Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Disruption: What July 2026 Passengers Are Owed

On 2 July 2026, passengers at the UK's three busiest airports faced widespread disruption: 45 flights cancelled and 429 delayed across Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester in a single day. The disruption hit multiple airlines at once, including British Airways, easyJet, Lufthansa, SAS, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, and American Airlines, pointing to a systemic cause such as air traffic control congestion rather than one airline's own problem.

If your flight was affected, whether that day or in the days of knock-on delays that typically follow an event like this, here's what you need to know about your rights.

Does a disruption like this qualify for compensation?

It depends on the actual cause, not the scale of the disruption. UK261 entitles you to compensation when your flight arrives 3 or more hours late or is cancelled, unless the airline can prove the cause was a genuine extraordinary circumstance outside its control.

Widespread, multi-airline disruption often points to air traffic control (ATC) congestion or restrictions. This is a grey area: ATC-imposed delays that are outside any single airline's control can sometimes count as extraordinary circumstances, but airlines still have to show they took all reasonable measures once the disruption started, such as offering rebooking promptly and minimising the knock-on delay to your specific flight. A vague "ATC delays" line in a rejection email is not enough on its own; the airline still carries the burden of proof.

What you're entitled to regardless of the cause

Whatever caused the delay, every affected passenger is entitled to duty of care while waiting: meals and refreshments, access to phone calls or email, and overnight accommodation plus transport if you were delayed until the next day. This applies even when the airline isn't liable for cash compensation.

If your flight was cancelled outright

Airlines must offer you a choice of a full refund or rerouting to your destination at the earliest opportunity. If you accepted a replacement flight that got you there significantly later than planned, your compensation eligibility is based on your final arrival delay, not the original scheduled time of the cancelled flight.

How much can you claim if you're eligible?

• £220 for flights under 1,500km
• £350 for flights between 1,500km and 3,500km
• £520 for flights over 3,500km delayed 4+ hours

What to check if you were affected

• Your actual arrival time at your final destination, not just the delay shown on the departure board
• Whether the airline's rejection (if you've already claimed and been refused) gives a specific, evidenced cause, or just a generic reference to "operational disruption"
• Whether you were rebooked onto a much later flight, which can push you into a higher compensation bracket depending on the extra delay

How to claim

Large-scale disruption days generate a high volume of claims, and airlines frequently send template rejections citing extraordinary circumstances without specific evidence for your individual flight. Don't take a first rejection as final. Klaimly checks your actual flight data, challenges vague extraordinary circumstances claims, and escalates to the airline's ADR scheme if needed, for a flat 5% fee, only if we win.

Start your claim

Enter your flight number and date and we'll verify what happened and whether you're owed compensation, in under 2 minutes.