UK FLIGHT DELAY INDEX

derived from CAA punctuality statistics for UK reporting airports

How often are these flights late or cancelled?

STN ↔ ALICANTE

In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 30.4% of 1,528 movements arriving into STN were disrupted — that is, they landed more than fifteen minutes late or were cancelled at short notice.

Put the other way round, 69.6% of 1,528 movements arrived on time by the industry's fifteen-minute standard. Severe delays were rarer: about one arrival in every 153 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, 30.4% of 1,528 movements were disrupted and 0.1% of 1,528 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
30.4% of 1,528 movements0.1% of 1,528 movements26.8–56.8 min; N of delayed flights=463–9251,528
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: 0.1% of 1,528 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 min30.3%30 min18.0%60 min6.8%120 min1.6%180 min0.7%360 min0.0%
Delay ladder table: share, movements and one-in-N
DelayShare and nMovementsOne delay in every N operations
>15 min30.3% of 1,528 movements4633.3
>30 min18.0% of 1,528 movements2755.6
>60 min6.8% of 1,528 movements10414.7
>120 min1.6% of 1,528 movements2561.1
>180 min0.7% of 1,528 movements10152.8
>360 minno events in 1,528 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?

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 early1288.4%15–1 early47431.0%0–15 late46230.2%16–3018812.3%31–6017111.2%61…120795.2%121…180151.0%181…360100.7%>36000.0%D=1,528
Definitions, denominators and limits

Ratio of the long tail to sixteen-to-sixty-minute delays: 0.0279; 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: Sep 2020, no events in 50 movements. Worst month: Jan 2018, 48.4% of 64 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: 48.4%; sample: 642018Feb 2018: 17.9%; sample: 56Mar 2018: 34.3%; sample: 67Apr 2018: 25.0%; sample: 112May 2018: 37.3%; sample: 126Jun 2018: 41.1%; sample: 129Jul 2018: 39.0%; sample: 136Aug 2018: 34.0%; sample: 150Sep 2018: 31.6%; sample: 133Oct 2018: 28.6%; sample: 112Nov 2018: 11.9%; sample: 67Dec 2018: 20.9%; sample: 67Jan 2019: 23.4%; sample: 642019Feb 2019: 12.5%; sample: 56Mar 2019: 14.9%; sample: 67Apr 2019: 21.7%; sample: 92May 2019: 36.2%; sample: 94Jun 2019: 38.9%; sample: 95Jul 2019: 27.6%; sample: 123Aug 2019: 33.3%; sample: 126Sep 2019: 23.7%; sample: 118Oct 2019: 25.5%; sample: 110Nov 2019: 11.6%; sample: 69Dec 2019: 21.4%; sample: 70Jan 2020: 10.5%; sample: 572020Feb 2020: 21.3%; sample: 61Mar 2020: 18.8%; sample: 48Apr 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×May 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2020: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jul 2020: 2.3%; sample: 43Aug 2020: 6.6%; sample: 61Sep 2020: 0.0%; sample: 50Oct 2020: 2.0%; sample: 51Nov 2020: 9.5%; sample: 21Dec 2020: 14.3%; sample: 21Jan 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: suppressed: fewer than twenty movements×Jun 2021: 0.0%; sample: 60Jul 2021: 9.2%; sample: 65Aug 2021: 4.9%; sample: 102Sep 2021: 8.0%; sample: 112Oct 2021: 10.4%; sample: 115Nov 2021: 15.6%; sample: 64Dec 2021: 12.9%; sample: 62Jan 2022: 10.0%; sample: 402022Feb 2022: 31.4%; sample: 51Mar 2022: 15.5%; sample: 71Apr 2022: 36.6%; sample: 112May 2022: 34.8%; sample: 115Jun 2022: 38.7%; sample: 111Jul 2022: 28.7%; sample: 115Aug 2022: 28.7%; sample: 115Sep 2022: 45.5%; sample: 112Oct 2022: 36.5%; sample: 115Nov 2022: 19.8%; sample: 81Dec 2022: 35.8%; sample: 81Jan 2023: 26.8%; sample: 712023Feb 2023: 31.3%; sample: 67Mar 2023: 44.8%; sample: 87Apr 2023: 35.0%; sample: 117May 2023: 32.8%; sample: 119Jun 2023: 36.4%; sample: 121Jul 2023: 38.0%; sample: 137Aug 2023: 37.0%; sample: 138Sep 2023: 33.3%; sample: 132Oct 2023: 35.8%; sample: 134Nov 2023: 31.8%; sample: 85Dec 2023: 32.9%; sample: 82Jan 2024: 20.0%; sample: 752024Feb 2024: 24.0%; sample: 75Mar 2024: 22.7%; sample: 88Apr 2024: 35.7%; sample: 129May 2024: 36.0%; sample: 136Jun 2024: 37.6%; sample: 133Jul 2024: 36.6%; sample: 142Aug 2024: 33.1%; sample: 142Sep 2024: 45.7%; sample: 138Oct 2024: 43.4%; sample: 136Nov 2024: 24.2%; sample: 99Dec 2024: 41.8%; sample: 91Jan 2025: 26.8%; sample: 822025Feb 2025: 22.0%; sample: 91Mar 2025: 29.1%; sample: 110Apr 2025: 21.9%; sample: 128May 2025: 30.5%; sample: 141Jun 2025: 34.1%; sample: 138Jul 2025: 44.5%; sample: 146Aug 2025: 30.6%; sample: 147Sep 2025: 31.2%; sample: 141Oct 2025: 36.8%; sample: 144Nov 2025: 18.9%; sample: 106Dec 2025: 18.2%; sample: 99Jan 2026: 18.2%; sample: 992026Feb 2026: 19.8%; sample: 86Mar 2026: 23.3%; sample: 120Apr 2026: 23.3%; sample: 146May 2026: 34.9%; sample: 146Jun 2026: 48.0%; sample: 148Pandemic 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 201848.4% of 64 movements
Feb 201817.9% of 56 movements
Mar 201834.3% of 67 movements
Apr 201825.0% of 112 movements
May 201837.3% of 126 movements
Jun 201841.1% of 129 movements
Jul 201839.0% of 136 movements
Aug 201834.0% of 150 movements
Sep 201831.6% of 133 movements
Oct 201828.6% of 112 movements
Nov 201811.9% of 67 movements
Dec 201820.9% of 67 movements
Jan 201923.4% of 64 movements
Feb 201912.5% of 56 movements
Mar 201914.9% of 67 movements
Apr 201921.7% of 92 movements
May 201936.2% of 94 movements
Jun 201938.9% of 95 movements
Jul 201927.6% of 123 movements
Aug 201933.3% of 126 movements
Sep 201923.7% of 118 movements
Oct 201925.5% of 110 movements
Nov 201911.6% of 69 movements
Dec 201921.4% of 70 movements
Jan 202010.5% of 57 movements
Feb 202021.3% of 61 movements
Mar 202018.8% of 48 movements — small sample, not ranked
Apr 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
May 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 2020suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jul 20202.3% of 43 movements — small sample, not ranked
Aug 20206.6% of 61 movements
Sep 2020no events in 50 movements
Oct 20202.0% of 51 movements
Nov 20209.5% of 21 movements — small sample, not ranked
Dec 202014.3% of 21 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 2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movements
Jun 2021no events in 60 movements
Jul 20219.2% of 65 movements
Aug 20214.9% of 102 movements
Sep 20218.0% of 112 movements
Oct 202110.4% of 115 movements
Nov 202115.6% of 64 movements
Dec 202112.9% of 62 movements
Jan 202210.0% of 40 movements — small sample, not ranked
Feb 202231.4% of 51 movements
Mar 202215.5% of 71 movements
Apr 202236.6% of 112 movements
May 202234.8% of 115 movements
Jun 202238.7% of 111 movements
Jul 202228.7% of 115 movements
Aug 202228.7% of 115 movements
Sep 202245.5% of 112 movements
Oct 202236.5% of 115 movements
Nov 202219.8% of 81 movements
Dec 202235.8% of 81 movements
Jan 202326.8% of 71 movements
Feb 202331.3% of 67 movements
Mar 202344.8% of 87 movements
Apr 202335.0% of 117 movements
May 202332.8% of 119 movements
Jun 202336.4% of 121 movements
Jul 202338.0% of 137 movements
Aug 202337.0% of 138 movements
Sep 202333.3% of 132 movements
Oct 202335.8% of 134 movements
Nov 202331.8% of 85 movements
Dec 202332.9% of 82 movements
Jan 202420.0% of 75 movements
Feb 202424.0% of 75 movements
Mar 202422.7% of 88 movements
Apr 202435.7% of 129 movements
May 202436.0% of 136 movements
Jun 202437.6% of 133 movements
Jul 202436.6% of 142 movements
Aug 202433.1% of 142 movements
Sep 202445.7% of 138 movements
Oct 202443.4% of 136 movements
Nov 202424.2% of 99 movements
Dec 202441.8% of 91 movements
Jan 202526.8% of 82 movements
Feb 202522.0% of 91 movements
Mar 202529.1% of 110 movements
Apr 202521.9% of 128 movements
May 202530.5% of 141 movements
Jun 202534.1% of 138 movements
Jul 202544.5% of 146 movements
Aug 202530.6% of 147 movements
Sep 202531.2% of 141 movements
Oct 202536.8% of 144 movements
Nov 202518.9% of 106 movements
Dec 202518.2% of 99 movements
Jan 202618.2% of 99 movements
Feb 202619.8% of 86 movements
Mar 202623.3% of 120 movements
Apr 202623.3% of 146 movements
May 202634.9% of 146 movements
Jun 202648.0% of 148 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 2022Arrivals28.7% of 115 movements19.0% across 1,020 flightsstill above it 8 months later
Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022Departures32.8% of 116 movements11.2% across 1,020 flightsstill above it 8 months later
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Arrivals37.0% of 138 movements34.3% across 1,223 flightsreturned the next month
NATS system failure · Aug 2023Departures41.3% of 138 movements31.5% across 1,221 flightsreturned after 2 months
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Arrivals29.1% of 110 movements33.8% across 1,407 flightsreturned the next month
Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025Departures26.6% of 109 movements37.8% across 1,404 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?

June has historically been the hardest month on this route: in a typical June, 38.7% of arrivals were disrupted, measured across 7 Junes in the archive. November has been the calmest, at 19.3% across 6 Novembers.

Even June has ranged from 34.1% to 48.0% 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 nJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec201923.4% of 64 movements12.5% of 56 movements14.9% of 67 movements21.7% of 92 movements36.2% of 94 movements38.9% of 95 movements27.6% of 123 movements33.3% of 126 movements23.7% of 118 movements25.5% of 110 movements11.6% of 69 movements21.4% of 70 movements202010.5% of 57 movements21.3% of 61 movements18.8% of 48 movements †suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movements2.3% of 43 movements †6.6% of 61 movementsno events in 50 movements2.0% of 51 movements9.5% of 21 movements †14.3% of 21 movements †2021suppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementsno events in 60 movements9.2% of 65 movements4.9% of 102 movements8.0% of 112 movements10.4% of 115 movements15.6% of 64 movements12.9% of 62 movements202210.0% of 40 movements †31.4% of 51 movements15.5% of 71 movements36.6% of 112 movements34.8% of 115 movements38.7% of 111 movements28.7% of 115 movements28.7% of 115 movements45.5% of 112 movements36.5% of 115 movements19.8% of 81 movements35.8% of 81 movements202326.8% of 71 movements31.3% of 67 movements44.8% of 87 movements35.0% of 117 movements32.8% of 119 movements36.4% of 121 movements38.0% of 137 movements37.0% of 138 movements33.3% of 132 movements35.8% of 134 movements31.8% of 85 movements32.9% of 82 movements202420.0% of 75 movements24.0% of 75 movements22.7% of 88 movements35.7% of 129 movements36.0% of 136 movements37.6% of 133 movements36.6% of 142 movements33.1% of 142 movements45.7% of 138 movements43.4% of 136 movements24.2% of 99 movements41.8% of 91 movements202526.8% of 82 movements22.0% of 91 movements29.1% of 110 movements21.9% of 128 movements30.5% of 141 movements34.1% of 138 movements44.5% of 146 movements30.6% of 147 movements31.2% of 141 movements36.8% of 144 movements18.9% of 106 movements18.2% of 99 movements202618.2% of 99 movements19.8% of 86 movements23.3% of 120 movements23.3% of 146 movements34.9% of 146 movements48.0% of 148 movementsno datano datano datano datano datano data
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
MonthMedianObserved rangeSample
Jan23.4%10.0–48.4%7 months, 495 flights
Feb22.0%12.5–31.4%7 months, 482 flights
Mar23.3%14.9–44.8%7 months, 610 flights
Apr25.0%21.7–36.6%7 months, 836 flights
May34.9%30.5–37.3%7 months, 877 flights
Jun38.7%34.1–48.0%7 months, 875 flights
Jul37.3%27.6–44.5%6 months, 799 flights
Aug33.2%28.7–37.0%6 months, 818 flights
Sep32.5%23.7–45.7%6 months, 774 flights
Oct36.2%25.5–43.4%6 months, 751 flights
Nov19.3%11.6–31.8%6 months, 507 flights
Dec27.2%18.2–41.8%6 months, 490 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 30.2% of 1,214 movements, Jet2.Com 31.2% of 311 movements. The gap between them sits inside sampling noise.

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 optionJet2.Com31.2% of 311 flightsRyanair30.2% of 1,214 flights
Airline comparison table: operations, cancellations, three-hour delays and data quality
AirlineOperationsDisruptionCancellations>180 minData quality
Ba Euroflyer British Airwayssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Easyjet Airlinesuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Easyjet Uksuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Global Reach Aviationsuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Jet2.Com31131.2% of 311 movementsno events in 311 movements0.3% of 311 movementsdescriptive comparison
Primera Air Scandinaviasuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Ryanair1,21430.2% of 1,214 movements0.1% of 1,214 movements0.7% of 1,214 movementsdescriptive comparison
Ryanair Uksuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Thomas Cook Airlinessuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed
Titan Airwayssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed: fewer than twenty movementssuppressed

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 30.4% of 1,528 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 flightsBfs ↔ Alicante22.7% of 917 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 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
Bfs ↔ Alicante91722.7% of 917 movements0.2% of 917 movements0.9% of 917 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

Does the direction you are flying change anything?

Barely: arrivals into STN ran 30.4% of 1,528 movements disrupted, departures 29.3% of 1,523 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 STN30.4% of 1,528 movements0.1% of 1,528 movements0.7% of 1,528 movements
Departures from STN29.3% of 1,523 movementsno events in 1,523 movements0.5% of 1,523 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 202664 flights out of 9,35264 × £350 = £22,400
ArrivalsLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 202645 flights out of 6,87745 × £350 = £15,750
DeparturesWhole archive · Jan 2018–Jun 202656 flights out of 9,33956 × £350 = £19,600
DeparturesLast 72 months · Jul 2020–Jun 202638 flights out of 6,86538 × £350 = £13,300
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 airportSTANSTED · STN
Final point / countryALICANTE / SPAIN
Final point codesALC / LEAL
Great-circle distance1,514 km
Maximum statutory amount for the band£350
Average operated arrivals per day4.18
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 archive100

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: 1,528; excluded by quarantine: 0.

Quick answers

How often is this route disrupted?

30.4% of 1,528 movements over July 2025 to June 2026. Arrivals into the UK airport; all published carriers.

How many flights are cancelled at short notice?

0.1% of 1,528 movements in the same window.

How many delays crossed three hours?

0.7% of 1,528 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?

1,514 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

We'll email you once; unsubscribe any time.

Related records