Flights between the UK and Australia: what a delay is worth
Every route the CAA tracks between the UK and Australia falls in the same distance band (Over 3,500 km), so a delay of 3 hours or more pays a flat £520 per passenger under UK261 if the flight left the UK (€600 under EU261 if it left Australia instead and the airline was a UK or EU carrier). Find your route below.
| Route | 3h+ delay pays |
|---|---|
| Heathrow → Sydney | £520 |
| Heathrow → Perth (Australia) | £520 |
All 2 tracked UK ↔ Australia routes, sorted by yearly flight volume. Figures are per passenger under UK261; EU261 pays €600 for the same band.
In the last 12 months, 2,186 flights operated between the UK and Australia: 78.3% ran within 15 minutes of schedule, and 1.2% were 3 or more hours late, roughly 26 flights' worth of eligible passengers in a year. The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the route both ways.
Punctuality is up on last year: 78.3% of flights ran on time against 71.9% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 24.2 to 18 minutes.
Flights (12mo)
2,186
On time
78.3%
▲ 6.4pts vs last year
Avg delay
18 min
▼ 6.2 min vs last year
3h+ delayed
1.2%
Cancelled
1.2%
Australia, month by month
Worst month: July 2025, averaging 40 minutes.
Busiest routes between the UK and Australia
UK airports flying to Australia
| Airport | 3h+ % | On-time % |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 1.2% | 78.4% |
Airlines flying between the UK and Australia
| Airline | 3h+ % | On-time % |
|---|---|---|
| Qantas | 1.6% | 76.3% |
| British Airways | 0.5% | 82.2% |
Your rights on this route
Every flight leaving the UK for Australia is covered by UK261, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, landing in the UK from Australia, are covered too if a UK or EU airline operated them; a return flight on a non-UK, non-EU carrier falls outside UK261, though the Montreal Convention and Australia's own rules may still give you a claim. See the full breakdown on the 3-hour rule. Cancelled instead of delayed? Broadly the same amounts apply under different conditions. See cancelled flight compensation.
Flying soon? We'll watch your flight
Enter your flight and email. The moment it goes 3+ hours late or gets cancelled, we email you what you're owed and how to claim it. Free, one email, no spam.
Fly to Australia from
Airlines flying to Australia
See all countries · See all UK airports · See all airlines
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.