How much compensation for a delayed UK to Spain flight?
£220 or £350 each, if you land 3 hours or more late
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Flights between the UK and Spain are about average for the 71 countries the UK flies to most for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 296,180
- Routes tracked
- 15
- Land 3 hrs or more late
- 1,481a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
£220 or £350each if you land 3 hours or more late
Spain isn't one distance from the UK, so what a 3-hour-plus delay pays depends on the route. Find your route below, or check your flight for an exact answer.
| Route | 3 hours or more pays |
|---|---|
| Heathrow → Madrid | £220each |
| Gatwick → Barcelona | £220each |
| Gatwick → Malaga | £350each |
| Heathrow → Barcelona | £220each |
| Gatwick → Alicante | £220each |
| Manchester → Alicante | £350each |
| Manchester → Tenerife South (Reina Sofia) | £350each |
| Gatwick → Palma de Mallorca | £220each |
| Manchester → Palma de Mallorca | £350each |
| Gatwick → Tenerife South (Reina Sofia) | £350each |
| Gatwick → Madrid | £220each |
| Manchester → Barcelona | £220each |
| Manchester → Malaga | £350each |
| Bristol → Alicante | £220each |
| Stansted → Alicante | £350each |
All 15 tracked UK ↔ Spain routes, sorted by yearly flight volume. Figures are each; the EU version of the law pays €250 or €400 for the same two bands.
The figure is payable only when the delay was within the airline's control. A technical fault, a crew shortage or a late inbound aircraft all count; genuinely extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather or an air traffic control restriction do not.
How bad is it
Do flights between the UK and Spain get delayed a lot?
Not especially. They're about average for the 71 countries the UK flies to most, with 0.5% of flights landing 3 or more hours late.
That works out at about 1,481 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
Flying home rather than out?
Coming back from Spain it's €250 or €400 rather than £220 or £350, because departures from there fall under the EU version of the rules.
When is it worst?
July 2025, when flights between the UK and Spain ran an average of 24.2 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Spain
In the last 12 months, 296,180 flights operated between the UK and Spain: 71.2% ran within 15 minutes of schedule, and 0.5% were 3 or more hours late, roughly 1,481 flights' worth of eligible passengers in a year. The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the corridor both ways.
Flights are landing on time more often than last year: 71.2% ran on time against 68.9% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 17.8 to 16.3 minutes.
Flights (12mo)
296,180
On time
71.2%
▲ 2.3pts vs last year
Avg delay
16.3 min
▼ 1.5 min vs last year
3 hours or more late
0.5%
Cancelled
0.3%
Spain, month by month
Worst month: July 2025, averaging 24.2 minutes.
Busiest routes between the UK and Spain
| UK airport | Destination | 3 hours or more pays |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | Madrid | £220each |
| Gatwick | Barcelona | £220each |
| Gatwick | Malaga | £350each |
| Heathrow | Barcelona | £220each |
| Gatwick | Alicante | £220each |
| Manchester | Alicante | £350each |
| Manchester | Tenerife South (Reina Sofia) | £350each |
| Gatwick | Palma de Mallorca | £220each |
| Manchester | Palma de Mallorca | £350each |
| Gatwick | Tenerife South (Reina Sofia) | £350each |
| Gatwick | Madrid | £220each |
| Manchester | Barcelona | £220each |
| Manchester | Malaga | £350each |
| Bristol | Alicante | £220each |
| Stansted | Alicante | £350each |
Where you fly from
UK airports flying to Spain
| Airport | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|
| Gatwick | 0.6% | 70.6% |
| Manchester | 0.5% | 62.3% |
| Stansted | 0.5% | 69.8% |
| Heathrow | 0.3% | 76.8% |
| Bristol | 0.5% | 73.9% |
| Birmingham | 0.6% | 68.2% |
| Luton | 0.5% | 70.6% |
| Edinburgh | 0.4% | 68.7% |
| East Midlands International | 0.5% | 77.3% |
| Liverpool (John Lennon) | 0.3% | 81.9% |
| Leeds Bradford | 0.6% | 73.5% |
| Newcastle | 0.4% | 72.6% |
| Glasgow | 0.7% | 73.4% |
| Belfast International | 0.9% | 75.7% |
| Bournemouth | 0.3% | 72.0% |
| London City | 0.9% | 63.8% |
| Cardiff Wales | 0.5% | 71.5% |
| Southend | 0.3% | 80.8% |
| Exeter | 0.8% | 73.4% |
| Aberdeen | 0.7% | 74.5% |
| Teesside International Airport | 0.9% | 70.0% |
| Southampton | 1.8% | 67.9% |
| Belfast City (George Best) | 1.5% | 77.9% |
| Jersey | 4.0% | 52.0% |
| Isle of Man | 1.0% | 43.2% |
Who flies there
Airlines flying between the UK and Spain
| Airline | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|
| Ryanair | 0.5% | 71.1% |
| easyJet | 0.5% | 71.9% |
| Jet2.com | 0.5% | 71.9% |
| TUI Airways | 0.7% | 60.9% |
| British Airways | 0.6% | 72.4% |
| Vueling Airlines | 0.4% | 75.0% |
| Iberia | 0.2% | 78.7% |
| BA CityFlyer | 1.0% | 62.4% |
| Wizz Air | 0.5% | 76.5% |
| Iberia Express | <0.5% | 81.5% |
| Air Europa | 0.2% | 77.2% |
| Smartwings | 3.8% | 48.1% |
| Evelop | <0.5% | 68.1% |
Your rights
Your rights on this corridor
Every flight leaving the UK for Spain is covered by UK law, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, landing in the UK from Spain, are covered too if a UK or EU airline operated them; a return flight on a non-UK, non-EU carrier falls outside it, though the Montreal Convention and Spain's own rules may still give you a claim. See the full breakdown on the 3-hour rule. Cancelled instead of delayed? Broadly the same amounts apply under different conditions. See cancelled flight compensation.
From our own tracking
Recent flights from Spain that ran late
Every arrival into the airports we sweep that departed Spain and ran 3 or more hours late, or was cancelled, since August. Newest first, and only flights UK or EU rules cover. A cancelled row carries no figure because what it pays turns on the notice you were given. Amounts are per person on the booking (half on the longest flights that landed 3 to 4 hours late). Airlines can still dispute a claim by proving the cause was outside their control, so check yours for the real answer.
United Airlines
Barcelona → Newark Liberty International Airport
8 Oct · 15:05
British Airways
Barcelona → London Heathrow Airport
8 Oct · 18:10
easyJet
Menorca Island → London Luton Airport
7 Oct · 18:25
Ryanair
Alicante → Newcastle International Airport
6 Oct · 00:15 → 07:46
American Airlines
Madrid → John F. Kennedy International Airport
6 Oct · 14:20 → 20:21
British Airways
Barcelona → London Heathrow Airport
6 Oct · 09:10 → 13:08
Air Europa
Madrid → John F. Kennedy International Airport
6 Oct · 17:45 → 21:10
TUI Airways
Reus → Birmingham Airport
6 Oct · 11:35 → 14:53
British Airways
Madrid → London Heathrow Airport
6 Oct · 19:45
British Airways
Barcelona → London Heathrow Airport
6 Oct · 22:45
Delta Air Lines
Barcelona → John F. Kennedy International Airport
5 Oct · 13:45 → 19:43
American Airlines
Madrid → John F. Kennedy International Airport
5 Oct · 14:40 → 20:32
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Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics, July 2025 to June 2026. Analysis by CheckFlightCompensation; the CAA is credited as the data source as its publication conditions require. Figures cover the 25 largest UK airports. Methodology and limitations.