How much compensation for a delayed Iberia Express flight?
£220 each, if you land 3 hours or more late
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A few quick questions. No personal details needed.
Iberia Express is better than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 1,840
- Landed on time
- 81.7%
- Land 3 hours or more late
- 2 a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
Every Iberia Express route we hold a distance for falls in the same band, so that is the figure. About 2 Iberia Express flights a year cross that line.
The short answer
Getting compensation from Iberia Express
If your Iberia Express 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 Gatwick or Manchester to Madrid, or about £215 each (€250) from Madrid, when the cause was within its control. Iberia Express is a Spanish airline, so flights into the UK are covered as well as flights out.
My booking says Iberia. Is that Iberia Express?
Often, yes. Iberia Express flies some Iberia flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Madrid, so a flight sold as Iberia can be flown by Iberia Express. Both are Spanish airlines, so the same rules and amounts apply.
Is my flight from Madrid to the UK covered?
Yes. A late flight into the UK is covered as well as the flight out, because Iberia Express is a Spanish airline. Madrid to Gatwick or Manchester is under 1,500 km, so a delay of 3 hours or more pays about £215 each (€250).
What if I missed my connection in Madrid?
If both flights were on one booking, what counts is how late you reached your final destination. Land 3 hours or more late there and the amount is set by the full distance of the journey, even if the first flight was only a little late. On a long route such as one to Latin America, 4 hours or more late pays £520 each and 3 to 4 hours pays half, £260 each.
Does a cancelled Iberia Express flight count?
Yes, if you were told less than 2 weeks before the flight. You are owed the same as a long delay unless Iberia Express 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 it pays
Pick the airport you flew from
Iberia Express 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 Iberia Express 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 1,000 landing 3 hours or more late (0.1%).
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?
July 2026, when Iberia Express flights ran an average of 15.8 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Iberia Express
In the last 12 months, Iberia Express operated 1,840 flights at UK airports, and 0.1% were 3 hours or more late, the threshold where £220 each becomes payable.
Flights are landing on time more often than last year: 81.7% ran on time against 74.6% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 13.6 to 8.4 minutes.
| Iberia Express, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 1,840 | was 2,124 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 81.7% | ▲ was 74.6% |
| Average delay | 8.4 min | ▼ was 13.6 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 0.1% | - |
| Cancelled | 0.5% | - |
| 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.
Iberia Express' delays, month by month
Worst month: July 2026, averaging 15.8 minutes.
Where it flies
Iberia Express at each UK airport
| Airport | Flights | Avg delay | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatwick | 1,288 | 6.2 min | 0.1% | 87.6% |
| Manchester | 484 | 14.6 min | 0.2% | 66.1% |
How to claim
Claiming from Iberia Express
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 3 hours or more on arrival pays £220 each on the distances Iberia Express 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.