TUI Airways delay compensation, and how often you'll actually need it
£220 to £520 per passenger, if your TUI Airways flight arrived 3 or more hours late
The exact figure depends on how far you were flying, and the checker works it out from your route. About 488 TUI Airways flights a year cross that line.
In the last 12 months, TUI Airways operated 61,005 flights at UK airports, and 0.8% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £220 to £520 per passenger becomes payable.
Punctuality is up on last year: 58.6% of flights ran on time against 56.6% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 27.4 to 23.8 minutes.
| TUI Airways, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 61,005 | was 62,728 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 58.6% | ▲ was 56.6% |
| Average delay | 23.8 min | ▼ was 27.4 min |
| 3h+ late (compensation threshold) | 0.8% | - |
| Cancelled | 0.1% | - |
| Flights 3h+ late (a year) | 488 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
TUI Airways' delays, month by month
Worst month: June 2026, averaging 29.6 minutes.
How to claim from TUI Airways
TUI Airways takes compensation claims through its own online form. On timing, they say: Aims to process claims within 14 days. Compensation is not paid automatically, so nothing happens until you claim.
TUI recommends claiming directly rather than via a claims company, 'as compensation claims companies will take a cut from your compensation for their services'.
If TUI Airways refuses and you think the refusal is wrong, the next step is Aviation ADR, a free independent scheme whose decision the airline has agreed to accept. You do not need a solicitor and you do not pay to use it.
You can claim directly yourself and keep the whole payout, or a claim firm will do the chasing for a share of it. Both end up at the same place.
Claim route checked against TUI Airways' own site and the CAA's dispute-scheme lists on 12 August 2026. Airlines move these pages, so tell us if a link has gone stale.
What the rules turn on
Where the flight departed decides everything, not the airline's nationality. Anything leaving a UK airport is covered by UK261 whoever operates it, and anything leaving the EU by EU261. A delay of 3 or more hours on arrival pays £220 to £520 per passenger 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.
TUI Airways at each UK airport
| Airport | 3h+ % | On-time % |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 0.7% | 53.9% |
| Gatwick | 0.9% | 57.3% |
| Birmingham | 1.0% | 60.1% |
| East Midlands International | 0.2% | 71.7% |
| Newcastle | 0.9% | 54.4% |
| Bristol | 0.7% | 61.6% |
| Glasgow | 1.1% | 60.8% |
| Cardiff Wales | 1.0% | 63.4% |
| Stansted | 1.0% | 52.2% |
| Exeter | 0.1% | 72.9% |
| Bournemouth | 0.3% | 59.4% |
| Luton | 0.6% | 51.7% |
| Belfast International | 1.9% | 58.7% |
| Aberdeen | 0.7% | 54.6% |
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Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics, July 2025 to June 2026. Analysis by CheckFlightCompensation; the CAA is credited as the data source as its publication conditions require. Figures cover the 25 largest UK airports.