Flights between Heathrow and Johannesburg: what a delay is worth
Leaving Heathrow
£520 per passenger, UK261
Leaving Johannesburg
£520 per passenger, UK261
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.
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 per passenger 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 | 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 |
| 3h+ late (compensation threshold) | 1.1% | - |
| Cancelled | 1.3% | - |
| Flights 3h+ 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
Worst month: July 2025, averaging 43.1 minutes.
Airlines flying this route
| Airline | 3h+ % | On-time % |
|---|---|---|
| British Airways | 1.6% | 76.7% |
| Virgin Atlantic | 0.1% | 88.6% |
Your rights on this route
Every flight leaving Heathrow for Johannesburg is covered by UK261, 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 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 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.