UK FLIGHT DELAY INDEX

derived from CAA punctuality statistics for UK reporting airports

How often are these flights late or cancelled?

LHR ↔ FARO

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 19.7% of 527 movements arriving into LHR were disrupted — that is, they landed more than fifteen minutes late or were cancelled at short notice.

Put the other way round, 80.3% of 527 movements arrived on time by the industry's fifteen-minute standard. Severe delays were rarer: no such event in this sample, which does not mean zero risk 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, 19.7% of 527 movements were disrupted and 0.8% of 527 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
19.7% of 527 movements0.8% of 527 movements19.5–50.7 min; N of delayed flights=100–233527
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: 0.8% of 527 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 min19.0%30 min10.1%60 min2.8%120 min0.8%180 min0.0%360 min0.0%
Delay ladder table: share, movements and one-in-N
DelayShare and nMovementsOne delay in every N operations
>15 min19.0% of 527 movements1005.3
>30 min10.1% of 527 movements539.9
>60 min2.8% of 527 movements1535.1
>120 min0.8% of 527 movements4131.8
>180 minno events in 527 movements0no observed events, which is not zero risk
>360 minno events in 527 movements0no observed events, which is not zero risk
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?

When this route runs late, it is usually only a little late: big blow-ups are rarer here 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 early9718.4%15–1 early19336.6%0–15 late13325.2%16–30478.9%31–60387.2%61…120112.1%121…18040.8%181…36000.0%>36000.0%D=527
Definitions, denominators and limits

Ratio of the long tail to sixteen-to-sixty-minute delays: 0.0000; 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: Oct 2020, no events in 68 movements. Worst month: Apr 2022, 62.1% of 58 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: no data×2018Feb 2018: no data×Mar 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×May 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jul 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Aug 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Sep 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Oct 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Nov 2018: no data×Dec 2018: no data×Jan 2019: no data×2019Feb 2019: no data×Mar 2019: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2019: 9.7%; sample: 31May 2019: 15.6%; sample: 32Jun 2019: 34.3%; sample: 35Jul 2019: 25.7%; sample: 35Aug 2019: 27.8%; sample: 36Sep 2019: 28.1%; sample: 32Oct 2019: 20.0%; sample: 30Nov 2019: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2019: no data×Jan 2020: no data×2020Feb 2020: no data×Mar 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×May 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jul 2020: 4.7%; sample: 43Aug 2020: 4.3%; sample: 94Sep 2020: 7.1%; sample: 99Oct 2020: 0.0%; sample: 68Nov 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jan 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2021Feb 2021: no data×Mar 2021: no data×Apr 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×May 2021: 4.0%; sample: 50Jun 2021: 5.1%; sample: 79Jul 2021: 8.1%; sample: 74Aug 2021: 2.4%; sample: 82Sep 2021: 16.3%; sample: 92Oct 2021: 13.0%; sample: 108Nov 2021: 17.9%; sample: 28Dec 2021: 19.0%; sample: 21Jan 2022: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2022Feb 2022: 35.0%; sample: 20Mar 2022: 23.7%; sample: 38Apr 2022: 62.1%; sample: 58May 2022: 35.9%; sample: 64Jun 2022: 44.6%; sample: 65Jul 2022: 51.3%; sample: 76Aug 2022: 12.3%; sample: 73Sep 2022: 49.4%; sample: 77Oct 2022: 25.4%; sample: 71Nov 2022: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2022: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jan 2023: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2023Feb 2023: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Mar 2023: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2023: 33.9%; sample: 62May 2023: 53.3%; sample: 60Jun 2023: 46.7%; sample: 60Jul 2023: 39.1%; sample: 64Aug 2023: 39.0%; sample: 59Sep 2023: 44.8%; sample: 58Oct 2023: 32.1%; sample: 53Nov 2023: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2023: no data×Jan 2024: no data×2024Feb 2024: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Mar 2024: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2024: 25.4%; sample: 63May 2024: 28.6%; sample: 63Jun 2024: 40.7%; sample: 59Jul 2024: 39.3%; sample: 61Aug 2024: 39.1%; sample: 64Sep 2024: 37.7%; sample: 61Oct 2024: 35.2%; sample: 54Nov 2024: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2024: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jan 2025: no data×2025Feb 2025: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Mar 2025: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2025: 8.7%; sample: 69May 2025: 21.9%; sample: 73Jun 2025: 18.5%; sample: 65Jul 2025: 25.4%; sample: 71Aug 2025: 13.2%; sample: 76Sep 2025: 28.8%; sample: 66Oct 2025: 18.6%; sample: 59Nov 2025: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2025: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jan 2026: no data×2026Feb 2026: no data×Mar 2026: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2026: 11.6%; sample: 69May 2026: 24.1%; sample: 79Jun 2026: 21.3%; sample: 75Pandemic 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 2018no data
Feb 2018no data
Mar 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
May 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jul 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Aug 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Sep 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Oct 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Nov 2018no data
Dec 2018no data
Jan 2019no data
Feb 2019no data
Mar 2019suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 20199.7% of 31 movements — small sample, not ranked
May 201915.6% of 32 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jun 201934.3% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jul 201925.7% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Aug 201927.8% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked
Sep 201928.1% of 32 movements — small sample, not ranked
Oct 201920.0% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked
Nov 2019suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2019no data
Jan 2020no data
Feb 2020no data
Mar 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
May 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jul 20204.7% of 43 movements — small sample, not ranked
Aug 20204.3% of 94 movements
Sep 20207.1% of 99 movements
Oct 2020no events in 68 movements
Nov 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jan 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 2021no data
Mar 2021no data
Apr 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
May 20214.0% of 50 movements
Jun 20215.1% of 79 movements
Jul 20218.1% of 74 movements
Aug 20212.4% of 82 movements
Sep 202116.3% of 92 movements
Oct 202113.0% of 108 movements
Nov 202117.9% of 28 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202119.0% of 21 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 2022suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 202235.0% of 20 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202223.7% of 38 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 202262.1% of 58 movements
May 202235.9% of 64 movements
Jun 202244.6% of 65 movements
Jul 202251.3% of 76 movements
Aug 202212.3% of 73 movements
Sep 202249.4% of 77 movements
Oct 202225.4% of 71 movements
Nov 2022suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2022suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jan 2023suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 2023suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Mar 2023suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 202333.9% of 62 movements
May 202353.3% of 60 movements
Jun 202346.7% of 60 movements
Jul 202339.1% of 64 movements
Aug 202339.0% of 59 movements
Sep 202344.8% of 58 movements
Oct 202332.1% of 53 movements
Nov 2023suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2023no data
Jan 2024no data
Feb 2024suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Mar 2024suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 202425.4% of 63 movements
May 202428.6% of 63 movements
Jun 202440.7% of 59 movements
Jul 202439.3% of 61 movements
Aug 202439.1% of 64 movements
Sep 202437.7% of 61 movements
Oct 202435.2% of 54 movements
Nov 2024suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2024suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jan 2025no data
Feb 2025suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Mar 2025suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 20258.7% of 69 movements
May 202521.9% of 73 movements
Jun 202518.5% of 65 movements
Jul 202525.4% of 71 movements
Aug 202513.2% of 76 movements
Sep 202528.8% of 66 movements
Oct 202518.6% of 59 movements
Nov 2025suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2025suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jan 2026no data
Feb 2026no data
Mar 2026suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 202611.6% of 69 movements
May 202624.1% of 79 movements
Jun 202621.3% of 75 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 2022Arrivals51.3% of 76 movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Departures67.1% of 76 movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Arrivals39.0% of 59 movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Departures39.0% of 59 movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Arrivalssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Departuressuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno complete baselinenot enough data: needs a complete baseline and a publishable event 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, 39.1% of arrivals were disrupted, measured across 5 Julys in the archive. April has been the calmest, at 18.5% across 6 Aprils.

Even July has ranged from 25.4% to 51.3% 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 nJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2019no datano datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movements9.7% of 31 movements †15.6% of 32 movements †34.3% of 35 movements †25.7% of 35 movements †27.8% of 36 movements †28.1% of 32 movements †20.0% of 30 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno data2020no datano datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements4.7% of 43 movements †4.3% of 94 movements7.1% of 99 movementsno events in 68 movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno datano datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movements4.0% of 50 movements5.1% of 79 movements8.1% of 74 movements2.4% of 82 movements16.3% of 92 movements13.0% of 108 movements17.9% of 28 movements †19.0% of 21 movements †2022suppressed: fewer than twenty movements35.0% of 20 movements †23.7% of 38 movements †62.1% of 58 movements35.9% of 64 movements44.6% of 65 movements51.3% of 76 movements12.3% of 73 movements49.4% of 77 movements25.4% of 71 movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2023suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements33.9% of 62 movements53.3% of 60 movements46.7% of 60 movements39.1% of 64 movements39.0% of 59 movements44.8% of 58 movements32.1% of 53 movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno data2024no datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements25.4% of 63 movements28.6% of 63 movements40.7% of 59 movements39.3% of 61 movements39.1% of 64 movements37.7% of 61 movements35.2% of 54 movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2025no datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements8.7% of 69 movements21.9% of 73 movements18.5% of 65 movements25.4% of 71 movements13.2% of 76 movements28.8% of 66 movements18.6% of 59 movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2026no datano datasuppressed: fewer than twenty movements11.6% of 69 movements24.1% of 79 movements21.3% of 75 movementsno datano datano datano datano datano data
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
MonthMedianObserved rangeSample
Janno datano datano data
Feb35.0%35.0%1 months, 20 flights
Mar23.7%23.7%1 months, 38 flights
Apr18.5%8.7–62.1%6 months, 352 flights
May26.3%15.6–53.3%6 months, 371 flights
Jun37.5%18.5–46.7%6 months, 359 flights
Jul39.1%25.4–51.3%5 months, 307 flights
Aug27.8%12.3–39.1%5 months, 308 flights
Sep37.7%28.1–49.4%5 months, 294 flights
Oct25.4%18.6–35.2%5 months, 267 flights
Novno datano datano data
Decno datano datano data
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?

Only one carrier published enough flights here to report: British Airways Plc, 19.7% of 527 movements disrupted.

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 optionBritish Airways19.7% of 527 flights
Airline comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
AirlineOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
British Airways52719.7% of 527 movements0.8% of 527 movementsno events in 527 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, CWL had the lowest disruption share at 4.8% of 84 movements and MAN the highest at 30.2% of 1,368 movements. This route sits at 19.7% of 527 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 ↔ Faro5.5% of 91 flightsBfs ↔ Faro11.9% of 798 flightsBhx ↔ Faro16.4% of 877 flightsBoh ↔ Faro12.6% of 317 flightsBrs ↔ Faro20.0% of 1,192 flightsCwl ↔ Faro4.8% of 84 flightsEdi ↔ Faro19.1% of 476 flightsEma ↔ Faro15.3% of 653 flights
Airport comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
Other UK airport to the same cityOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
Abz ↔ Faro915.5% of 91 movements1.1% of 91 movementsno events in 91 movementsdescriptive comparison
Bfs ↔ Faro79811.9% of 798 movements0.3% of 798 movements0.1% of 798 movementsdescriptive comparison
Bhd ↔ Farosuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Bhx ↔ Faro87716.4% of 877 movements0.1% of 877 movements0.3% of 877 movementsdescriptive comparison
Boh ↔ Faro31712.6% of 317 movementsno events in 317 movements0.3% of 317 movementsdescriptive comparison
Brs ↔ Faro1,19220.0% of 1,192 movements0.8% of 1,192 movements0.4% of 1,192 movementsdescriptive comparison
Cwl ↔ Faro844.8% of 84 movementsno events in 84 movements1.2% of 84 movementsdescriptive comparison
Doncaster-Sheffield ↔ Farosuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Edi ↔ Faro47619.1% of 476 movementsno events in 476 movementsno events in 476 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ema ↔ Faro65315.3% of 653 movements0.2% of 653 movementsno events in 653 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ext ↔ Faro595.1% of 59 movementsno events in 59 movementsno events in 59 movementsdescriptive comparison
Gla ↔ Faro48113.5% of 481 movements1.0% of 481 movements0.6% of 481 movementsdescriptive comparison
Iom ↔ Farosuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Jer ↔ Farosuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Lba ↔ Faro64720.9% of 647 movements0.8% of 647 movements0.8% of 647 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lcy ↔ Faro10615.1% of 106 movements0.9% of 106 movementsno events in 106 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lgw ↔ Faro2,65527.3% of 2,655 movements1.0% of 2,655 movements0.6% of 2,655 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lpl ↔ Faro76511.5% of 765 movements0.7% of 765 movements0.1% of 765 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ltn ↔ Faro1,16227.9% of 1,162 movements0.4% of 1,162 movements0.3% of 1,162 movementsdescriptive comparison
Man ↔ Faro1,36830.2% of 1,368 movements0.6% of 1,368 movements0.6% of 1,368 movementsdescriptive comparison
Mme ↔ Faro6116.4% of 61 movementsno events in 61 movementsno events in 61 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ncl ↔ Faro48512.2% of 485 movementsno events in 485 movementsno events in 485 movementsdescriptive comparison
Sen ↔ Faro14319.6% of 143 movementsno events in 143 movementsno events in 143 movementsdescriptive comparison
Sou ↔ Faro5115.7% of 51 movements2.0% of 51 movements2.0% of 51 movementsdescriptive comparison
Stn ↔ Faro1,24421.7% of 1,244 movements0.3% of 1,244 movements0.6% of 1,244 movementsdescriptive comparison

Does the direction you are flying change anything?

Barely: arrivals into LHR ran 19.7% of 527 movements disrupted, departures 21.8% of 527 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 LHR19.7% of 527 movements0.8% of 527 movementsno events in 527 movements
Departures from LHR21.8% of 527 movements0.6% of 527 movementsno events in 527 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 20269 flights out of 3,4369 × £350 = £3,150
ArrivalsLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 20269 flights out of 3,0789 × £350 = £3,150
DeparturesWhole archive · Jan 2018–Jun 20267 flights out of 3,4317 × £350 = £2,450
DeparturesLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 20267 flights out of 3,0727 × £350 = £2,450
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 airportHEATHROW · LHR
Final point / countryFARO / PORTUGAL(EXCLUDING MADEIRA)
Final point codesFAO / LPFR
Great-circle distance1,713 km
Maximum statutory amount for the band£350
Average operated arrivals per day1.43
Presence in the latest twelve-month windowoperations are not present in every month; seasonality not established
First and last active monthMar 2018–Jun 2026
Months with operations in the archive76

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: 527; excluded by quarantine: 0.

Quick answers

How often is this route disrupted?

19.7% of 527 movements over July 2025 to June 2026. Arrivals into the UK airport; all published carriers.

How many flights are cancelled at short notice?

0.8% of 527 movements in the same window.

How many delays crossed three hours?

no events in 527 movements in the same window; these are observed movements, not a count of claims.

What does the delay distribution look like?

chronically slightly late. The class compares the tail with short delays across routes in the corpus.

What distance is used?

1,713 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

Was your flight delayed 3h+? Check what you may be owed

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