DXB to LHR flight delays
4,244 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · UK Civil Aviation Authority
69.72%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
2.9%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
—
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
16 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The cancellation rate for the period is 2.9%, but almost all of it belongs to one month: March 2026, when 33.77% of flights on this route did not operate. Outside that month the route cancelled at around 1%. Whatever happened in March was an event, not the normal state of this route.
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. British Airways arrived on time 10.8 points more often than Emirates over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The season swings this route hard. In June it ran 69.7 points more punctual than in March — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The route has been getting worse. The later months run 8.7 points less punctual than the earlier ones. A drift of that size is rarely weather; it is more often an airline adding frequencies faster than the airports can absorb them.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, British Airways arrived on time most often on DXB to LHR. Emirates was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in November and worst in January.
Every airline on DXB to LHR
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emirates | 2,984 | 66.79% | 2.01% | — | D |
| British Airways | 1,090 | 77.62% | 4.5% | — | D |
| Virgin Atlantic | 170 | 71.79% | 8.24% | — | F |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
LHR to DXB London back to Dubai 76.04% on time DCommon questions
Are flights from Dubai to London usually delayed?
69.72% of flights on the DXB to LHR route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Dubai to London?
British Airways, at 77.62% on time across 1,090 flights. The least punctual on the route was Emirates at 66.79%.
How often are DXB to LHR flights cancelled?
2.9% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 29 in every thousand. That is high enough that cancellation, not delay, is the risk worth planning around.
What is the best month to fly Dubai to London?
June, when 89.3% of flights arrived on time. The worst was March at 19.6%.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DXB to LHR during March 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →