Etihad: flights 3+ hours late or cancelled at UK airports

Of 4,181 scheduled Etihad flights to and from UK airports in 2025, 0.7% were cancelled or at least 3 hours late (95% range 0.5%–1.0%), 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

0.7%3+ hours late or cancelled

4,181scheduled flights 2025

By UK airport

UK airport	Scheduled flights	3h+ late or cancelled	95% range	Cancelled
London Heathrow	2,923	0.7%	0.5%–1.1%	9
Manchester	1,257	0.7%	0.4%–1.4%	4

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.

Etihad served just two UK airports in 2025, London Heathrow (2,923 flights) and Manchester (1,257), and the share of disrupted flights is identical at both, 0.7%. That is less than half the national average (1.6%), so your choice of airport made no difference to the risk.

Why you should read that 0.7% as a range

There are few flights, and every disruption moves the percentage. At Manchester there were 9 disruptions over the year (5 flights 3+ hours late and 4 cancellations), and the 95% range there runs from 0.4% to 1.4%. So comparing Etihad with Emirates by tenths of a percent is pointless. The Manchester – Abu Dhabi route counts all airlines together.

If your departure to Abu Dhabi is delayed

It is 5,516 km from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi. On a flight longer than 3,500 km, the right to care starts after 4 hours' delay to departure: food and drink, two phone calls or emails, and, for an overnight delay, a hotel room and transfers. Compensation is worked out separately, on arrival: £260 for a delay of 3–4 hours and £520 for longer, according to the guidance from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

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.