Flights between Heathrow and Riyadh: what a delay is worth
Leaving Heathrow
£520 per passenger, UK261
Leaving Riyadh
£520 per passenger, UK261
Riyadh 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 Riyadh are 4,940 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, 3,757 flights operated between Heathrow and Riyadh, and 0.9% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £520 per passenger becomes payable under UK261 (€600 under EU261).
Punctuality is down on last year: 75.3% of flights ran on time against 76.9% in the twelve months before, and the average delay rose from 13.3 to 14.9 minutes.
| Heathrow to Riyadh, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights on this route | 3,757 | was 3,332 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 75.3% | ▼ was 76.9% |
| Average delay | 14.9 min | ▲ was 13.3 min |
| 3h+ late (compensation threshold) | 0.9% | - |
| Cancelled | 2.7% | - |
| Flights 3h+ late (a year) | 34 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the route both ways.
Heathrow to Riyadh, month by month
Worst month: March 2026, averaging 35.4 minutes.
Airlines flying this route
| Airline | 3h+ % | On-time % |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabian Airlines | 1.4% | 71.4% |
| British Airways | 0.2% | 77.4% |
| Virgin Atlantic | 0.4% | 80.7% |
| Riyadh Air | 0.7% | 83.6% |
Your rights on this route
Every flight leaving Heathrow for Riyadh is covered by UK261, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, leaving Riyadh 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 Saudi Arabia? See every route between the UK and Saudi Arabia.
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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.