movements |
| May 2024 | 13.5% of 155 movements |
| Jun 2024 | 23.3% of 150 movements |
| Jul 2024 | 25.2% of 155 movements |
| Aug 2024 | 23.2% of 155 movements |
| Sep 2024 | 26.8% of 149 movements |
| Oct 2024 | 17.1% of 152 movements |
| Nov 2024 | 15.0% of 133 movements |
| Dec 2024 | 12.5% of 136 movements |
| Jan 2025 | 11.6% of 129 movements |
| Feb 2025 | 28.7% of 115 movements |
| Mar 2025 | 9.8% of 133 movements |
| Apr 2025 | 16.0% of 150 movements |
| May 2025 | 17.4% of 155 movements |
| Jun 2025 | 27.3% of 150 movements |
| Jul 2025 | 35.7% of 157 movements |
| Aug 2025 | 35.0% of 157 movements |
| Sep 2025 | 20.7% of 150 movements |
| Oct 2025 | 8.6% of 152 movements |
| Nov 2025 | 4.5% of 133 movements |
| Dec 2025 | 21.9% of 137 movements |
| Jan 2026 | 16.1% of 124 movements |
| Feb 2026 | 15.6% of 122 movements |
| Mar 2026 | 38.6% of 145 movements |
| Apr 2026 | 15.7% of 153 movements |
| May 2026 | 13.5% of 156 movements |
| Jun 2026 | 26.8% of 149 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 | no events in 24 movements — small sample, not ranked | 19.2% across 1,802 flights | returned the next month |
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Departures | no events in 25 movements — small sample, not ranked | 16.6% across 1,794 flights | returned the next month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Arrivals | 11.8% of 76 movements | 9.4% across 772 flights | returned the next month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Departures | 74.7% of 75 movements | 20.6% across 774 flights | returned after 4 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Arrivals | 41.0% of 144 movements | 19.3% across 1,354 flights | returned after 4 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Departures | 33.3% of 141 movements | 30.6% across 1,355 flights | returned after 2 months |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Arrivals | 9.8% of 133 movements | 19.0% across 1,718 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Departures | 17.8% of 135 movements | 24.5% across 1,713 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, 23.3% across 7 months. Lowest median: May, 13.5% 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 | 16.1% | 1.8–36.0% | 7 months, 856 flights |
| Feb | 15.5% | 2.1–28.7% | 7 months, 817 flights |
| Mar | 15.0% | 8.5–39.4% | 7 months, 937 flights |
| Apr | 15.9% | 12.0–34.3% | 7 months, 970 flights |
| May | 13.5% | 9.5–17.4% | 7 months, 984 flights |
| Jun | 23.3% | 5.0–36.5% | 7 months, 959 flights |
| Jul | 20.3% | 7.4–35.7% | 6 months, 874 flights |
| Aug | 20.5% | 1.3–41.0% | 6 months, 878 flights |
| Sep | 20.5% | 5.1–32.1% | 6 months, 844 flights |
| Oct | 18.1% | 1.2–31.1% | 6 months, 861 flights |
| Nov | 18.3% | 4.5–26.6% | 6 months, 822 flights |
| Dec | 17.3% | 8.2–34.7% | 6 months, 834 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 ↔ TOKYO-HANEDA, 21.2% of 1,730 movements. Highest disruption: LHR ↔ TOKYO-HANEDA, 21.2% of 1,730 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 ↔ Tokyo (Haneda) | 21.2% of 1,730 movements | 0.7% of 1,730 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?
1 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 21.3% of 1,734 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
21.4% of 1,735 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 22.4% of 1,735 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
0.6% of 1,735 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
Japan appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 12,292 arrivals.
The bounds describe the published record, not every commercial service. Final point is not necessarily a nonstop destination.
Archive route pairs: 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.
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?
21.4% of 1,735 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.
How often are they cancelled?
0.8% of 1,735 movements at short notice.
How late is late?
30.1–73.8 minutes; delayed denominator 357–819
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.