Gatwick Flight Delay Compensation

Overview of Gatwick airport

London Gatwick Airport (LGW) is the second busiest international airport in the UK, and the eighth busiest in Europe. Gatwick flies to more destinations than any other UK airport, and can boast that it is the world’s most efficient single runway airport for its flights that vary from scheduled low cost and charter airlines. Gatwick directly connects its passengers to more rail links than any other airport in the world, making it more even more accessible for its visitors. The average total number of daily passengers is 124,700.

Location of Gatwick airport

Gatwick Airport lies approximately 30 miles south of Central London and is located in the West Sussex countryside with the northern boundary adjoining Surrey. The site covers 8 hectares and is principally accessed via the M23. The airport has excellent rail links that extend from the site, making a short 30-minute commute to central London for its users.

History of Gatwick airport

Gatwick Airport was first opened as the Surrey Aero Club in the 1930s, and was used primarily for flying enthusiasts, but it soon became licensed as a public aerodrome for overflow from London Croydon Airport. The airport provided a regular service to Paris and gained its first scheduled flights to Belfast and Paris from Hillman’s Airways – whose descendants are British Airways, and who still fly from Gatwick today. 

Gatwick airport facts

• Gatwick Airport is used by over 90 airlines flying to 228 destinations in 74 countries.

• Gatwick Airport was the first airport in the world to have a mainline rail link and dedicated train station.

• Gatwick is a base for scheduled flights from the following airlines; British Airways (BA), EasyJet, Monarch Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Virgin Atlantic and charter operators such as Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways.

• Of Gatwick's 45.6 million passengers in 2017, 63% were UK citizens; the remaining 37% were from overseas.

• 83% of Gatwick’s users are leisure travellers, with the remaining 17% of passengers travelling for business.

• Barcelona is the most popular destination regarding passenger numbers, with 1.5 million per annum.

• There is an Aviation museum on site near the village of Charlwood.

Traffic figures for Gatwick airport

Flight delays

Before departing for Gatwick airport to catch your flight or to collect someone from arrivals, we recommend that you check the most up to date flight schedule to see if any delays have been announced. Links can be found below:

For arrivals: https://www.gatwickairport.com/flights/?type=arrivals

For departures: https://www.gatwickairport.com/flights/?type=departures

Flight delay compensation

If you find that either you or one of your family or friends has suffered a flight delay on arrival to or departure from Gatwick airport, you can check and see if you are entitled to claim compensation for the inconvenience using our Flight Delay Claim Form. It only takes a minute to check and you’re not committing to making a claim.

To qualify to receive compensation, you must be able to answer “YES” to the following questions:

• Have you flown in the past six years?

• Did you take off from within the EU or arrive in the EU aboard an EU based airline?

• Were you delayed by more than 3 hours, or was your flight cancelled?

• Was the delay due to reasons other than ‘extraordinary circumstances’?. Read more about extraordinary circumstances here.

How much compensation can I claim?

The table below lists the amounts of compensation that are available to passengers depending on the length of their flight and the duration of the delay. All amounts are set by the European Courts and detailed in legislation. The amount you receive in sterling will, of course, change depending on the exchange rate on the day of settlement.

Right to care

European law dictates that in certain circumstances, delayed airline passengers have a right to care from their airline carriers.

We strongly recommend that you locate and ask a representative of your airline if this is available as it is not always offered without request.

The care that must be provided to you will depend on the length of the delay and of scheduled your journey.

What can you claim?

• Meals and refreshments commensurate to the length of the delay
• Access to communications (telephone, email & fax)
• Hotel accommodation when an overnight stay is necessary, including transportation to and from the airport as required

Any questions?

If you have questions about the process of claiming flight delay compensation, a good place to start would be to take a look at the following sections of this website:

• Use the Flight Delay Compensation Form on this website to make a claim
• Frequently asked questions
• The claim process
• No win, No fee
• Your EU rights