Routes / IAD–LHR
5,902 km great circle · Over 3,500 km
Washington IAD to London LHR delay compensation
Washington Dulles International Airport to London Heathrow Airport is 5,902 km by great circle, United States to United Kingdom. Under UK261 that is £520 per passenger when you arrive 3+ hours late.
- 1Washington IAD
- 2London LHR
- 3Great circle 5,902 km
- 4UK261 band £520
Which rules cover IAD–LHR
Washington → London
Whatever the airline, this direction is covered by US DOT (the flight departs from the United States (14 CFR 260.2, "covered flight")). On an EU airline or a UK airline it is also under UK261. If the airline refuses, the complaint goes to the US DOT for the refund or the airline's dispute scheme or the UK CAA for UK261.
London → Washington
Whatever the airline, this direction is covered by UK261 (the flight departs from the UK (Article 3(1)(a)), whatever the airline) and US DOT (the flight arrives in the United States (14 CFR 260.2, "covered flight")). If the airline refuses, the complaint goes to the airline's dispute scheme or the UK CAA for UK261 or the US DOT for the refund.
What you could be owed by hours late
Arrival delay at LHR (or IAD on the return), for a delay caused by the airline, per passenger, where each rule applies:
| Hours late | UK261 | US DOT |
|---|---|---|
| 2 hours | £0 | Nothing |
| 3 h 30 min | £260 | Nothing |
| 4 h 30 min | £520 | Nothing |
| 6 h 30 min | £520 | Refund if you decline |
| 9 h 30 min | £520 | Refund if you decline |
At 5,902 km this is a long-haul flight, so the first hour of compensation is reduced: arriving 3 to 4 hours late pays £260, and the full £520 starts at 4 hours. The US column is the refund right only: an international itinerary needs 6+ hours.
How the two airports run
In June 2026, 81.9% of reporting airlines' flights arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport and 82.1% of those departing were on time (within 15 minutes), against 72.9% and 70.7% across the 30 largest US airports, according to the US DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. Arrivals here ran at or above that average. The figures cover all reported flights at the airport, mostly domestic, not this route alone.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority's figures for 2025 show 76.7% of flights at London Heathrow Airport running early or no more than 15 minutes late, against 67.3% in 2024, with an average delay of 12.8 minutes (18 in 2024). 4.2% were more than an hour late and 0.49% more than three hours — the length of delay at which UK261 starts — and 6,376 flights (1.32%) were cancelled. These are all flights at the airport, arrivals and departures, not this route alone.
The distance and the band
EU261 and UK261 measure distance "by the great circle route method" between the departure airport and the final destination. From the published coordinates of Washington Dulles International Airport (38.9445, -77.455803) and London Heathrow Airport (51.470748, -0.459909) that is 5,902 km. The nearest band boundary is 3,500 km, 2,402 km below this route, so the band is not in doubt. Among the 148 routes on this site in the over 3,500 km band, it is number 104 by length.
Other routes from Washington Dulles International Airport (KIAD) on this site: Dublin (5,464 km), Paris (6,198 km), Frankfurt (6,550 km), Munich (6,843 km), Rome (7,232 km), Lisbon (5,766 km), Brussels (6,247 km).
Other routes from London Heathrow Airport (EGLL) on this site: New York (5,540 km), Los Angeles (8,760 km), Toronto (5,707 km), Dubai (5,498 km), Boston (5,240 km), Dublin (449 km), Paris (347 km), Frankfurt (654 km), Amsterdam (370 km), Athens (2,427 km), Helsinki (1,848 km), Edinburgh (534 km), Glasgow (555 km), Chicago (6,344 km), San Francisco (8,616 km), Miami (7,109 km), Dallas (7,627 km), Atlanta (6,761 km), Newark (5,562 km), Seattle (7,702 km), Denver (7,497 km), Houston (7,763 km), Philadelphia (5,690 km), Charlotte (6,409 km), Detroit (6,045 km), Minneapolis (6,443 km), Montréal (5,215 km), Vancouver (7,579 km), Calgary (7,014 km), Halifax (4,585 km), Madrid (1,244 km), Rome (1,444 km), Lisbon (1,564 km), Copenhagen (979 km), Stockholm (1,462 km), Vienna (1,275 km), Prague (1,044 km), Budapest (1,489 km), Milan (936 km), Venice (1,151 km), Brussels (350 km), Munich (941 km), Nice (1,040 km), Warsaw (1,469 km).
If IAD–LHR is only one leg of your booking, measure to the final destination instead: a connection that makes you late at the end is compensated over the whole journey's distance.
Help at the airport while you wait
On a flight of this length, meals and refreshments are owed once the departure is 4 hours late under UK261, and a hotel with transport if you have to stay overnight — whatever caused the delay. US law sets no meal or hotel duty; the large US airlines' published commitments do, and they are on the airline pages. Keep receipts for anything you buy: it is claimed back separately from any compensation.
Claiming on this route
Claim from the operating airline directly — it costs nothing.
US DOT: If it refuses, file a complaint with the US Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection office.
UK261: If the airline's final answer is unsatisfactory, or it has not answered within eight weeks, go to the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body the airline belongs to, or to the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team if it belongs to none.
Claim pages of airlines based in United States or United Kingdom (whether they fly this exact route varies by season):
- British Airways: Flight cancellation compensation (British Airways)
- easyJet: Delays and cancellations (easyJet)
- Virgin Atlantic: Claims for flight disruption (Virgin Atlantic)
- Jet2: Flight delay and cancellation claims (Jet2)
US airlines' dashboard commitments: Alaska Airlines · Allegiant Air · American Airlines · Delta Air Lines · Frontier Airlines · JetBlue Airways · Southwest Airlines · United Airlines.
Airport coordinates: OurAirports airport page (KIAD); OurAirports country file (GB). Airport punctuality: UK CAA: 2025 Annual Punctuality Statistics, Summary Analysis (CSV, run 25 February 2026). US airport on-time rates: US DOT Air Travel Consumer Report, August 2026 (June 2026 data), Tables 3 and 4. Rules: 14 CFR 260.2 (eCFR); UK Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Article 7 (legislation.gov.uk). Checked 2026-10-21. General information, not legal advice.