# Belfast City Airport delays: £220–£520 under UK261 Source: https://airtravelrights.com/airports/belfast-city/ > The operating airline pays UK261 compensation, not the airport. CAA 2025: 2.30% of Belfast City flights were cancelled; 27,527 flights matched. # George Best Belfast City Airport: flight delay and cancellation rights The UK Civil Aviation Authority recorded 2.30% of flights at George Best Belfast City Airport as cancelled in 2025, and matched 27,527 flights there. Any UK261 compensation is owed by the airline that operated the flight, never the airport, and Northern Ireland sets its own court route and fees. ## Which rules cover delayed flights departing Belfast City Airport? Under UK261 article 3(1)(a), every flight that departs George Best Belfast City Airport is covered, whichever airline operates it and whoever sold the ticket, because the only test is a departure from an airport in the United Kingdom. Article 3(5) then puts the duty to pay on the operating carrier, never on the airport. Arrivals turn on the airline's licence. Under article 3(1)(b)(i), a flight into Belfast City from outside the UK is covered only if its operator holds a UK licence, as Loganair does, or an EU licence, as KLM does. The cover falls away if you already received benefits or compensation and assistance in the country you flew from. The trip home can bring in a second regime. A flight back to Belfast from an EU airport departs a Member State, so [EU261](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/) covers it in euros on any airline; UK261 adds nothing once you have had benefits or compensation and assistance under EU261 there. A single booking with a connection is judged from its first point of departure (article 3(1A)). Canada runs its own [Air Passenger Protection Regulations](https://airtravelrights.com/canada-appr/), and US federal rules differ, with [no federal compensation for a domestic delay](https://airtravelrights.com/us-dot/). The [which-law test](https://airtravelrights.com/which-law-covers-my-flight/) sorts a mixed booking, the [UK261 guide](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/) has the full rules, and the [airports index](https://airtravelrights.com/airports/) lists Belfast City beside [Belfast International](https://airtravelrights.com/airports/belfast-international/). First, find the operating carrier on your boarding pass. Source: UK261 art. 3(1)(a), 3(1)(b), 3(1A), 3(5) - legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 3(1)(a) - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15. ## How much is due for a delayed flight from Belfast City Airport? £220, £350 or £520 per passenger is due under UK261 articles 6(3) and 7(1) when a flight from Belfast City reaches its final destination three hours or more late. The band follows the distance: up to 1,500 km, 1,500 to 3,500 km, or further. The airline escapes only by proving extraordinary circumstances it could not avoid. Arrival is the moment passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft (article 2(n)), so a slow taxi counts against the airline. At 2 hours 59 minutes late nothing is owed; at 3 hours the right exists. Beyond 3,500 km, the CAA's delays page gives £260 for an arrival between three and four hours late, the reduction article 7(2) allows the airline to make, and £520 for more than four hours. Extraordinary circumstances work narrowly. Articles 5(3) and 6(4) release the airline only from the article 7 payment. Its duty to re-route or refund you under article 8, and to provide care under article 9, keeps running: meals, two calls or e-mails, and a hotel when an overnight stay becomes necessary. Note the time the doors opened, then find your band on [the distance table](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/flight-delay-compensation/); if the airline refuses to pay, [the refusal route](https://airtravelrights.com/airline-refused-compensation/) sets out the next step. Source: UK261 art. 2(n), 5(3), 6(3)-(4), 7(1)-(2), 8, 9 - legislation.gov.uk; CAA, Delays - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15. ## How often were flights at Belfast City Airport late or cancelled in 2025? 2.30% of flights at Belfast City were cancelled in 2025, the CAA reports, and the average delay across its 27,527 matched flights was 12.2 minutes. 70.0% fell within the CAA's two "on time" bands, which together run from 15 minutes early to 15 minutes late. Split into those two bands, 42.9% of matched flights ran up to 15 minutes early and 27.1% up to 15 minutes late. The cancellation share stands out: 2.30% is more than four times Belfast International's 0.51% in the same year, on 27,527 matched flights against 45,244. Several limits travel with these numbers. The CAA times flights at the runway and gate, while UK261 measures arrival when the doors open. A CAA band is a statistical bucket, not a legal threshold. The CAA counts a cancellation only when a flight is called off less than 24 hours before or after its scheduled departure; a flight withdrawn days ahead never reaches the share. The file records no causes either, so it cannot say how many passengers were owed compensation. The file leaves out all-cargo, oil-rig, air-taxi, positioning, private and military flights, and the CAA accepts no liability for reliance on it. For a claim, ask the airline in writing for your own flight's actual times. Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority, 2025 Annual Punctuality Statistics Summary Analysis - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-18. ## Where do you complain, and which Northern Ireland court takes the claim? 8 weeks without a reply to your written complaint opens alternative dispute resolution, if the operating airline belongs to one of the two CAA-approved schemes, AviationADR or CEDR. Beyond that, Northern Ireland allows six years to sue and caps small claims at £5,000. AviationADR's airline members include easyJet, Ryanair, TUI Airways and Virgin Atlantic; CEDR's include British Airways and BA CityFlyer. Neither charges the passenger. You have 12 months from the airline's final response to go to the scheme, and a decision you accept binds the airline. Where the airline sits in neither scheme, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team may take the case up, though it cannot make a binding decision. Two statutory routes lead to Northern Ireland's six years, article 4 of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and UK261 article 3(9)'s pointer to section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980, and no Northern Ireland court has said which applies; the length is the same either way. A claim of £5,000 or less uses the small claims process. The application fee is £49 up to £300, £81 up to £500, £113 up to £1,000, £163 up to £3,000 and £244 above that, so a single £520 claim pays £113. The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland can also assist Northern Ireland residents. Check your fee band before filing; [the small claims guide](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/small-claims-court/) walks through the process. Source: CAA, AviationADR and CEDR ADR pages; Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4, UK261 art. 3(9), SR 2022/158 - legislation.gov.uk; small claims fees - justice-ni.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15. General information, not legal advice. For your specific case: the CAA, the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland, Citizens Advice or a solicitor. ## Sources - Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/contents), checked 2026-09-15. - Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, art. 3 - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261), checked 2026-09-15. - Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, art. 4 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1989/1339/article/4), checked 2026-09-15. - Limitation Act 1980, s.9 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/9), checked 2026-09-15. - County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, art. 30(3) as amended by SR 2022/158 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2022/158/made), checked 2026-09-15. - Department of Justice Northern Ireland, small claims fees - [justice-ni.gov.uk](https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/articles/small-claims-fees), checked 2026-09-15. - Civil Aviation Authority, Delays - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/flight-delays-and-cancellations/delays/), checked 2026-09-15. - Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative dispute resolution - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/travel-complaints/alternative-dispute-resolution/), checked 2026-09-15. - Civil Aviation Authority, How the CAA can help - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/travel-complaints/how-the-caa-can-help/), checked 2026-09-15. - AviationADR, airline and airport members - [aviationadr.org.uk](https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/complaints-process/airline-and-airport-members-aviationadr/), checked 2026-09-15. - CEDR, Aviation - [cedr-assist.com](https://www.cedr-assist.com/consumer/aviation/overview/), checked 2026-09-15. - UK Civil Aviation Authority, 2025 Annual Punctuality Statistics Summary Analysis - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/Documents/Download/24022/3d82eddc-84f7-4692-bc12-a9ab96562d04/1712), checked 2026-09-18.