How much compensation for a delayed Finnair flight?
£350 each, if you land 3 hours or more late
Check your flight
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.
Finnair is better than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 5,131
- Landed on time
- 73.2%
- Land 3 hours or more late
- 10 a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
Every Finnair route we hold a distance for falls in the same band, so that is the figure. About 10 Finnair flights a year cross that line.
The short answer
Getting compensation from Finnair
If your Finnair flight landed 3 hours or more late, or was cancelled with less than 2 weeks' notice, everyone on the booking may be owed £350 each from the UK, or about £345 each (€400) from Finland, when the cause was within Finnair's control. Finnair is a Finnish airline, so flights into the UK are covered as well as flights out, and Helsinki is 1,500 to 3,500 km from Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Is my flight from Helsinki back to the UK covered?
Yes. Finnair is a Finnish airline, so a late flight from Helsinki to Heathrow, Manchester or Edinburgh is covered as well as a flight out of the UK. It pays about £345 each (€400) for a delay of 3 hours or more.
What if I missed my connection in Helsinki?
If the whole trip was one booking that started in the UK, what counts is how late you reached your final destination. On a long flight to Asia, over 3,500 km, 4 hours or more late pays £520 each, and 3 to 4 hours pays half, £260 each, even if the delay began on the first flight.
Does a cancelled Finnair flight count?
Yes, if you were told less than 2 weeks before the flight. You are owed the same as a long delay unless Finnair 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 a strike caused my Finnair delay?
A strike by the airline's own staff is not normally treated as outside its control, so it can still pay. A strike by air traffic controllers usually is outside its control, but Finnair must still give you food, drink and a hotel if you are stuck overnight.
What if Finnair blames the weather?
Genuinely severe weather is usually outside the airline's control, so fixed compensation is unlikely, but Finnair 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
Finnair flies from 3 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 Finnair get delayed a lot?
No, less than most. It's better than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports, with about 1 flight in 500 landing 3 hours or more late (0.2%).
That works out at about 10 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
January 2026, when Finnair flights ran an average of 18.7 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Finnair
In the last 12 months, Finnair operated 5,131 flights at UK airports, and 0.2% were 3 hours or more late, the threshold where £350 each becomes payable.
Flights are landing on time more often than last year: 73.2% ran on time against 69.0% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 12.6 to 11.9 minutes.
| Finnair, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 5,131 | was 5,599 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 73.2% | ▲ was 69.0% |
| Average delay | 11.9 min | ▼ was 12.6 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 0.2% | - |
| Cancelled | 1.7% | - |
| Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) | 10 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
Finnair's delays, month by month
Worst month: January 2026, averaging 18.7 minutes.
Where it flies
Finnair at each UK airport
| Airport | Flights | Avg delay | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 3,190 | 11.4 min | 0.2% | 74.4% |
| Manchester | 1,241 | 12.9 min | 0.3% | 70.7% |
| Edinburgh | 700 | 12.1 min | <0.1% | 71.9% |
From our own tracking
Recent Finnair flights we logged running late
Every Finnair flight we logged running 3 hours or more late, or cancelled, at the airports we sweep since August. Newest first, and only flights UK or EU rules cover. A cancelled row carries no figure because what it pays turns on the notice you were given. Amounts are per person on the booking (half on the longest flights that landed 3 to 4 hours late). Airlines can still dispute a claim by proving the cause was outside their control, so check yours for the real answer. We earn a fee if you claim through a Claim link.
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
14 Oct · due 09:20
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
11 Oct · due 09:20
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
9 Oct · due 09:20
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
7 Oct · due 17:05
Finnair
Helsinki → London Heathrow Airport
6 Oct · due 09:10, landed 12:36
Finnair
Helsinki → London Heathrow Airport
4 Oct · due 09:10, landed 12:20
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
1 Oct · due 09:20
Finnair
Helsinki → London Heathrow Airport
8 Sept · due 17:05
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
26 Aug · due 17:05
Finnair
Helsinki → Manchester Airport
19 Aug · due 17:05
Yours in the list? Check it free and we'll tell you what the airline owes you.
How to claim
Claiming from Finnair
Finnair does not pay compensation automatically. Nothing happens until someone claims, and plenty of first claims come back refused when the airline blames something outside its control.
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 Finnair'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 £350 each on the distances Finnair 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.