Guide

Picking someone up at the airport

When you are collecting someone from a flight, the question is simple: when will they actually land? Here is how to plan the pickup, and how to get told when the arrival time changes so nobody has to keep checking.

When will their flight land?

The time on the ticket is the scheduled arrival. On the day, the airline may publish a new estimated time, and if the plane leaves late it will usually land late too. DelayAhead shows the expected landing time for the flight and says whether it is the schedule, the airline's own new estimate or our prediction.

Our prediction comes from the plane that will operate the flight. If that plane is late arriving at the departure airport, the flight is likely to leave late, and we show when it is now expected to land. This can give you a warning before the airline updates the arrival time.

Once the flight is in the air, the result shows that it is in flight and roughly how long it has left.

Local time, and your time

All flight times on DelayAhead are shown in the local time of each airport, with the date, so a flight that crosses time zones or lands after midnight is easy to read. The arrival time is also shown in the time zone of your own device, which helps when you are arranging a pickup from another country.

Alerts for you and your driver

After checking the flight, you can get alerts about it for free, with no account needed:

• By email. Enter your email address and choose Email me alerts. We send a short message to confirm your address first, and alerts start once you confirm.
• Add a driver or family member. Under Add a driver or family member, enter up to three more email addresses. Each person gets a short email asking them to confirm, and then their own copy of each alert, so addresses aren't shared with each other. You can add a label, such as "Mum's pickup", to tell flights apart.
• On Telegram. Choose Get alerts on Telegram. Telegram opens our bot; press Start to confirm, and the updates come to that chat.

We send a message when the airline changes the departure or arrival time, or when the risk of a delay goes up, and stay quiet otherwise. Every alert email includes a link to stop the alerts. If you have an account, you can also stop alerts for a flight from My flights.

Planning the pickup

• Plan around the expected landing time, not the scheduled one, and check again before you set off.
• Landing isn't walking out. After landing, the plane taxis to the gate, then passengers may go through passport control and wait for bags. How long that takes varies a lot between airports and times of day.
• Check the terminal and the airport's pickup rules. Many airports have set pickup areas, short-stay car parks or waiting zones, and some charge for dropping off or picking up at the terminal.
• Agree a meeting point in advance, in case phones are off or the battery is low after the flight.
• For taxi drivers: an alert when the arrival time changes means fewer wasted trips and less waiting.

Good to know

Our predicted landing time is an early estimate, not an official airline notice. The airline may make up time or swap aircraft, and some flights arrive early. Alerts are triggered by the airline's own time changes and by a rise in delay risk. For the final word, use the airline's or airport's arrival information.