Delayed or cancelled flight from Heathrow: what you are owed

Heathrow is the most punctual of London's big airports: in 2025, 76.1% of its departures left within 15 minutes of schedule, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Long delays are rare but they do happen: 890 departures (0.37%) left more than three hours late, and 3,136 departures were cancelled, 1.3% of those planned and more than at Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City combined.

Causes that usually pay compensation: a technical fault with the aircraft, crew shortages, a strike by the airline's own staff, and knock-on delays from the airline's own earlier problems. Causes that usually do not: weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control restrictions and strikes, security alerts, bird strikes, and failures at the airport itself. A fire at the North Hyde electricity substation late on 20 March 2025 cut Heathrow's power, and the airport closed for most of 21 March; a closure like that is outside the airline's control, so compensation is unlikely, but meals, hotels and rebooking were still owed.

The burden is on the airline: it must prove the extraordinary circumstance and that it could not have avoided the delay with all reasonable measures. Ask for the reason in writing before you leave the airport.

Care comes from the airline that operates your flight, not from the airport, so go to its desk in your terminal: British Airways in Terminal 5 (and some flights in Terminal 3), Virgin Atlantic, Delta and American in Terminal 3, Lufthansa, United and Aer Lingus in Terminal 2, and Qatar Airways, Air France and KLM in Terminal 4.

If the flight is cancelled, you choose between a refund within seven days and a new flight at the earliest opportunity, and the airline should look at other airlines too if they would get you there sooner. You keep the right to compensation as well, unless you were told at least 14 days ahead or offered a close alternative.

Stuck overnight, three hotels are joined to the terminals: Aerotel in Terminal 3 arrivals, the Hilton by covered walkway from Terminal 4 and the Sofitel by covered walkway from Terminal 5. Ask the airline to book you in; if it will not, a reasonably priced room and the transport to it can be claimed back with receipts.

If you booked one ticket through Heathrow, say Edinburgh to New York, what counts is how late you reach your final destination. The amount is set by the straight-line distance from where you started to where you end, not the miles flown, so Edinburgh to New York via Heathrow pays the £520 band. Miss your connection because the first flight was late, arrive three hours or more behind schedule, and you are owed compensation from the airline that operated the delayed flight.

Separate tickets are treated as separate trips, and a connection missed because of a slow security queue or arriving at the gate too late pays nothing.

Claim yourself, free. Use the airline's own claim form with your booking reference and flight number, and ask to be paid in money: you do not have to accept vouchers. If the airline says no, or has not replied after 8 weeks, take it to the airline's CAA-approved dispute scheme, which is also free: CEDR for British Airways; AviationADR for Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Air France; Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr for Lufthansa and SWISS. Apply within 12 months of the airline's final answer. If your airline belongs to no scheme, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team can take up the complaint. A court claim in England and Wales can be brought up to six years after the flight (five years if you live in Scotland).

If you would rather not chase it, AirHelp runs the claim on a no win, no fee basis: it keeps 35% of the compensation, including VAT, if it wins, plus 15% if court action is needed, and charges nothing if it does not win.

Whichever you choose, keep your boarding pass or booking confirmation, your booking reference, receipts for anything you bought while waiting, and the reason for the delay the airline gave you, ideally in writing or as a screenshot of the app.