UK FLIGHT DELAY INDEX

derived from CAA punctuality statistics for UK reporting airports

How often are these flights late or cancelled?

LHR ↔ MALAGA

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 22.8% of 772 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, 77.2% of 772 movements arrived on time by the industry's fifteen-minute standard. Severe delays were rarer: about one arrival in every 129 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, 22.8% of 772 movements were disrupted and 0.5% of 772 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
22.8% of 772 movements0.5% of 772 movements25.8–61.1 min; N of delayed flights=172–377772
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: 0.5% of 772 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 min22.3%30 min11.9%60 min3.5%120 min1.0%180 min0.8%360 min0.1%
Delay ladder table: share, movements and one-in-N
DelayShare and nMovementsOne delay in every N operations
>15 min22.3% of 772 movements1724.5
>30 min11.9% of 772 movements928.4
>60 min3.5% of 772 movements2728.6
>120 min1.0% of 772 movements896.5
>180 min0.8% of 772 movements6128.7
>360 min0.1% of 772 movements1772.0
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 early10713.9%15–1 early28436.8%0–15 late20526.6%16–308010.4%31–60658.4%61…120192.5%121…18020.3%181…36050.6%>36010.1%D=772
Definitions, denominators and limits

Ratio of the long tail to sixteen-to-sixty-minute delays: 0.0414; 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 2020, 3.1% of 65 movements. Worst month: Sep 2022, 57.0% of 100 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: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2018Feb 2018: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Mar 2018: 42.3%; sample: 26Apr 2018: 38.5%; sample: 39May 2018: 34.3%; sample: 35Jun 2018: 48.6%; sample: 35Jul 2018: 58.3%; sample: 36Aug 2018: 25.0%; sample: 36Sep 2018: 31.4%; sample: 35Oct 2018: 44.4%; sample: 36Nov 2018: 20.0%; sample: 25Dec 2018: 23.1%; sample: 26Jan 2019: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2019Feb 2019: 16.7%; sample: 24Mar 2019: 41.4%; sample: 29Apr 2019: 29.5%; sample: 44May 2019: 20.5%; sample: 44Jun 2019: 29.5%; sample: 44Jul 2019: 32.6%; sample: 43Aug 2019: 46.7%; sample: 45Sep 2019: 38.5%; sample: 39Oct 2019: 35.9%; sample: 39Nov 2019: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2019: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jan 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2020Feb 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×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: 5.6%; sample: 72Aug 2020: 3.1%; sample: 65Sep 2020: 0.0%; sample: 42Oct 2020: 5.6%; sample: 54Nov 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Dec 2020: 4.5%; sample: 22Jan 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×2021Feb 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Mar 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Apr 2021: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×May 2021: 17.1%; sample: 35Jun 2021: 12.8%; sample: 47Jul 2021: 19.5%; sample: 77Aug 2021: 23.3%; sample: 120Sep 2021: 29.4%; sample: 126Oct 2021: 24.1%; sample: 133Nov 2021: 39.1%; sample: 46Dec 2021: 27.8%; sample: 54Jan 2022: 24.6%; sample: 572022Feb 2022: 34.6%; sample: 52Mar 2022: 38.4%; sample: 73Apr 2022: 30.2%; sample: 86May 2022: 29.1%; sample: 103Jun 2022: 41.4%; sample: 111Jul 2022: 36.6%; sample: 101Aug 2022: 26.1%; sample: 92Sep 2022: 57.0%; sample: 100Oct 2022: 30.9%; sample: 94Nov 2022: 37.0%; sample: 27Dec 2022: 61.3%; sample: 31Jan 2023: 46.2%; sample: 262023Feb 2023: 44.0%; sample: 25Mar 2023: 63.9%; sample: 36Apr 2023: 41.2%; sample: 80May 2023: 55.1%; sample: 78Jun 2023: 39.2%; sample: 79Jul 2023: 53.0%; sample: 83Aug 2023: 50.0%; sample: 78Sep 2023: 45.9%; sample: 74Oct 2023: 45.3%; sample: 75Nov 2023: 31.2%; sample: 32Dec 2023: 41.9%; sample: 31Jan 2024: 32.3%; sample: 312024Feb 2024: 20.6%; sample: 34Mar 2024: 38.6%; sample: 44Apr 2024: 46.4%; sample: 69May 2024: 42.3%; sample: 78Jun 2024: 46.2%; sample: 78Jul 2024: 37.8%; sample: 74Aug 2024: 32.5%; sample: 77Sep 2024: 56.8%; sample: 74Oct 2024: 49.3%; sample: 75Nov 2024: 17.1%; sample: 41Dec 2024: 35.1%; sample: 37Jan 2025: 43.5%; sample: 462025Feb 2025: 15.0%; sample: 40Mar 2025: 31.4%; sample: 51Apr 2025: 16.0%; sample: 81May 2025: 21.2%; sample: 85Jun 2025: 28.4%; sample: 74Jul 2025: 28.4%; sample: 74Aug 2025: 19.5%; sample: 82Sep 2025: 30.6%; sample: 72Oct 2025: 23.4%; sample: 77Nov 2025: 18.3%; sample: 60Dec 2025: 15.0%; sample: 60Jan 2026: 17.3%; sample: 522026Feb 2026: 18.8%; sample: 48Mar 2026: 27.4%; sample: 62Apr 2026: 18.6%; sample: 59May 2026: 27.3%; sample: 66Jun 2026: 25.0%; sample: 60Pandemic 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 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 2018suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Mar 201842.3% of 26 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 201838.5% of 39 movements — small sample, not ranked
May 201834.3% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jun 201848.6% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jul 201858.3% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked
Aug 201825.0% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked
Sep 201831.4% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Oct 201844.4% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked
Nov 201820.0% of 25 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 201823.1% of 26 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 2019suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 201916.7% of 24 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 201941.4% of 29 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 201929.5% of 44 movements — small sample, not ranked
May 201920.5% of 44 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jun 201929.5% of 44 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jul 201932.6% of 43 movements — small sample, not ranked
Aug 201946.7% of 45 movements — small sample, not ranked
Sep 201938.5% of 39 movements — small sample, not ranked
Oct 201935.9% of 39 movements — small sample, not ranked
Nov 2019suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 2019suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jan 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
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 20205.6% of 72 movements
Aug 20203.1% of 65 movements
Sep 2020no events in 42 movements — small sample, not ranked
Oct 20205.6% of 54 movements
Nov 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Dec 20204.5% of 22 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Feb 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Mar 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Apr 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
May 202117.1% of 35 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jun 202112.8% of 47 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jul 202119.5% of 77 movements
Aug 202123.3% of 120 movements
Sep 202129.4% of 126 movements
Oct 202124.1% of 133 movements
Nov 202139.1% of 46 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202127.8% of 54 movements
Jan 202224.6% of 57 movements
Feb 202234.6% of 52 movements
Mar 202238.4% of 73 movements
Apr 202230.2% of 86 movements
May 202229.1% of 103 movements
Jun 202241.4% of 111 movements
Jul 202236.6% of 101 movements
Aug 202226.1% of 92 movements
Sep 202257.0% of 100 movements
Oct 202230.9% of 94 movements
Nov 202237.0% of 27 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202261.3% of 31 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 202346.2% of 26 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202344.0% of 25 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202363.9% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 202341.2% of 80 movements
May 202355.1% of 78 movements
Jun 202339.2% of 79 movements
Jul 202353.0% of 83 movements
Aug 202350.0% of 78 movements
Sep 202345.9% of 74 movements
Oct 202345.3% of 75 movements
Nov 202331.2% of 32 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202341.9% of 31 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 202432.3% of 31 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202420.6% of 34 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202438.6% of 44 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 202446.4% of 69 movements
May 202442.3% of 78 movements
Jun 202446.2% of 78 movements
Jul 202437.8% of 74 movements
Aug 202432.5% of 77 movements
Sep 202456.8% of 74 movements
Oct 202449.3% of 75 movements
Nov 202417.1% of 41 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202435.1% of 37 movements — small sample, not ranked
Jan 202543.5% of 46 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202515.0% of 40 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202531.4% of 51 movements
Apr 202516.0% of 81 movements
May 202521.2% of 85 movements
Jun 202528.4% of 74 movements
Jul 202528.4% of 74 movements
Aug 202519.5% of 82 movements
Sep 202530.6% of 72 movements
Oct 202523.4% of 77 movements
Nov 202518.3% of 60 movements
Dec 202515.0% of 60 movements
Jan 202617.3% of 52 movements
Feb 202618.8% of 48 movements — small sample, not ranked
Mar 202627.4% of 62 movements
Apr 202618.6% of 59 movements
May 202627.3% of 66 movements
Jun 202625.0% of 60 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 2022Arrivals36.6% of 101 movements30.1% across 1,038 flightsreturned the next month
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Departures51.5% of 101 movements27.8% across 1,017 flightsstill above it 8 months later
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Arrivals50.0% of 78 movements46.2% across 751 flightsreturned the next month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Departures38.2% of 76 movements44.6% across 737 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Arrivals31.4% of 51 movements38.4% across 733 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Departures14.6% of 48 movements — small sample, not ranked26.0% across 720 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?

September has historically been the hardest month on this route: in a typical September, 42.2% of arrivals were disrupted, measured across 6 Septembers in the archive. February has been the calmest, at 19.7% across 6 Februarys.

Even September has ranged from 30.6% to 57.0% 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 nJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2019suppressed: fewer than twenty movements16.7% of 24 movements †41.4% of 29 movements †29.5% of 44 movements †20.5% of 44 movements †29.5% of 44 movements †32.6% of 43 movements †46.7% of 45 movements †38.5% of 39 movements †35.9% of 39 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements5.6% of 72 movements3.1% of 65 movementsno events in 42 movements †5.6% of 54 movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements4.5% of 22 movements †2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements17.1% of 35 movements †12.8% of 47 movements †19.5% of 77 movements23.3% of 120 movements29.4% of 126 movements24.1% of 133 movements39.1% of 46 movements †27.8% of 54 movements202224.6% of 57 movements34.6% of 52 movements38.4% of 73 movements30.2% of 86 movements29.1% of 103 movements41.4% of 111 movements36.6% of 101 movements26.1% of 92 movements57.0% of 100 movements30.9% of 94 movements37.0% of 27 movements †61.3% of 31 movements †202346.2% of 26 movements †44.0% of 25 movements †63.9% of 36 movements †41.2% of 80 movements55.1% of 78 movements39.2% of 79 movements53.0% of 83 movements50.0% of 78 movements45.9% of 74 movements45.3% of 75 movements31.2% of 32 movements †41.9% of 31 movements †202432.3% of 31 movements †20.6% of 34 movements †38.6% of 44 movements †46.4% of 69 movements42.3% of 78 movements46.2% of 78 movements37.8% of 74 movements32.5% of 77 movements56.8% of 74 movements49.3% of 75 movements17.1% of 41 movements †35.1% of 37 movements †202543.5% of 46 movements †15.0% of 40 movements †31.4% of 51 movements16.0% of 81 movements21.2% of 85 movements28.4% of 74 movements28.4% of 74 movements19.5% of 82 movements30.6% of 72 movements23.4% of 77 movements18.3% of 60 movements15.0% of 60 movements202617.3% of 52 movements18.8% of 48 movements †27.4% of 62 movements18.6% of 59 movements27.3% of 66 movements25.0% of 60 movementsno datano datano datano datano datano data
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
MonthMedianObserved rangeSample
Jan32.3%17.3–46.2%5 months, 212 flights
Feb19.7%15.0–44.0%6 months, 223 flights
Mar38.6%27.4–63.9%7 months, 321 flights
Apr30.2%16.0–46.4%7 months, 458 flights
May29.1%20.5–55.1%7 months, 489 flights
Jun39.2%25.0–48.6%7 months, 481 flights
Jul37.2%28.4–58.3%6 months, 411 flights
Aug29.3%19.5–50.0%6 months, 410 flights
Sep42.2%30.6–57.0%6 months, 394 flights
Oct40.2%23.4–49.3%6 months, 396 flights
Nov20.0%17.1–37.0%5 months, 185 flights
Dec35.1%15.0–61.3%5 months, 185 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?

Only one carrier published enough flights here to report: British Airways Plc, 22.8% of 772 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 Airways22.8% of 772 flights
Airline comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
AirlineOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
Blue Air Transport Aeriansuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
British Airways77222.8% of 772 movements0.5% of 772 movements0.8% of 772 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, MME had the lowest disruption share at 4.9% of 103 movements and LCY the highest at 44.4% of 284 movements. This route sits at 22.8% of 772 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 ↔ Malaga13.0% of 92 flightsBfs ↔ Malaga26.0% of 811 flightsBhx ↔ Malaga30.5% of 1,151 flightsBoh ↔ Malaga19.5% of 364 flightsBrs ↔ Malaga24.8% of 1,320 flightsCwl ↔ Malaga25.8% of 329 flightsEdi ↔ Malaga38.4% of 591 flightsEma ↔ Malaga24.1% of 806 flights
Airport comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
Other UK airport to the same cityOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
Abz ↔ Malaga9213.0% of 92 movementsno events in 92 movementsno events in 92 movementsdescriptive comparison
Bfs ↔ Malaga81126.0% of 811 movements0.1% of 811 movements1.6% of 811 movementsdescriptive comparison
Bhd ↔ Malagasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Bhx ↔ Malaga1,15130.5% of 1,151 movements0.1% of 1,151 movements0.4% of 1,151 movementsdescriptive comparison
Boh ↔ Malaga36419.5% of 364 movements0.3% of 364 movements0.3% of 364 movementsdescriptive comparison
Brs ↔ Malaga1,32024.8% of 1,320 movements0.4% of 1,320 movements0.4% of 1,320 movementsdescriptive comparison
Cwl ↔ Malaga32925.8% of 329 movements0.3% of 329 movements0.6% of 329 movementsdescriptive comparison
Doncaster-Sheffield ↔ Malagasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Edi ↔ Malaga59138.4% of 591 movements0.2% of 591 movements0.3% of 591 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ema ↔ Malaga80624.1% of 806 movements0.1% of 806 movements0.7% of 806 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ext ↔ Malaga11734.2% of 117 movements0.9% of 117 movements0.9% of 117 movementsdescriptive comparison
Gla ↔ Malaga77629.4% of 776 movements0.4% of 776 movements0.3% of 776 movementsdescriptive comparison
Iom ↔ Malagasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Jer ↔ Malagasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Lba ↔ Malaga92128.6% of 921 movements0.7% of 921 movements0.8% of 921 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lcy ↔ Malaga28444.4% of 284 movements2.8% of 284 movements1.4% of 284 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lgw ↔ Malaga3,77928.8% of 3,779 movements0.7% of 3,779 movements1.1% of 3,779 movementsdescriptive comparison
Lpl ↔ Malaga1,03321.3% of 1,033 movements0.2% of 1,033 movements0.1% of 1,033 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ltn ↔ Malaga1,16037.7% of 1,160 movements0.3% of 1,160 movements0.7% of 1,160 movementsdescriptive comparison
Man ↔ Malaga1,76436.5% of 1,764 movements0.7% of 1,764 movements0.5% of 1,764 movementsdescriptive comparison
Mme ↔ Malaga1034.9% of 103 movements1.0% of 103 movementsno events in 103 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ncl ↔ Malaga71825.2% of 718 movementsno events in 718 movements0.1% of 718 movementsdescriptive comparison
Sen ↔ Malaga27622.1% of 276 movementsno events in 276 movementsno events in 276 movementsdescriptive comparison
Sou ↔ Malagasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Stn ↔ Malaga1,37229.9% of 1,372 movements0.1% of 1,372 movements0.3% of 1,372 movementsdescriptive comparison

Does the direction you are flying change anything?

Yes: arrivals into LHR ran 22.8% of 772 movements disrupted, departures 17.9% of 764 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 LHR22.8% of 772 movements0.5% of 772 movements0.8% of 772 movements
Departures from LHR17.9% of 764 movements0.4% of 764 movements0.1% of 764 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 202670 flights out of 5,23170 × £350 = £24,500
ArrivalsLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 202653 flights out of 4,42253 × £350 = £18,550
DeparturesWhole archive · Jan 2018–Jun 20268 flights out of 5,1318 × £350 = £2,800
DeparturesLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 20267 flights out of 4,3447 × £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 / countryMALAGA / SPAIN
Final point codesAGP / LEMG
Great-circle distance1,676 km
Maximum statutory amount for the band£350
Average operated arrivals per day2.10
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 archive101

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: 772; excluded by quarantine: 0.

Quick answers

How often is this route disrupted?

22.8% of 772 movements over July 2025 to June 2026. Arrivals into the UK airport; all published carriers.

How many flights are cancelled at short notice?

0.5% of 772 movements in the same window.

How many delays crossed three hours?

0.8% of 772 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?

1,676 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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