How much compensation for a delayed Hainan Airlines flight?
£520 each, if you land 4 hours or more late (£260 each at 3 to 4 hours)
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.
Hainan Airlines is better than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 1,200
- Landed on time
- 80.1%
- Land 3 hours or more late
- 2 a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
Every Hainan Airlines route we hold a distance for falls in the same band, so that is the figure. About 2 Hainan Airlines flights a year cross that line.
The short answer
Getting compensation from Hainan Airlines
If your Hainan Airlines flight from the UK landed 3 hours or more late, or was cancelled with less than 2 weeks' notice, everyone on the booking may be owed up to £520 each when the cause was within the airline's control. Hainan is a Chinese airline, so only flights leaving the UK or the EU are covered, not flights from China into the UK.
Is my flight from China to London covered?
No. UK and EU rules only cover an airline from outside Europe on flights leaving the UK or the EU. A late Hainan flight into London does not pay fixed compensation, though you can still ask the airline for your out-of-pocket costs.
How much is a late Hainan flight from London worth?
Its flights from the UK are long-haul, so a delay of 4 hours or more pays £520 each, and a delay of 3 to 4 hours pays half, £260 each. Children count as passengers too.
Does a cancelled Hainan Airlines flight count?
Yes, if you were told less than 2 weeks before the flight. You are owed the same as a long delay unless Hainan 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.
How far back can I claim from Hainan Airlines?
Up to six years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland. Older flights are worth checking: most passengers never claim.
What it pays
Pick the airport you flew from
Hainan Airlines flies from 2 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 Hainan Airlines 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 2 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
December 2025, when Hainan Airlines flights ran an average of 18.3 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Hainan Airlines
In the last 12 months, Hainan Airlines operated 1,200 flights at UK airports, and 0.2% were 3 hours or more late, the threshold where £260 each becomes payable, rising to £520 each from 4 hours late.
Flights are landing on time more often than last year: 80.1% ran on time against 73.6% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 16 to 9.7 minutes.
| Hainan Airlines, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 1,200 | was 1,018 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 80.1% | ▲ was 73.6% |
| Average delay | 9.7 min | ▼ was 16 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 0.2% | - |
| Cancelled | 1.9% | - |
| Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) | 2 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
Hainan Airlines' delays, month by month
Worst month: December 2025, averaging 18.3 minutes.
Where it flies
Hainan Airlines at each UK airport
| Airport | Flights | Avg delay | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 592 | 11.4 min | 0.3% | 75.9% |
| Heathrow | 322 | 6.3 min | <0.1% | 89.1% |
How to claim
Claiming from Hainan 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.
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.
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 4 hours or more on arrival pays £520 each (£260 each at 3 to 4 hours) on the distances Hainan 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.