Air India: flights 3+ hours late or cancelled at UK airports

Of 6,164 scheduled Air India flights to and from UK airports in 2025, 4.8% were cancelled or at least 3 hours late (95% range 4.3%–5.4%), measured at the UK airport. Source: UK CAA.

How it works ↓

Data: CAA punctuality statistics, calendar year 2025 (published 25 February 2026) · calculated 3 November 2026 · Methodology and sources

4.8%3+ hours late or cancelled

6,164scheduled flights 2025

By UK airport

UK airport	Scheduled flights	3h+ late or cancelled	95% range	Cancelled
London Heathrow	4,673	3.8%	3.3%–4.4%	67
London Gatwick	860	8.2%	6.6%–10%	51
Birmingham	631	7.3%	5.6%–9.6%	30

UK airports with at least 200 scheduled flights of this airline in 2025; linked airports (500+ flights) have a page with this airline's destinations and a comparison with the other airlines there.

An Air India flight from a UK airport was disrupted three times as often as the national average in 2025 (1.6%), and a lot depends on where you fly from.

London Gatwick and Birmingham versus Heathrow

London Gatwick fares worst: 71 disruptions on 860 flights, 8.2%. In Birmingham it is 7.3%. Heathrow, with 4,673 flights, is twice as reliable at 3.8%, but there flights were more often 3+ hours late than cancelled: 112 cases against 67. It is 6,731 km from London Heathrow to Delhi (on the Heathrow – Delhi route, all airlines).

How to claim compensation

For a flight longer than 3,500 km, UK261 pays £260 for a delay of 3–4 hours and £520 if the delay exceeds 4 hours (explanation from the UK Civil Aviation Authority). The money does not arrive by itself:

The claim is sent to Air India.
The airline has 8 weeks to respond.
Silence or refusal: the next step is alternative dispute resolution (ADR), if Air India takes part in such a scheme, otherwise the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT).

Caveats

This is an upper estimate of flights where compensation may be due. Weather, air traffic control, strikes by third parties and security problems are “extraordinary circumstances” and give no right to compensation; cancellations announced 14 days or more ahead do not either.
The CAA measures delay at the UK airport (departure or arrival). The legal test is the delay on arrival at the final destination.
Flights in both directions are combined. For flights from an EU airport, EU261 applies when the airline is an EU airline (€250 / €400 / €600), UK261 when it is a UK airline.
Shares differ between airlines partly because of where and when they fly: routes to islands and airports with frequent weather or air traffic control restrictions raise the share without the airline being at fault.