Routes / YUL–LHR
5,215 km great circle · Over 3,500 km
Montréal YUL to London LHR delay compensation
Montréal–Trudeau International Airport to London Heathrow Airport is 5,215 km by great circle, Canada to United Kingdom. Under UK261 that is £520 per passenger when you arrive 3+ hours late.
- 1Montréal YUL
- 2London LHR
- 3Great circle 5,215 km
- 4UK261 band £520
Which rules cover YUL–LHR
Montréal → London
Whatever the airline, this direction is covered by APPR (the flight departs from Canada (Canada Transportation Act s. 86.11(1))). On an EU airline or a UK airline it is also under UK261. If the airline refuses, the complaint goes to the Canadian Transportation Agency for APPR or the airline's dispute scheme or the UK CAA for UK261.
London → Montréal
Whatever the airline, this direction is covered by UK261 (the flight departs from the UK (Article 3(1)(a)), whatever the airline) and APPR (the flight arrives in Canada (Canada Transportation Act s. 86.11(1))). If the airline refuses, the complaint goes to the airline's dispute scheme or the UK CAA for UK261 or the Canadian Transportation Agency for APPR.
What you could be owed by hours late
Arrival delay at LHR (or YUL on the return), for a delay caused by the airline, per passenger, where each rule applies:
| Hours late | UK261 | APPR large | APPR small |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours | £0 | $0 | $0 |
| 3 h 30 min | £260 | $400 | $125 |
| 4 h 30 min | £520 | $400 | $125 |
| 6 h 30 min | £520 | $700 | $250 |
| 9 h 30 min | £520 | $1,000 | $500 |
At 5,215 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. Canada's amounts rise with the delay instead, at 6 and 9 hours.
How London LHR runs
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 Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (45.467837, -73.742294) and London Heathrow Airport (51.470748, -0.459909) that is 5,215 km. The nearest band boundary is 3,500 km, 1,715 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 136 by length.
Other routes from Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (CYUL) on this site: Paris (5,524 km), Toronto (507 km), New York (537 km), Vancouver (3,682 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), Washington (5,902 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), 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 YUL–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. Canada's rules add standards of treatment — food, drink and, overnight, a hotel — when the delay is within the airline's control, including safety-related delays (ss. 11–12). 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.
APPR: If the airline refuses or does not answer, file a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency.
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 Canada 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)
- Air Canada: Flight delays, cancellations and disruptions (Air Canada)
- WestJet: Flight delay and cancellation claims (WestJet)
- Porter Airlines: Flight Delay Compensation (Porter)
- Air Transat: Claim for flight disruption (Air Transat)
- Flair Airlines: Compensation requests (Flair)
Airport coordinates: OurAirports country file (CA); OurAirports country file (GB). Airport punctuality: UK CAA: 2025 Annual Punctuality Statistics, Summary Analysis (CSV, run 25 February 2026). Rules: Air Passenger Protection Regulations, SOR/2019-150 (Justice Laws); UK Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Article 7 (legislation.gov.uk). Checked 2026-10-21. General information, not legal advice.