How reliable is London Gatwick?
Flights from LGW avoided significant airline-controlled delay in 62% of 579,130 flights in official UK CAA history — and weather is calmest in May. Here’s the full picture before you book.
Reliability score
on-time, cancellations & delays
Weather favorability
year-round climate
Origin-airport operations
What the airline-controlled delay record at LGW looks like
Avoided 15+ min controlled delay
across 579,130 flights
Source: UK CAA. Origin-grouped, cause-attributed operational history; it is not a direct departure-punctuality measure or a guarantee for any flight.
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Weather by month
When the weather works for you at London
A calm-weather score (0–100) for each month from decades of airport observations — how often conditions disrupt flying, not temperature. Higher is calmer.
Calmest month
Calmest flying weather of the year · 98/100 favorability
Roughest month
Most disruptive — low visibility & fog, high winds · 89/100 favorability
Connecting through LGW
How much layover you really need
Allow at least this between domestic flights at LGW. Below it, one small delay risks a misconnect.
International transfers add immigration and bag recheck — give yourself this buffer at LGW or more.
PlaneSane connection-time estimate tuned for LGW's terminal layout. We score every connecting itinerary against conservative connection floors.
The read on LGW
What the numbers say about flying through London Gatwick
Across official performance history, flights from London avoided significant airline-controlled delay about 62% of the time over 579,130 flights. That's a shaky record worth planning around. Pair it with a low cancellation rate of 0.9%, so flights here rarely vanish outright. When a departure does run late, the typical delay is around 21 minutes.
On weather, London is an unusually calm-weather airport year-round. May is the calmest stretch for flying, scoring 98 out of 100 for favorable conditions, while December is the most disruptive at 89, driven mainly by low visibility & fog and high winds. The year is relatively steady, so no single month stands out as one to avoid on weather alone.
If you're connecting through LGW, give yourself room. A domestic connection wants at least about 60 minutes, and international transfer wants roughly 75 minutes once immigration and a bag recheck are in the mix. Those are floors, not comfortable buffers — one inbound delay can erase them, so add margin when the connection matters.
None of this guarantees your specific flight — it’s the backdrop. To turn it into a booking, score real flights to London, read how we weigh it all in how the PlaneSane Score works, and brush up with how to pick a reliable flight and avoiding weather delays.
Common questions about LGW
- How reliable is London Gatwick (LGW)?
- Flights from London avoided significant airline-controlled delay roughly 62% of the time across 579,130 flights of official history — a shaky record worth planning around. The cancellation rate runs about 0.9%. It's advisory context, not a guarantee for any single flight.
- What is the best month to fly from LGW for good weather?
- May has the calmest flying weather at London Gatwick. December is the most disruptive, mainly from low visibility & fog and high winds.
- How much layover time do you need at LGW?
- Allow at least about 60 minutes for a domestic connection and about 75 minutes for an international one as a floor. These are minimums, not comfortable buffers — a single inbound delay can wipe them out, so add margin when you can.
Planning a trip through London?
Score real flights to and from LGW on reliability, weather, and connection safety — not just price.