UK FLIGHT DELAY INDEX

derived from CAA punctuality statistics for UK reporting airports

How often are these flights late or cancelled?

BFS ↔ ALICANTE

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 22.7% of 917 movements arriving into BFS were disrupted — that is, they landed more than fifteen minutes late or were cancelled at short notice.

Put the other way round, 77.3% of 917 movements arrived on time by the industry's fifteen-minute standard. Severe delays were rarer: about one arrival in every 115 crossed the three-hour mark. Lower is better on every figure on this page. These numbers describe what happened on the route; they are not a prediction for any individual flight.

Definitions, denominators and limits
  • “Disrupted” means an arrival more than fifteen minutes late or a short-notice cancellation. The denominator is operated movements plus short-notice cancellations.
  • Arrivals into the UK airport only; all published carriers.
  • Crossing three hours is one condition for compensation, but monthly data cannot establish any individual passenger’s rights.
  • Delay cause is not published in the open data.
  • Source: CAA punctuality statistics · snapshot 17/08/2026 10:24 · method route-record-v2.1.

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

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 22.7% of 917 movements were disrupted and 0.2% of 917 movements were cancelled at short notice.

When a flight was late, it was typically late by the range shown below. The delay is given as a range, not a single number, because the regulator rounds its published percentages and never says how many flights landed exactly on time.

Disruption shareShort-notice cancellationsAverage delay among delayed flights only — boundsOperations
22.7% of 917 movements0.2% of 917 movements29.0–63.7 min; N of delayed flights=206–422917
Definitions, denominators and limits

The bounds account for CAA rounding and the unknown number of zero delays. A point average across all operated movements, including punctual ones, would answer a different question and is not used here.

When it is late, how late is it?

Most delays here are short. The ladder below shows how many arrivals crossed each threshold, from a quarter of an hour up to six hours; each rung can only be smaller than the one above it.

Cancellations are counted separately: 0.2% of 917 movements. “One in N” means how many arrivals you would typically see between events at that level.

Delay threshold ladder; count and share of known operations15 min22.5%30 min12.0%60 min6.4%120 min2.1%180 min0.9%360 min0.1%
Delay ladder table: share, movements and one-in-N
DelayShare and nMovementsOne delay in every N operations
>15 min22.5% of 917 movements2064.5
>30 min12.0% of 917 movements1108.3
>60 min6.4% of 917 movements5915.5
>120 min2.1% of 917 movements1948.3
>180 min0.9% of 917 movements8114.6
>360 min0.1% of 917 movements1917.0
Definitions, denominators and limits

CAA counts delays strictly greater than each threshold, so exactly three hours is inseparable from the previous bucket. The ladder describes the archive, not a forecast.

Slightly late, or occasionally a disaster?

This route runs late less often than most, but when it does go wrong it tends to go badly wrong: its long delays are heavier than on the typical UK route.

The histogram below counts every recorded arrival, from more than fifteen minutes early through to more than six hours late. A tall bar near the middle and a thin right-hand tail is the healthy shape.

Nine delay buckets, minutes; share of all recorded operations>15 early18820.5%15–1 early30533.3%0–15 late21623.6%16–309610.5%31–60515.6%61…120404.4%121…180111.2%181…36070.8%>36010.1%D=917
Definitions, denominators and limits

Ratio of the long tail to sixteen-to-sixty-minute delays: 0.0544; corpus median 0.0217; 2056 routes in the corpus. The shape is compared conditionally among delays; the class name does not measure absolute frequency. Histogram counts and shares cover all recorded operations including unmatched records; reconstructed uniquely.

Has this route got better or worse since 2018?

Best month: Aug 2019, 9.0% of 89 movements. Worst month: Apr 2019, 100.0% of 65 movements.

The line traces every month in the archive; lower is better. Gaps are months with no published data, never zeros. The 2020 and 2021 readings reflect the pandemic, not normal service.

Monthly disruption share; gaps mean no published dataJan 2018: 6.9%; sample: 292018Feb 2018: 14.3%; sample: 28Mar 2018: 16.7%; sample: 42Apr 2018: 14.1%; sample: 71May 2018: 22.8%; sample: 79Jun 2018: 23.6%; sample: 89Jul 2018: 19.1%; sample: 89Aug 2018: 23.0%; sample: 87Sep 2018: 14.1%; sample: 85Oct 2018: 19.7%; sample: 76Nov 2018: 5.0%; sample: 40Dec 2018: 3.3%; sample: 30Jan 2019: 16.1%; sample: 312019Feb 2019: 6.7%; sample: 30Mar 2019: 17.5%; sample: 40Apr 2019: 100.0%; sample: 65May 2019: 20.5%; sample: 78Jun 2019: 20.0%; sample: 85Jul 2019: 26.1%; sample: 88Aug 2019: 9.0%; sample: 89Sep 2019: 21.2%; sample: 85Oct 2019: 25.0%; sample: 72Nov 2019: 8.1%; sample: 37Dec 2019: 25.0%; sample: 28Jan 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2020Feb 2020: 39.1%; sample: 23Mar 2020: 9.1%; sample: 22Apr 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×May 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jul 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Aug 2020: 12.5%; sample: 32Sep 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Oct 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Nov 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jan 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2021Feb 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Mar 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2021: no data×May 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jul 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Aug 2021: 3.3%; sample: 30Sep 2021: 2.4%; sample: 41Oct 2021: 17.0%; sample: 47Nov 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2021: 13.6%; sample: 22Jan 2022: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2022Feb 2022: 9.5%; sample: 21Mar 2022: 3.3%; sample: 30Apr 2022: 17.3%; sample: 52May 2022: 30.4%; sample: 56Jun 2022: 30.2%; sample: 53Jul 2022: 24.1%; sample: 54Aug 2022: 28.3%; sample: 53Sep 2022: 20.0%; sample: 55Oct 2022: 12.3%; sample: 57Nov 2022: 7.1%; sample: 28Dec 2022: 4.0%; sample: 25Jan 2023: 0.0%; sample: 222023Feb 2023: 18.2%; sample: 22Mar 2023: 51.6%; sample: 31Apr 2023: 50.9%; sample: 53May 2023: 34.0%; sample: 53Jun 2023: 45.5%; sample: 55Jul 2023: 35.2%; sample: 54Aug 2023: 38.5%; sample: 52Sep 2023: 33.3%; sample: 57Oct 2023: 21.1%; sample: 57Nov 2023: 26.4%; sample: 53Dec 2023: 26.5%; sample: 49Jan 2024: 14.0%; sample: 432024Feb 2024: 11.1%; sample: 45Mar 2024: 17.9%; sample: 56Apr 2024: 15.6%; sample: 77May 2024: 16.2%; sample: 80Jun 2024: 18.4%; sample: 76Jul 2024: 21.2%; sample: 80Aug 2024: 12.5%; sample: 80Sep 2024: 19.5%; sample: 77Oct 2024: 22.8%; sample: 79Nov 2024: 18.4%; sample: 49Dec 2024: 24.4%; sample: 45Jan 2025: 22.9%; sample: 352025Feb 2025: 10.9%; sample: 55Mar 2025: 16.9%; sample: 65Apr 2025: 14.3%; sample: 77May 2025: 20.2%; sample: 84Jun 2025: 31.0%; sample: 87Jul 2025: 45.2%; sample: 93Aug 2025: 21.5%; sample: 93Sep 2025: 30.6%; sample: 85Oct 2025: 28.1%; sample: 89Nov 2025: 22.2%; sample: 72Dec 2025: 16.3%; sample: 49Jan 2026: 36.1%; sample: 362026Feb 2026: 20.0%; sample: 60Mar 2026: 13.5%; sample: 74Apr 2026: 12.8%; sample: 78May 2026: 13.0%; sample: 92Jun 2026: 14.6%; sample: 96Pandemic regime Jun 2020Summer 2022 breakdown Jul 2022NATS system failure Aug 2023Heathrow fire closure Mar 2025100%0%
Every month since 2018, including gaps and suppressed cells
MonthDisruption on arrivals
Jan 20186.9% of 29 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 201814.3% of 28 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 201816.7% of 42 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 201814.1% of 71 movements
May 201822.8% of 79 movements
Jun 201823.6% of 89 movements
Jul 201819.1% of 89 movements
Aug 201823.0% of 87 movements
Sep 201814.1% of 85 movements
Oct 201819.7% of 76 movements
Nov 20185.0% of 40 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 20183.3% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 201916.1% of 31 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 20196.7% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 201917.5% of 40 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 2019100.0% of 65 movements
May 201920.5% of 78 movements
Jun 201920.0% of 85 movements
Jul 201926.1% of 88 movements
Aug 20199.0% of 89 movements
Sep 201921.2% of 85 movements
Oct 201925.0% of 72 movements
Nov 20198.1% of 37 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 201925.0% of 28 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 202039.1% of 23 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 20209.1% of 22 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
May 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jul 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Aug 202012.5% of 32 movements — small sample, not ranked
Sep 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Oct 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Nov 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jan 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Mar 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 2021no data
May 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jul 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Aug 20213.3% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked
Sep 20212.4% of 41 movements — small sample, not ranked
Oct 202117.0% of 47 movements — small sample, not ranked
Nov 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 202113.6% of 22 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 2022suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 20229.5% of 21 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 20223.3% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 202217.3% of 52 movements
May 202230.4% of 56 movements
Jun 202230.2% of 53 movements
Jul 202224.1% of 54 movements
Aug 202228.3% of 53 movements
Sep 202220.0% of 55 movements
Oct 202212.3% of 57 movements
Nov 20227.1% of 28 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 20224.0% of 25 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 2023no events in 22 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202318.2% of 22 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202351.6% of 31 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 202350.9% of 53 movements
May 202334.0% of 53 movements
Jun 202345.5% of 55 movements
Jul 202335.2% of 54 movements
Aug 202338.5% of 52 movements
Sep 202333.3% of 57 movements
Oct 202321.1% of 57 movements
Nov 202326.4% of 53 movements
Dec 202326.5% of 49 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 202414.0% of 43 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202411.1% of 45 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202417.9% of 56 movements
Apr 202415.6% of 77 movements
May 202416.2% of 80 movements
Jun 202418.4% of 76 movements
Jul 202421.2% of 80 movements
Aug 202412.5% of 80 movements
Sep 202419.5% of 77 movements
Oct 202422.8% of 79 movements
Nov 202418.4% of 49 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202424.4% of 45 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 202522.9% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202510.9% of 55 movements
Mar 202516.9% of 65 movements
Apr 202514.3% of 77 movements
May 202520.2% of 84 movements
Jun 202531.0% of 87 movements
Jul 202545.2% of 93 movements
Aug 202521.5% of 93 movements
Sep 202530.6% of 85 movements
Oct 202528.1% of 89 movements
Nov 202522.2% of 72 movements
Dec 202516.3% of 49 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 202636.1% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202620.0% of 60 movements
Mar 202613.5% of 74 movements
Apr 202612.8% of 78 movements
May 202613.0% of 92 movements
Jun 202614.6% of 96 movements

What did the big disruptions actually do here?

Each named event below is shown against this route’s own baseline for the twelve months before it, and against how long the route took to get back to that baseline.

A month worse than baseline is not proof the named event caused it: the open data carry no delay-cause field at all. Some events sit near the edge of the archive, which limits how long a recovery can be traced.

EventDirectionDisruption that monthBaseline beforeReturn to baseline
Pandemic regime · Jun 2020Arrivalssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
Pandemic regime · Jun 2020Departuressuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Arrivals24.1% of 54 movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Departures27.8% of 54 movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Arrivals38.5% of 52 movements25.6% across 508 flightsreturned after 2 months
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Departures23.1% of 52 movements17.0% across 507 flightsreturned after 2 months
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Arrivals16.9% of 65 movements18.4% across 789 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Departures10.9% of 64 movements20.4% across 790 flightsreturned the next month
Definitions, denominators and limits

The baseline is the unweighted mean share over the twelve preceding calendar months. The return window is the following eight months, up to the end of the archive. Return means the first observed value at or below the baseline; it is not the duration of the disruption itself. If the event month is already below the baseline, counting still starts the month after. Gaps and suppressed cells are not treated as zeros or as recovery.

Which time of year has historically been hardest?

July has historically been the hardest month on this route: in a typical July, 25.1% of arrivals were disrupted, measured across 6 Julys in the archive. February has been the calmest, at 11.1% across 7 Februarys.

Even July has ranged from 19.1% to 45.2% in different years, so this is a record of what happened, not a forecast of what will. Lower is better throughout.

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 nJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec201916.1% of 31 movements †6.7% of 30 movements †17.5% of 40 movements †100.0% of 65 movements20.5% of 78 movements20.0% of 85 movements26.1% of 88 movements9.0% of 89 movements21.2% of 85 movements25.0% of 72 movements8.1% of 37 movements †25.0% of 28 movements †2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements39.1% of 23 movements †9.1% of 22 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements12.5% of 32 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements3.3% of 30 movements †2.4% of 41 movements †17.0% of 47 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movements13.6% of 22 movements †2022suppressed: fewer than twenty movements9.5% of 21 movements †3.3% of 30 movements †17.3% of 52 movements30.4% of 56 movements30.2% of 53 movements24.1% of 54 movements28.3% of 53 movements20.0% of 55 movements12.3% of 57 movements7.1% of 28 movements †4.0% of 25 movements †2023no events in 22 movements †18.2% of 22 movements †51.6% of 31 movements †50.9% of 53 movements34.0% of 53 movements45.5% of 55 movements35.2% of 54 movements38.5% of 52 movements33.3% of 57 movements21.1% of 57 movements26.4% of 53 movements26.5% of 49 movements †202414.0% of 43 movements †11.1% of 45 movements †17.9% of 56 movements15.6% of 77 movements16.2% of 80 movements18.4% of 76 movements21.2% of 80 movements12.5% of 80 movements19.5% of 77 movements22.8% of 79 movements18.4% of 49 movements †24.4% of 45 movements †202522.9% of 35 movements †10.9% of 55 movements16.9% of 65 movements14.3% of 77 movements20.2% of 84 movements31.0% of 87 movements45.2% of 93 movements21.5% of 93 movements30.6% of 85 movements28.1% of 89 movements22.2% of 72 movements16.3% of 49 movements †202636.1% of 36 movements †20.0% of 60 movements13.5% of 74 movements12.8% of 78 movements13.0% of 92 movements14.6% of 96 movementsno datano datano datano datano datano data
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
MonthMedianObserved rangeSample
Jan15.0%0.0–36.1%6 months, 196 flights
Feb11.1%6.7–20.0%7 months, 261 flights
Mar16.9%3.3–51.6%7 months, 338 flights
Apr15.6%12.8–100.0%7 months, 473 flights
May20.5%13.0–34.0%7 months, 522 flights
Jun23.6%14.6–45.5%7 months, 541 flights
Jul25.1%19.1–45.2%6 months, 458 flights
Aug22.2%9.0–38.5%6 months, 454 flights
Sep20.6%14.1–33.3%6 months, 444 flights
Oct21.9%12.3–28.1%6 months, 430 flights
Nov13.2%5.0–26.4%6 months, 279 flights
Dec20.4%3.3–26.5%6 months, 226 flights
Definitions, denominators and limits

The matrix shows the last eight calendar years, including an incomplete final year; the start of the archive is kept in the history above. Seasonal summaries use the whole available archive, excluding the pandemic regime 2020–2021; this is an observed range, not a forecast. Zero events, missing data and suppressed cells are marked separately. † marks a small sample, described but not ranked. For ranges the colour follows the upper bound.

Which airline has the better record here?

On the published record there is no clear winner: Ryanair 8.2% of 110 movements, Jet2.Com 19.0% of 195 movements, Ryanair Uk 24.7% of 247 movements. Observed shares differ; the mix of operations is not matched, so no causal conclusion follows.

Figures cover arrivals, July 2025 to June 2026; lower is better in every column. Carriers with fewer than twenty published flights are suppressed rather than shown as zero. The page makes no ranking: the operations behind these shares are not matched for aircraft, time of day or season.

Observed disruption share by optionEasyjet Europe25.1% of 167 flightsEasyjet Uk29.8% of 198 flightsJet2.Com19.0% of 195 flightsRyanair8.2% of 110 flightsRyanair Uk24.7% of 247 flights
Airline comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
AirlineOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
Easyjet Airlinesuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Easyjet Europe16725.1% of 167 movements0.6% of 167 movements1.2% of 167 movementsdescriptive comparison
Easyjet Uk19829.8% of 198 movementsno events in 198 movements1.5% of 198 movementsdescriptive comparison
Jet2.Com19519.0% of 195 movementsno events in 195 movements0.5% of 195 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ryanair1108.2% of 110 movementsno events in 110 movementsno events in 110 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ryanair Uk24724.7% of 247 movements0.4% of 247 movements0.8% of 247 movementsdescriptive comparison

The noise check is a descriptive approximation assuming independent operations. Delay correlation and mix differences are not estimated; no ranking is derived.

Would another UK airport have been better?

Among UK airports flying to this city with enough flights to publish, ABZ had the lowest disruption share at 9.8% of 163 movements and MAN the highest at 41.7% of 2,640 movements. This route sits at 22.7% of 917 movements.

Each figure is arrivals into that UK airport, all carriers combined, over the same twelve months. It is a historical record, not a recommendation about where to fly from, and it says nothing about getting to or from each airport on the ground.

Observed disruption share by optionAbz ↔ Alicante9.8% of 163 flightsBhx ↔ Alicante27.9% of 1,350 flightsBoh ↔ Alicante25.7% of 408 flightsBrs ↔ Alicante22.4% of 1,558 flightsCwl ↔ Alicante31.7% of 426 flightsEdi ↔ Alicante32.8% of 751 flightsEma ↔ Alicante25.7% of 1,077 flightsExt ↔ Alicante18.8% of 165 flights
Airport comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
Other UK airport to the same cityOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
Abz ↔ Alicante1639.8% of 163 movementsno events in 163 movementsno events in 163 movementsdescriptive comparison
Bhd ↔ Alicantesuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Bhx ↔ Alicante1,35027.9% of 1,350 movements0.2% of 1,350 movements0.7% of 1,350 movementsdescriptive comparison
Boh ↔ Alicante40825.7% of 408 movements0.2% of 408 movementsno events in 408 movementsdescriptive comparison
Brs ↔ Alicante1,55822.4% of 1,558 movements0.2% of 1,558 movements0.7% of 1,558 movementsdescriptive comparison
Cwl ↔ Alicante42631.7% of 426 movementsno events in 426 movementsno events in 426 movementsdescriptive comparison
Doncaster-Sheffield ↔ Alicantesuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Edi ↔ Alicante75132.8% of 751 movementsno events in 751 movements0.3% of 751 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ema ↔ Alicante1,07725.7% of 1,077 movements0.1% of 1,077 movements0.7% of 1,077 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ext ↔ Alicante16518.8% of 165 movementsno events in 165 movements1.2% of 165 movementsdescriptive comparison
Gla ↔ Alicante81522.8% of 815 movements0.5% of 815 movements0.5% of 815 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lba ↔ Alicante1,24425.9% of 1,244 movements0.6% of 1,244 movements0.4% of 1,244 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lgw ↔ Alicante2,76030.2% of 2,760 movements0.1% of 2,760 movements0.5% of 2,760 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lhr ↔ Alicantesuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Lpl ↔ Alicante1,26521.3% of 1,265 movements0.6% of 1,265 movements0.5% of 1,265 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ltn ↔ Alicante1,26332.9% of 1,263 movements0.1% of 1,263 movements0.6% of 1,263 movementsdescriptive comparison
Man ↔ Alicante2,64041.7% of 2,640 movements0.1% of 2,640 movements0.6% of 2,640 movementsdescriptive comparison
Mme ↔ Alicante15724.8% of 157 movementsno events in 157 movementsno events in 157 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ncl ↔ Alicante1,02225.7% of 1,022 movements0.4% of 1,022 movements0.3% of 1,022 movementsdescriptive comparison
Sen ↔ Alicante23831.5% of 238 movements0.8% of 238 movements0.8% of 238 movementsdescriptive comparison
Sou ↔ Alicante10925.7% of 109 movements4.6% of 109 movements2.8% of 109 movementsdescriptive comparison
Stn ↔ Alicante1,52830.4% of 1,528 movements0.1% of 1,528 movements0.7% of 1,528 movementsdescriptive comparison

Does the direction you are flying change anything?

Barely: arrivals into BFS ran 22.7% of 917 movements disrupted, departures 21.1% of 918 movements.

It matters legally as well as practically: a departure from the UK and an arrival into the UK on a UK or EU carrier fall under different conditions, and a departure delay does not establish a late arrival at your final destination.

Arrivals and departures side by side
DirectionDisruptionCancellationsOver three hours
Arrivals into BFS22.7% of 917 movements0.2% of 917 movements0.9% of 917 movements
Departures from BFS21.1% of 918 movements0.2% of 918 movements0.7% of 918 movements
Definitions, denominators and limits

CAA conditions on delays and cancellations.

How many flights here crossed the three-hour mark?

The table below counts arrivals and departures that ran more than three hours late — the threshold that is one of the conditions for compensation — across the whole archive and within the last six years.

The pound figure beside each count is arithmetic, not money anyone received: it is the count multiplied by the maximum statutory amount for this distance band. Whether any of those flights actually qualified is not knowable from this data.

DirectionWindowFlights over three hoursArithmetic statutory ceiling
ArrivalsWhole archive · Jan 2018–Jun 202632 flights out of 4,95932 × £350 = £11,200
ArrivalsLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 202619 flights out of 3,42319 × £350 = £6,650
DeparturesWhole archive · Jan 2018–Jun 202620 flights out of 4,95220 × £350 = £7,000
DeparturesLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 202614 flights out of 3,40914 × £350 = £4,900
Definitions, denominators and limits

Full formula: the count is the sum of the two tail buckets across months, carriers and service types in one direction; the ceiling is that count multiplied by the maximum statutory amount for the distance band. The condition is: if every such delay had been the carrier's fault and a claim had been filed on every one of them.

This is conditional arithmetic over operations: passenger numbers, legal applicability and the number of claims are all unknown. For departures it is an arithmetic scenario only, because arrival at the final point is not observed. For long routes the maximum ceiling is used; any reduction in the payable amount is not calculated.

The archive window is counted from the last month of data, not from today: this is not a limitation check for an individual case. The CAA states six years for England and Wales and five for Scotland. CAA: time limits and how to complain. Information, not a legal service.

The facts about this route

Route reference table: codes, distance, frequency, archive span
FieldValue
UK airportBELFAST INTERNATIONAL · BFS
Final point / countryALICANTE / SPAIN
Final point codesALC / LEAL
Great-circle distance1,870 km
Maximum statutory amount for the band£350
Average operated arrivals per day2.51
Presence in the latest twelve-month windowoperations present in every month of the latest twelve-month window
First and last active monthJan 2018–Jun 2026
Months with operations in the archive96

origin_destination is the final point of the CAA service, not evidence of a nonstop connection. The distance joins the coordinates of the named airports; the actual track is unknown. Frequency describes published operations.

What this data cannot tell you

Delay cause is not published in the regulator's open data. Monthly aggregates describe a population, not a specific flight. Cells below twenty operations are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive only and not ranked. Arrivals and departures do not add up. Cancellations are short-notice only, by the CAA definition. A movement is not the same as a scheduled flight.

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.

Data-quality counters for this route

Zero observed events does not mean zero risk. Operator coverage against the Summary file is not established in this record; comparisons are limited to the published population.

Unmatched records: 0; all recorded operations: 917; excluded by quarantine: 0.

Quick answers

How often is this route disrupted?

22.7% of 917 movements over July 2025 to June 2026. Arrivals into the UK airport; all published carriers.

How many flights are cancelled at short notice?

0.2% of 917 movements in the same window.

How many delays crossed three hours?

0.9% of 917 movements in the same window; these are observed movements, not a count of claims.

What does the delay distribution look like?

rare but severe. The class compares the tail with short delays across routes in the corpus.

What distance is used?

1,870 km, great-circle.

Can compensation entitlement be established here?

No. The cause and the circumstances of an individual flight are unknown. Official CAA conditions.

Why do some cells say "no data"?

That month is absent from the published series. Small cells carry a separate "suppressed" marker; a gap is never replaced by a zero.

How this was calculated

Dataset version, input hashes and reconstruction rules

Dataset version: 396da8dde2874f14; method route-record-v2.1.

Versioned register of every number and the entity map · Input hashes · Correction log · Reconstruction and formulas.

Reconstruction: integer counts inside the rounding bounds of shares of D, summing to M. Ambiguity is preserved as a range of feasible counts; non-convergence stays in quarantine. The map of codes and coordinates is pinned by hash alongside the data. Raw CSV files are not included in the published output.

Your trip has already gone wrong — what now?

The official route to complain

Contact the airline first, then the relevant ADR body or the CAA. The right to care is assessed separately from compensation; time limits and circumstances are checked case by case. CAA: how to complain.

Reconstruction and formulas

Open the versioned claim register

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