How much compensation for a delayed Saudi Arabian Airlines flight?
£520 each, if you land 4 hours or more late (£260 each at 3 to 4 hours)
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Saudi Arabian Airlines is worse than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 4,868
- Landed on time
- 71.9%
- Land 3 hours or more late
- 63 a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
Every Saudi Arabian Airlines route we hold a distance for falls in the same band, so that is the figure. About 63 Saudi Arabian Airlines flights a year cross that line.
The short answer
Getting compensation from Saudi Arabian Airlines
If your Saudi Arabian 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. Saudi Arabian Airlines is not a UK or EU airline, so only flights leaving the UK or the EU are covered, not flights from Jeddah or Riyadh into the UK.
Is my flight from Jeddah 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 Saudi Arabian Airlines flight into London does not pay fixed compensation.
How much is a late Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from the UK worth?
London to Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam is about 4,700 to 5,000 km, 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.
What if I missed my connection in Jeddah or Riyadh?
If the whole trip was one booking that started in the UK or the EU, what counts is how late you reached your final destination. Land 3 hours or more late there and you may be owed up to £520 each, even if the delay began on the second flight.
Does a cancelled Saudi Arabian 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 Saudi Arabian Airlines 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
Saudi Arabian Airlines 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 Saudi Arabian 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 75 landing 3 hours or more late (1.3%).
That works out at about 63 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
January 2026, when Saudi Arabian Airlines flights ran an average of 34.5 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Saudi Arabian Airlines
In the last 12 months, Saudi Arabian Airlines operated 4,868 flights at UK airports, and 1.3% 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 less often than last year: 71.9% ran on time against 73.0% in the twelve months before, and the average delay rose from 18.2 to 20 minutes.
| Saudi Arabian Airlines, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 4,868 | was 5,379 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 71.9% | ▼ was 73.0% |
| Average delay | 20 min | ▲ was 18.2 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 1.3% | - |
| Cancelled | 1.1% | - |
| Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) | 63 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
Saudi Arabian Airlines' delays, month by month
Worst month: January 2026, averaging 34.5 minutes.
Where it flies
Saudi Arabian Airlines at each UK airport
| Airport | Flights | Avg delay | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 3,554 | 20.4 min | 1.5% | 73.7% |
| Manchester | 690 | 18.6 min | 0.7% | 67.4% |
| Gatwick | 364 | 20.3 min | 1.1% | 65.2% |
How to claim
Claiming from Saudi Arabian 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 Saudi Arabian 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.