UK FLIGHT DELAY INDEX

derived from CAA punctuality statistics for UK reporting airports

How often are these flights late or cancelled?

Qatar

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 20.3% of 5,800 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.

Put the other way round, 79.7% of 5,800 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

20.3% of 5,800 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
20.3% of 5,800 movements4.8% of 5,800 movements17.8–52.6 minutes; delayed denominator 895–2,3350.3% of 5,800 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?

0.3% of 5,800 movements passed the three-hour mark.

The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 4.8% of 5,800 movements.

DelayShare and sampleOne event per movements
More than 15 minutes15.4% of 5,800 movements6.5
More than 30 minutes6.1% of 5,800 movements16.4
More than 60 minutes1.7% of 5,800 movements57.4
More than 120 minutes0.6% of 5,800 movements175.8
More than 180 minutes0.3% of 5,800 movements290.0
More than 360 minutes0.0% of 5,800 movements2,900.0
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 5,800 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 early1,36823.6%15–1 early1,81731.3%0–15 late1,44024.8%16–305429.3%31–602524.3%61…120681.2%121…180130.2%181…360180.3%>36020.0%D=5,800
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, 84.4% of 301 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: 3352018Feb 2018: 18.9%; sample: 317Mar 2018: 13.0%; sample: 345Apr 2018: 12.6%; sample: 309May 2018: 3.1%; sample: 359Jun 2018: 6.5%; sample: 400Jul 2018: 11.9%; sample: 420Aug 2018: 19.3%; sample: 420Sep 2018: 30.8%; sample: 413Oct 2018: 23.9%; sample: 414Nov 2018: 9.2%; sample: 404Dec 2018: 18.2%; sample: 451Jan 2019: 24.6%; sample: 4512019Feb 2019: 13.7%; sample: 401Mar 2019: 21.0%; sample: 448Apr 2019: 28.7%; sample: 435May 2019: 12.0%; sample: 416Jun 2019: 18.9%; sample: 444Jul 2019: 18.5%; sample: 508Aug 2019: 23.9%; sample: 510Sep 2019: 28.7%; sample: 491Oct 2019: 23.7%; sample: 486Nov 2019: 13.2%; sample: 456Dec 2019: 17.1%; sample: 473Jan 2020: 19.4%; sample: 4742020Feb 2020: 36.4%; sample: 445Mar 2020: 10.3%; sample: 388Apr 2020: 16.1%; sample: 118May 2020: 23.3%; sample: 60Jun 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: 60.0%; sample: 25May 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: 202Dec 2021: 41.8%; sample: 251Jan 2022: 40.7%; sample: 2462022Feb 2022: 37.3%; sample: 255Mar 2022: 34.3%; sample: 283Apr 2022: 47.1%; sample: 274May 2022: 37.5%; sample: 285Jun 2022: 31.6%; sample: 313Jul 2022: 33.8%; sample: 343Aug 2022: 25.1%; sample: 359Sep 2022: 35.0%; sample: 334Oct 2022: 36.9%; sample: 344Nov 2022: 10.4%; sample: 376Dec 2022: 22.8%; sample: 386Jan 2023: 25.7%; sample: 3742023Feb 2023: 17.1%; sample: 350Mar 2023: 21.5%; sample: 386Apr 2023: 9.6%; sample: 374May 2023: 10.9%; sample: 394Jun 2023: 13.0%; sample: 393Jul 2023: 21.3%; sample: 470Aug 2023: 12.1%; sample: 471Sep 2023: 13.4%; sample: 439Oct 2023: 23.8%; sample: 445Nov 2023: 25.0%; sample: 484Dec 2023: 25.3%; sample: 499Jan 2024: 25.0%; sample: 5132024Feb 2024: 29.0%; sample: 479Mar 2024: 8.0%; sample: 515Apr 2024: 25.1%; sample: 510May 2024: 17.0%; sample: 524Jun 2024: 19.2%; sample: 510Jul 2024: 12.9%; sample: 519Aug 2024: 15.2%; sample: 528Sep 2024: 12.4%; sample: 508Oct 2024: 27.2%; sample: 503Nov 2024: 5.5%; sample: 494Dec 2024: 9.6%; sample: 510Jan 2025: 12.3%; sample: 5112025Feb 2025: 7.0%; sample: 460Mar 2025: 7.2%; sample: 489Apr 2025: 8.9%; sample: 531May 2025: 9.7%; sample: 528Jun 2025: 30.0%; sample: 536Jul 2025: 6.6%; sample: 562Aug 2025: 12.1%; sample: 563Sep 2025: 17.3%; sample: 543Oct 2025: 14.7%; sample: 565Nov 2025: 7.6%; sample: 577Dec 2025: 16.6%; sample: 598Jan 2026: 30.7%; sample: 6002026Feb 2026: 19.8%; sample: 511Mar 2026: 84.4%; sample: 301Apr 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 335 movements
Feb 201818.9% of 317 movements
Mar 201813.0% of 345 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 201819.3% of 420 movements
Sep 201830.8% of 413 movements
Oct 201823.9% of 414 movements
Nov 20189.2% of 404 movements
Dec 201818.2% of 451 movements
Jan 201924.6% of 451 movements
Feb 201913.7% of 401 movements
Mar 201921.0% of 448 movements
Apr 201928.7% of 435 movements
May 201912.0% of 416 movements
Jun 201918.9% of 444 movements
Jul 201918.5% of 508 movements
Aug 201923.9% of 510 movements
Sep 201928.7% of 491 movements
Oct 201923.7% of 486 movements
Nov 201913.2% of 456 movements
Dec 201917.1% of 473 movements
Jan 202019.4% of 474 movements
Feb 202036.4% of 445 movements
Mar 202010.3% of 388 movements
Apr 202016.1% of 118 movements
May 202023.3% of 60 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 202160.0% of 25 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 202 movements
Dec 202141.8% of 251 movements
Jan 202240.7% of 246 movements
Feb 202237.3% of 255 movements
Mar 202234.3% of 283 movements
Apr 202247.1% of 274 movements
May 202237.5% of 285 movements
Jun 202231.6% of 313 movements
Jul 202233.8% of 343 movements
Aug 202225.1% of 359 movements
Sep 202235.0% of 334 movements
Oct 202236.9% of 344 movements
Nov 202210.4% of 376 movements
Dec 202222.8% of 386 movements
Jan 202325.7% of 374 movements
Feb 202317.1% of 350 movements
Mar 202321.5% of 386 movements
Apr 20239.6% of 374 movements
May 202310.9% of 394 movements
Jun 202313.0% of 393 movements
Jul 202321.3% of 470 movements
Aug 202312.1% of 471 movements
Sep 202313.4% of 439 movements
Oct 202323.8% of 445 movements
Nov 202325.0% of 484 movements
Dec 202325.3% of 499 movements
Jan 202425.0% of 513 movements
Feb 202429.0% of 479 movements
Mar 20248.0% of 515 movements
Apr 202425.1% of 510 movements
May 202417.0% of 524 movements
Jun 202419.2% of 510 movements
Jul 202412.9% of 519 movements
Aug 202415.2% of 528 movements
Sep 202412.4% of 508 movements
Oct 202427.2% of 503 movements
Nov 20245.5% of 494 movements
Dec 20249.6% of 510 movements
Jan 202512.3% of 511 movements
Feb 20257.0% of 460 movements
Mar 20257.2% of 489 movements
Apr 20258.9% of 531 movements
May 20259.7% of 528 movements
Jun 202530.0% of 536 movements
Jul 20256.6% of 562 movements
Aug 202512.1% of 563 movements
Sep 202517.3% of 543 movements
Oct 202514.7% of 565 movements
Nov 20257.6% of 577 movements
Dec 202516.6% of 598 movements
Jan 202630.7% of 600 movements
Feb 202619.8% of 511 movements
Mar 202684.4% of 301 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 movements20.8% across 4,853 flightsreturned the next month
Pandemic regime · Jun 2020Departures20.6% of 97 movements23.9% across 4,855 flightsreturned after 4 months
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Arrivals33.8% of 343 movements29.6% across 2,641 flightsreturned the next month
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Departures81.9% of 343 movements58.4% across 2,659 flightsreturned after 3 months
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Arrivals12.1% of 471 movements20.8% across 4,540 flightsreturned the next month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Departures45.6% of 472 movements39.7% across 4,540 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Arrivals7.2% of 489 movements14.3% across 6,092 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Departures17.4% of 489 movements34.4% across 6,097 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, 25.7% across 7 months. Lowest median: Nov, 9.8% 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 nJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec201924.6% of 451 movements13.7% of 401 movements21.0% of 448 movements28.7% of 435 movements12.0% of 416 movements18.9% of 444 movements18.5% of 508 movements23.9% of 510 movements28.7% of 491 movements23.7% of 486 movements13.2% of 456 movements17.1% of 473 movements202019.4% of 474 movements36.4% of 445 movements10.3% of 388 movements16.1% of 118 movements23.3% of 60 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 movements60.0% of 25 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 202 movements41.8% of 251 movements202240.7% of 246 movements37.3% of 255 movements34.3% of 283 movements47.1% of 274 movements37.5% of 285 movements31.6% of 313 movements33.8% of 343 movements25.1% of 359 movements35.0% of 334 movements36.9% of 344 movements10.4% of 376 movements22.8% of 386 movements202325.7% of 374 movements17.1% of 350 movements21.5% of 386 movements9.6% of 374 movements10.9% of 394 movements13.0% of 393 movements21.3% of 470 movements12.1% of 471 movements13.4% of 439 movements23.8% of 445 movements25.0% of 484 movements25.3% of 499 movements202425.0% of 513 movements29.0% of 479 movements8.0% of 515 movements25.1% of 510 movements17.0% of 524 movements19.2% of 510 movements12.9% of 519 movements15.2% of 528 movements12.4% of 508 movements27.2% of 503 movements5.5% of 494 movements9.6% of 510 movements202512.3% of 511 movements7.0% of 460 movements7.2% of 489 movements8.9% of 531 movements9.7% of 528 movements30.0% of 536 movements6.6% of 562 movements12.1% of 563 movements17.3% of 543 movements14.7% of 565 movements7.6% of 577 movements16.6% of 598 movements202630.7% of 600 movements19.8% of 511 movements84.4% of 301 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
Jan25.7%12.3–40.7%7 months, 3,030 flights
Feb18.9%7.0–37.3%7 months, 2,773 flights
Mar21.0%7.2–84.4%7 months, 2,767 flights
Apr25.1%8.9–47.1%7 months, 2,687 flights
May11.3%3.1–37.5%7 months, 2,859 flights
Jun19.2%6.5–31.6%7 months, 2,969 flights
Jul15.7%6.6–33.8%6 months, 2,822 flights
Aug17.2%12.1–25.1%6 months, 2,851 flights
Sep23.0%12.4–35.0%6 months, 2,728 flights
Oct23.9%14.7–36.9%6 months, 2,757 flights
Nov9.8%5.5–25.0%6 months, 2,791 flights
Dec17.7%9.6–25.3%6 months, 2,917 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, 20.0% of 3,206 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-Hamad20.0% of 3,206 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 Hamad20.0% of 3,206 movements3.7% of 3,206 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
Heathrow20.0% of 3,206 movementsdescriptive comparison
Manchester20.8% of 1,163 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

20.3% of 5,800 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 35.7% of 5,810 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

0.3% of 5,800 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 appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 38,341 arrivals.

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

Archive route pairs: 13.

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?

20.3% of 5,800 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.

How often are they cancelled?

4.8% of 5,800 movements at short notice.

How late is late?

17.8–52.6 minutes; delayed denominator 895–2,335

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.