How much compensation for a delayed Emerald Airlines flight?
£220 each, if you land 3 hours or more late
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FreePick your airports and the date you flew. We'll list every flight on that route that day.
A few quick questions. No personal details needed.
Emerald Airlines is worse than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 20,115
- Landed on time
- 74.5%
- Land 3 hours or more late
- 181 a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
Every Emerald Airlines route we hold a distance for falls in the same band, so that is the figure. About 181 Emerald Airlines flights a year cross that line.
The short answer
Getting compensation from Emerald Airlines
If your Emerald Airlines flight landed 3 hours or more late, or was cancelled with less than 2 weeks' notice, everyone on the booking may be owed £220 each from the UK, or about £215 each (€250) from Ireland, because its routes are short. Emerald is an Irish airline with a UK arm, so flights are covered in both directions when the cause was within its control.
My flight was an Aer Lingus Regional one. Is that Emerald?
Yes, Emerald Airlines operates Aer Lingus Regional flights from airports such as Belfast City, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. The airline that flew the plane is the one that owes compensation.
Are flights between the UK and Ireland covered?
Yes, in both directions. A flight leaving a UK airport is covered whichever airline flies it, and so is a flight leaving Ireland, where the amount is paid in euros.
Does a cancelled Emerald flight count?
Yes, if you were told less than 2 weeks before the flight. You are owed the same as a long delay unless Emerald offered a replacement close to your original times, or the cause was outside its control. You can also choose a full refund instead of a new flight.
What if Emerald blames the weather?
Genuinely severe weather is usually outside the airline's control, so fixed compensation is unlikely, but Emerald must still give you food, drink and a hotel if you are stuck overnight. A delay caused by a technical fault or a crew shortage still counts, even on a stormy day.
What it pays
Pick the airport you flew from
Emerald Airlines flies from 5 of the UK airports we cover, so there is no single distance and no single figure. Open the one you flew from to see its busiest routes priced.
Watch my flight
Flying soon? We'll watch your flight
If it lands 3 hours or more late we email you what you're owed.
How bad is it
Does Emerald Airlines get delayed a lot?
Yes, more than most. It's worse than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports, with about 1 flight in 110 landing 3 hours or more late (0.9%).
That works out at about 181 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
December 2025, when Emerald Airlines flights ran an average of 21.5 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Emerald Airlines
In the last 12 months, Emerald Airlines operated 20,115 flights at UK airports, and 0.9% were 3 hours or more late, the threshold where £220 each becomes payable.
Flights are landing on time less often than last year: 74.5% ran on time against 80.5% in the twelve months before, and the average delay rose from 11.8 to 15.2 minutes.
| Emerald Airlines, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 20,115 | was 18,055 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 74.5% | ▼ was 80.5% |
| Average delay | 15.2 min | ▲ was 11.8 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 0.9% | - |
| Cancelled | 2.6% | - |
| Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) | 181 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
Emerald Airlines' delays, month by month
Worst month: December 2025, averaging 21.5 minutes.
Where it flies
Emerald Airlines at each UK airport
| Airport | Flights | Avg delay | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast City (George Best) | 14,890 | 15.3 min | 1.0% | 74.8% |
| Bristol | 2,807 | 14 min | 0.7% | 76.3% |
| Isle of Man | 1,067 | 14.7 min | 0.3% | 71.3% |
| Cardiff Wales | 557 | 16.7 min | 1.2% | 69.3% |
| Exeter | 336 | 11.2 min | 0.6% | 77.2% |
How to claim
Claiming from Emerald Airlines
Airlines rarely pay compensation on their own. Nothing happens until someone claims, and plenty of first claims come back refused when the airline blames something outside its control.
Emerald Airlines operates Aer Lingus Regional flights but has no compensation claims process of its own; its contact page directs EU261/UK261 claims to the Aer Lingus website.
The rules do not change with the airline. What decides your claim is where the flight took off and how late it landed, not whose aircraft it was.
Checked against Emerald Airlines's own site on 12 August 2026.
Your rights
What the rules turn on
Where the flight leaves from matters most. Anything leaving a UK airport is covered by the UK rules whoever operates it, and anything leaving the EU by the EU's. A flight into the UK or the EU is covered too when a UK or EU airline flies it. A delay of 3 hours or more on arrival pays £220 each on the distances Emerald Airlines flies, when the cause was within the airline's control, which covers technical faults, crew shortages and the knock-on from a late inbound aircraft. It pays nothing when the cause was genuinely extraordinary, though airlines stretch that word further than the case law supports, so a refusal on those grounds is worth testing rather than accepting.
Other airlines
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics, August 2025 to July 2026. Analysis by CheckFlightCompensation; the CAA is credited as the data source as its publication conditions require. Figures cover the 25 largest UK airports. Methodology and limitations.