Flight delays and cancellations are incredibly frustrating so when this happens, where do you go to find out your legal entitlements? Often it takes to find the correct website page so to make the process easier for you, our links below will direct you straight to the compensation pages of the listed airlines.
By selecting the airline of your choice, you will be able to check what you can claim:
EU Regulation 261/2004
If your flight has been cancelled or delayed you have the right to compensation under European law. Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers are entitled to up to £536 (€600) in compensation when their flight lands at their destination more than three hours late. While for cancelled flights, you have the right to take an alternative flight with the same airline to your destination, or cancel the flight and receive a full refund. But airlines don’t always have to pay out and can avoid doing so if the delay is caused by an extraordinary circumstance, such as bad weather or crew strikes.
Airlines must compensate passengers if their flight is cancelled or heavily delayed. They must also offer you:
- Meals
- Refreshments
- Hotel accommodation
as appropriate whilst you wait for a rearranged flight. There are no time or monetary limits on the provision of this assistance but if your airline does not provide assistance, then keep your spending to a minimum, and make sure you get receipts and claim reimbursement from your airline when you get home.
Under the rules, airlines must pay compensation for cancelled or heavily delayed flights, but how much you’re entitled to depends on the flight you booked and the amount of time you’ve been delayed by. At present, the flight must have departed from an EU airport, operating by any airline, or it must be arriving into an EU airport and be operated by an EU airline. The ‘EU airport’ also includes the following countries; Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
It also needs to have been at least three hours late arriving at your destination to be eligible for compensation. The amounts available start from €250 (£223) for flights of less than 1,500km long which are delayed by at least three hours and go up to £536 (€600) for flights of more than 3,500km between an EU and non-EU airport, delayed by at least four hours. Click on the airline link below to see its compensation rules and how to make a claim.
