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How much compensation for a delayed Heathrow to Johannesburg flight?

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£520each if you land 3 hours or more late

This route is worse than most of Britain's 200 busiest routes for 3-hour delays.

Flights a year
2,161
Distance apart
9,044 km
Land 3 hrs or more late
24a year

Last 12 months, CAA data

What you're owed

Leaving Heathrow

£520each under UK law

Leaving Johannesburg

£520each under UK law

Johannesburg 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.

Heathrow and Johannesburg are 9,044 km apart (Over 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.

How many were on the booking

£520 each. £2,080 for a family of four.

£520 just you
£1,040 two of you
£2,080 a family of four

Everyone with their own seat is paid, children included.

What it pays

Every way a Heathrow to Johannesburg flight can pay you

Find the line that matches what happened to you. Past 4 hours the amount stops changing, because it is the distance that sets the price, not the wait.

What you get What happened
£520each You landed 4 hours or more late Counted from when the doors opened at Johannesburg, not from when you left Heathrow. About 24 flights a year on this route land 3 hours or more late.
£260each You landed between 3 and 4 hours late On a flight this far the first hour past 3 pays half. Past 4 hours it is the full amount.
£520each plus your money back or a new flight Cancelled, and they told you less than 2 weeks before Count the days from when they told you to the day you were meant to fly. Found out at the airport? That counts. If they put you on another flight, this is still owed unless that flight left and landed close to your original times. About 28 flights a year on this route are cancelled.
£520each £260 if they get you there quickly They bumped you off a full flight This one is owed the moment it happens, before you fly, and the airline cannot make you take a voucher instead. It halves to £260 if the flight they put you on gets you there within 4 hours of your original arrival time.
£520each sometimes more You missed your next flight and got in 3 hours late Judged on when you reached your final stop, not on this leg. One ticket for the whole trip means the money is worked out on the whole trip, so a longer leg can pay more.
£520each You were flying home from Johannesburg Johannesburg is outside the UK and EU, so coming back only counts if a UK or EU airline operated the flight.
Your ticket money back They cancelled and you did not travel at all Paid in money within a week, not vouchers, and you get it whatever notice they gave you.
Food and drinks You waited 4 hours or more at the airport On a flight this far it starts at 4 hours, whatever caused the delay. Keep the receipts.
A hotel and a taxi You were stuck overnight The airline pays for the room and for getting to it. Keep the receipts.
Nothing A big storm or an air traffic hold stopped the flight Airlines blame the weather a lot and are often wrong, so it is still worth putting the flight in.

How close the replacement flight has to be before a cancellation stops paying.

How bad is this route

Does this route get delayed a lot?

Yes, more than most. It's worse than most of Britain's 200 busiest routes, with about 1 flight in 90 landing 3 or more hours late (1.1%).

That works out at about 24 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.

When is it worst?

July 2025, when flights on this route ran an average of 43.1 minutes late.

From our own tracking

Recent delays on this route

We log every arrival that runs 3 or more hours late or gets cancelled at the airports we sweep, and this route has not had one since we started tracking in August. That is a good sign rather than a gap. Today is not in that log yet, so if you are flying it now, check it live below.

See all the numbers for this route

In the last 12 months, 2,161 flights operated between Heathrow and Johannesburg, and 1.1% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £520 each becomes payable under UK261 (€600 under EU261).

The on-time rate held at 80.6%, and the average delay fell from 17.8 to 16.4 minutes.

Heathrow to Johannesburg, last 12 months
Heathrow to Johannesburg, last 12 months Figure vs year before
Flights on this route 2,161 was 2,157
Ran on time (within 15 min) 80.6% no change
Average delay 16.4 min ▼ was 17.8 min
3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) 1.1% -
Cancelled 1.3% -
Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) 24 flights/year -

The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the route both ways.

Heathrow to Johannesburg, month by month

43.1m
14.7m
8.2m
23.2m
6.9m
10.6m
21.6m
6.6m
12.2m
17.1m
19.3m
11.8m
JulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJun

Worst month: July 2025, averaging 43.1 minutes.

Airlines on this route

Airlines flying this route

Airline 3 hrs or
more late		 Landed on time
British Airways 1.6% 76.7%
Virgin Atlantic 0.1% 88.6%

Your rights

Your rights on this route

Every flight leaving Heathrow for Johannesburg is covered by UK law, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, leaving Johannesburg for Heathrow, are covered too if a UK or EU airline operated them; a flight that way on a non-UK, non-EU carrier falls outside it, 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 South Africa? See every route between the UK and South Africa.

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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. Methodology and limitations.