Flights between Gatwick and Istanbul: what a delay is worth
Leaving Gatwick
£350 per passenger, UK261
Leaving Istanbul
£350 per passenger, UK261
Istanbul is outside the UK and EU, so coming back this only applies if a UK or EU airline operated the flight.
Either figure is payable only when the delay was within the airline's control. A technical fault, a crew shortage or a late inbound aircraft all count; genuinely extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather or an air traffic control restriction do not.
Gatwick and Istanbul are 2,460 km apart (Over 1,500 to 3,500 km), and that distance is all that decides the amount. Which figure applies depends only on which end of the route you departed from, not which way you were travelling.
In the last 12 months, 3,260 flights operated between Gatwick and Istanbul, and 0.4% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £350 per passenger becomes payable under UK261 (€400 under EU261).
Punctuality is up on last year: 73.7% of flights ran on time against 70.6% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 17.4 to 13.2 minutes.
| Gatwick to Istanbul, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights on this route | 3,260 | was 3,580 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 73.7% | ▲ was 70.6% |
| Average delay | 13.2 min | ▼ was 17.4 min |
| 3h+ late (compensation threshold) | 0.4% | - |
| Cancelled | 0.2% | - |
| Flights 3h+ late (a year) | 13 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the route both ways.
Gatwick to Istanbul, month by month
Worst month: September 2025, averaging 24.9 minutes.
Airlines flying this route
| Airline | 3h+ % | On-time % |
|---|---|---|
| Turkish Airlines | 0.2% | 74.0% |
| Wizz Air | 1.0% | 73.1% |
Your rights on this route
Every flight leaving Gatwick for Istanbul is covered by UK261, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, leaving Istanbul for Gatwick, are covered too if a UK or EU airline operated them; a flight that way on a non-UK, non-EU carrier falls outside UK261, though the Montreal Convention 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 somewhere else in Turkey? See every route between the UK and Turkey.
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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.