AirHelp, the leading travel tech company supporting passengers with flight disruptions, today reveals the best and worst-performing London airports in 2024. This report examines five major London airports: City, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, and Stansted.

With over 542,000 registered flights departing from London airports in 2024, more than 87.5 million people planned a trip during this period. AirHelp’s data revealed approximately 29 million passengers (33%) experienced disruptions, with 595,000 people facing significant disruptions of over three hours when departing from a London airport last year.

Disruptions and cancellations

London Gatwick Airport recorded the highest rate of disruptions at 38%, impacting over 8,140,000 people, compared to London City Airport which came out on top with only 24% (510,000 passengers) facing disruptions. When looking at the number of passengers facing delays of over three hours, Gatwick and Luton airports had the highest rates, with 181,000 and 71,000 passengers (0.9%) experiencing significant delays. In contrast, London City Airport had the lowest rate, with only 3,200 passengers (0.2%) affected.

Throughout 2024, the cancellation rate across the five London airports averaged at 2%, with over 1.8 million travellers having their flights cancelled. Unsurprisingly, passengers travelling from Gatwick Airport faced the highest number of cancellations at 4%, impacting over 800,000 UK travellers, compared to Stansted Airport’s rate of 1% (130,000 passengers). Despite London City Airport having the lowest number of disruptions last year, it recorded the second-highest cancellation rate, affecting 3% of passengers (67,000).

Eligibility for compensation

Under UK 261 and EC 261 regulations, UK passengers are eligible for flight compensation when facing delays of over three hours or more, or if their flight was impacted by cancellations less than 14 days before the planned departure date. From January to December 2024, more than 1.7 million people may have been entitled to claim compensation across the five analysed London airports, equating to 2% of all recorded passengers.

Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, concludes, “2024 was an incredibly tumultuous year for the aviation industry, with strikes, extreme weather, and technological faults impacting the customer experience. In 2025, passengers must know their rights and what compensation they are entitled to, should further obstacles arise. ”