How much compensation for a delayed Gatwick to Istanbul flight?
Check your flight
FreePick the date you flew and we'll list every Gatwick to Istanbul flight that day.
A few quick questions. No personal details needed.
£350each if you land 3 hours or more late
This route is about average for Britain's 200 busiest routes for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 3,260
- Distance apart
- 2,460 km
- Land 3 hrs or more late
- 13a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
Leaving Gatwick
£350each under UK law
Leaving Istanbul
£350each under UK law
Istanbul is outside the UK and EU, so coming back this only applies if a UK or EU airline operated the flight.
Either 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.
Gatwick and Istanbul are 2,460 km apart (Over 1,500 to 3,500 km), and that distance is all that decides the amount. Which figure applies depends only on which end of the route you departed from, not which way you were travelling.
How many were on the booking
£350 each. £1,400 for a family of four.
Everyone with their own seat is paid, children included.
What it pays
Every way a Gatwick to Istanbul flight can pay you
Find the line that matches what happened to you. The money is the same whether you landed 3 hours late or 9, because it is the distance that sets the price, not the wait.
How close the replacement flight has to be before a cancellation stops paying.
How bad is this route
Does this route get delayed a lot?
Not especially. It's about average for Britain's 200 busiest routes, with about 1 flight in 250 landing 3 or more hours late (0.4%).
That works out at about 13 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
September 2025, when flights on this route ran an average of 24.9 minutes late.
From our own tracking
Recent delays on this route
We log every arrival that runs 3 or more hours late or gets cancelled at the airports we sweep, and this route has not had one since we started tracking in August. That is a good sign rather than a gap. Today is not in that log yet, so if you are flying it now, check it live below.
See all the numbers for this route
In the last 12 months, 3,260 flights operated between Gatwick and Istanbul, and 0.4% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £350 each becomes payable under UK261 (€400 under EU261).
Flights are landing on time more often than last year: 73.7% ran on time against 70.6% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 17.4 to 13.2 minutes.
| Gatwick to Istanbul, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights on this route | 3,260 | was 3,580 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 73.7% | ▲ was 70.6% |
| Average delay | 13.2 min | ▼ was 17.4 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 0.4% | - |
| Cancelled | 0.2% | - |
| Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) | 13 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the route both ways.
Gatwick to Istanbul, month by month
Worst month: September 2025, averaging 24.9 minutes.
Airlines on this route
Airlines flying this route
| Airline | 3 hrs or more late3 hours or more late | Landed on time | If late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkish Airlines | 0.2% | 74.0% | £350each |
| Wizz Air | 1.0% | 73.1% | £350each |
Your rights
Your rights on this route
Every flight leaving Gatwick for Istanbul is covered by UK law, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, leaving Istanbul for Gatwick, are covered too if a UK or EU airline operated them; a flight that way on a non-UK, non-EU carrier falls outside it, though the Montreal Convention 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. Flying somewhere else in Turkey? See every route between the UK and Turkey.
Watch my flight
Flying soon? We'll watch your flight
If it lands 3 hours or more late we email you what you're owed.
Other routes from Gatwick
See all 200 routes · See all UK airports · See all airlines · See all countries
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.