Flying at Christmas

Where December goes wrong

Christmas disruption isn't random. The same airports get hit by the same things most years. Find yours, or the one you're connecting through. This is what usually happens, not a forecast, so check the weather the week you fly.

• Delhi India

  What goes wrong

  Dense fog. Aircraft without low-visibility landing clearance are held or diverted first.

  When

  Usually late night to mid-morning, from mid-December into January.

  Recently

  15 December 2025: more than 60 flights cancelled and 250 delayed in one morning.

  What to do

  Choose an arrival after late morning if you can. Check your flight before your family leaves to collect you.

• London Heathrow United Kingdom

  What goes wrong

  Freezing fog cuts the number of planes that can land.

  When

  Cold, still mornings in winter.

  Recently

  23 January 2023: more than 85 Heathrow flights cancelled in freezing fog.

  What to do

  On a foggy forecast, early flights carry the most risk. Check the night before and in the morning.

• Amsterdam Schiphol Netherlands

  What goes wrong

  Snow and freezing spells outrun de-icing capacity.

  When

  Any freezing day, all day.

  Recently

  January 2026: KLM cancelled flights and warned its de-icing fluid was running low.

  What to do

  In a cold snap, avoid tight connections here. Leave two hours or more.

• Frankfurt Germany

  What goes wrong

  Snow and black ice slow runways and de-icing.

  When

  Snow days, December to February.

  Recently

  5 January 2025: 120 of about 1,990 flights cancelled in snow and black ice.

  What to do

  If snow is forecast, look for your airline's free rebooking offer before the day.

• Munich Germany

  What goes wrong

  Heavy, wet snow can close the airport outright.

  When

  Snow days.

  Recently

  2–5 December 2023: the airport shut, and over 80% of 771 flights were cancelled on the Tuesday.

  What to do

  When heavy snow is forecast, ask your airline about free date changes before the storm arrives.

• New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark

  What goes wrong

  Winter storms that hit all three airports at once.

  When

  Storm days, often right around the holidays.

  Recently

  26 December 2025: around 850 flights to and from the three airports cancelled in a post-Christmas snowstorm.

  What to do

  Switching between New York airports rarely helps in a storm. Rebook on a later date instead.

• Chicago O'Hare United States

  What goes wrong

  Snowstorms and de-icing queues at one of the world's biggest connecting hubs.

  When

  Storm days.

  Recently

  30 November 2025: about 300 flights cancelled and 1,600 delayed after record snowfall.

  What to do

  Book the first flight of the day, and avoid connecting here on a snowy forecast.

• Toronto Pearson Canada

  What goes wrong

  Winter storms. Airlines often cancel the day before.

  When

  The day before a big forecast storm.

  Recently

  December 2022: WestJet cancelled every Pearson flight for a day before the Christmas weekend.

  What to do

  If a storm is forecast, rebook early. Seats go fast once cancellations start.

• Dubai United Arab Emirates

  What goes wrong

  Not weather, usually: record crowds.

  When

  The Saturday before Christmas, and the days after.

  Recently

  2025: the busiest day was forecast for Saturday 20 December, with about 303,000 passengers.

  What to do

  The airport advises arriving three hours before departure. Check in online, and say goodbyes at home: in peak periods only passengers can enter the terminals.

• Doha Qatar

  What goes wrong

  Winter fog around sunrise, which can divert arriving flights to nearby airports.

  When

  Early mornings in winter.

  Recently

  December 2016: fog across Qatar and the UAE diverted flights to Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

  What to do

  Leave a generous connection if you land around dawn.

• Singapore Changi Singapore

  What goes wrong

  Crowds rather than weather.

  When

  The weekend before Christmas.

  Recently

  Saturday 20 December 2025: more than 223,000 passengers, the busiest day of the year.

  What to do

  Allow extra time at check-in and security on the weekend before Christmas.

• Sydney Australia

  What goes wrong

  Summer storms, and knock-on cancellations the next day.

  When

  Storm days in peak summer holidays.

  Recently

  Christmas Day 2023: 23 flights cancelled after Christmas Eve storms and flash flooding.

  What to do

  Don't take the last flight of the day before something you can't miss.

Your airport isn't here? Tell us on Instagram and we'll add it in the December update.

When to fly

Christmas Day is the quietest day of the year. Christmas Eve is the next best. If you can travel on either, you'll find shorter queues and more room to rebook if something goes wrong.

The busiest days depend on where you are:

Fly early in the day, with one exception. A morning flight has fewer delays stacked up ahead of it, and if it's cancelled there are more flights left that day to put you on. The exception is a fog-prone airport like Delhi, Heathrow or Doha, where the morning is the risky part.

If your dates are fixed, book now. Seats on the peak days sell out, and the last seats are the most expensive.

One ticket or two

This is the most expensive mistake people make at Christmas, and it's easy to make by accident.

One ticket means every flight is on a single booking, even if different airlines fly them. If your first flight is late and you miss the second, the airline has to get you to your destination. In the UK and EU, your rights to meals, a hotel and compensation are worked out on the whole journey.

Two tickets means separate bookings, often bought to save money. If the first flight is late and you miss the second, the second airline owes you nothing. No rebooking, no meals, no hotel. You buy a new ticket at peak-week prices. Some booking sites sell these as one trip, labelled "self-transfer". Read the small print before you pay.

If you're on two tickets anyway:

• Leave a long gap. In December, think half a day, not two hours.
• Check whether you'll need to collect your bag and check in again, and whether you need a visa to pass through the airport to do it.
• Look for travel insurance that covers missed connections.

Connections in peak week. Even on one ticket, the airline's minimum connection time is a floor, not a plan. In late December, especially through a hub that's prone to snow or fog, aim for at least two hours. If you can see you'll miss it, rebook in the airline's app while you're still on the first plane. The people who rebook first get the seats.

Gifts in your luggage

These rules apply almost everywhere:

• Don't wrap gifts in your hand luggage. If security needs to look inside, they'll unwrap them. Use gift bags, or wrap when you arrive.
• If you can spread it, pour it or squeeze it, it's a liquid. Jam, honey, chutney, sauces and soft cheese follow the liquid rules in hand luggage. Put them in your checked bag.
• Check your departure airport's liquid limit. Some airports with newer scanners allow larger containers, but many still apply 100 ml, and your return airport may not match.
• Power banks go in hand luggage, and many airlines now ban using them on board. Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Qantas and every airline flying in India are among them, and some ask you to keep them out of the overhead bin. Charge your phone before you board.
• Weigh your bag at home. Gifts push bags over the limit, and excess weight paid at the airport usually costs far more than adding a bag online.

Then check what you can bring into the country you land in. Customs allowances and food rules are set by each country, and they're stricter than most people expect, especially for food. Here are the official pages for some of the busiest Christmas destinations:

Destination not listed? Search for that country's customs authority, and use its own website rather than a travel blog.

When it goes wrong: what you're owed

The honest part first. Most passenger-rights rules pay cash only when the problem was the airline's fault. Snow and fog usually aren't, so a weather cancellation rarely earns compensation. But it almost always still earns you a new flight or a refund, and in Europe and the UK, meals and a hotel too. Most people walk away without asking.

Which rules apply depends on where you fly from, and sometimes on your airline.

• European Union

  Flights from the EU, or into the EU on an EU airline

  If it's their fault

  €250, €400 or €600 by distance, for arriving three or more hours late. Long-haul flights three to four hours late get half.

  Even in bad weather

  Meals, a hotel if you're stuck overnight, and a new flight or a refund.

  If they won't pay

  Complain to the national enforcement body in the country where it happened.

• United Kingdom

  Flights from the UK, or into the UK on a UK or EU airline

  If it's their fault

  £220, £350 or £520 by distance, for arriving three or more hours late. Long-haul flights three to four hours late get £260.

  Even in bad weather

  Meals, a hotel if you're stuck overnight, and a new flight or a refund.

  If they won't pay

  Use your airline's dispute-resolution scheme, or the Civil Aviation Authority.

• United States

  US airlines, and flights to and from the US

  If it's their fault

  No set cash amount.

  Even in bad weather

  A full cash refund if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you choose not to travel: more than three hours late for domestic flights, six for international.

  If they won't pay

  Complain to the US Department of Transportation.

• Canada

  Flights to, from and within Canada

  If it's their fault

  C$400, C$700 or C$1,000 on large airlines, for arriving three, six or nine hours late.

  Even in bad weather

  A new flight or a refund.

  If they won't pay

  Complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

• India

  Flights within India, and to and from India

  If it's their fault

  Up to ₹5,000, ₹7,500 or ₹10,000 by flight length, if the airline cancels at short notice.

  Even in bad weather

  A new flight or a full refund.

  If they won't pay

  AirSewa, the government's passenger complaints portal.

How to claim, anywhere:

1. At the airport, ask what you're entitled to before you leave the desk. Meal vouchers and hotel rooms run out fast in Christmas week. If they won't provide them, buy something reasonable yourself and keep every receipt.
2. Get the reason for the delay in writing, or screenshot the airline's message. It decides whether you're owed cash.
3. Claim from the airline directly first. Most airlines have a free online form. You don't need to give a claims company a share of what you're owed.

The EU agreed changes to its rules in June 2026, but they aren't expected to apply until 2027. This Christmas, the amounts above still apply.

Three trips, worked out

These are examples with round-number times, to show how the thinking works. Your airline's own cutoffs are what count.

The night before

Tick these off as you go. Your ticks are saved on this device.

• Check your flight status, and the weather at both ends and at your connection
• Check in online and download your boarding pass
• Work out when to leave home: your airline's bag-drop cutoff, minus the journey to the airport, minus a December buffer
• Weigh your checked bag
• Gifts unwrapped in hand luggage; anything you can spread or pour in your checked bag
• Power bank in your hand luggage, and your phone fully charged
• Medication, a charger and a change of clothes in your cabin bag
• Passport valid, and any visa or travel authorisation approved for every country you pass through
• Flight shared with whoever is collecting you
• Your airline's app installed, so you can rebook fast if you need to

Wherever home is this year, I hope you get there on time.

P.S. We'll update this guide in the first week of December with the latest rules and forecasts. Passenger rights and airline policies change, so check your airline's own page before you rely on anything here.