EU261 compensation, what you are actually owed
If you arrived at your final destination three hours or more late on a flight covered by EU261, the airline owes you €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance, unless it proves both that an extraordinary circumstance occurred and that it took all reasonable measures. Food, drink and a hotel are owed separately, even when compensation is not.
Most of the web is currently wrong about this
The European Parliament adopted the revised regulation on 7 July 2026, by 646 votes to 12, and the Council cleared it on 13 July. Many pages, including Wikipedia at the time of writing, still describe the Council’s June 2025 negotiating position, which was defeated: four and six-hour thresholds and €600 cut to €500. Neither happened. The three-hour threshold and the €250 / €400 / €600 amounts survived intact.
What you are owed
| Flight distance | EU261 | UK261 |
|---|---|---|
| 1,500 km or less | €250 | £220 |
| Over 1,500 km within the EU, and all other flights 1,500–3,500 km | €400 | £350 |
| Over 3,500 km | €600 | £520 |
The sterling amounts are fixed in UK law, not converted, so the two regimes drift apart with the exchange rate. Payment is in cash or bank transfer. A travel voucher is only valid with your signed agreement, under Article 7(3).
When the airline can halve it
Article 7(2) allows a 50% reduction where re-routing gets you to your final destination within a stated margin of the original arrival time. In practice this means a long-haul flight arriving three hours and one minute late pays €300, not €600. The UK CAA publishes the reduced figures explicitly, which the EU side does not:
| Distance | Arrival delay | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 km | 2 hours or more | £220 |
| Under 2 hours | £110 | |
| 1,500–3,500 km | 3 hours or more | £350 |
| Under 3 hours | £175 | |
| Over 3,500 km | 4 hours or more | £520 |
| Under 4 hours | £260 |
The three-hour rule is not in the regulation
It comes from the Court of Justice, in Sturgeon v Condor (C-402/07) and Böck v Air France, which held that passengers delayed three hours or more may be treated as passengers whose flights were cancelled, and may therefore rely on the right to compensation in Article 7. Knowing this matters when an airline argues the text does not mention delays: it does not, and the Court settled it anyway.
The clock runs on arrival at your final destination. Departure delay is not the measure, which is why a flight that leaves late and makes up the time owes nothing, and a flight that leaves on time and lands three hours late owes the full amount.
Cancellation notice periods
| Notice given | Compensation owed? |
|---|---|
| At least 14 days before departure | No |
| 7 to 14 days before | No, if re-routed departing under 2 hours early and arriving under 4 hours late. Otherwise yes. |
| Less than 7 days before | No, if re-routed departing under 1 hour early and arriving under 2 hours late. Otherwise yes. |
Extraordinary circumstances, the test with two limbs
This is where valid claims are most often refused. Article 5(3) excuses the airline only if it proves the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. That is two things to prove, not one. Airlines routinely assert the first and say nothing about the second, and a refusal that does not address reasonable measures is an incomplete refusal.
| Cause | Extraordinary? | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Technical fault from maintenance | No | Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia, C-549/07 |
| Hidden manufacturing defect | Can be | Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07 |
| Airline staff strike over pay | No | Airhelp v SAS, C-28/20 |
| Wildcat sickness action | No | Krüsemann, C-195/17 |
| Crew unavailable, including death of a pilot | No | Joined cases C-156/22 to C-158/22 |
| Bird strike | Yes, with reasonable measures still required | Pešková v Travel Services, C-315/15 |
| Volcanic ash | Yes | McDonagh v Ryanair, C-12/11 |
| Air traffic control decisions, airport strikes, severe weather | Generally yes | Your Europe, European Commission |
Food, drink and a hotel are owed regardless
The right to care under Article 9 is separate from compensation and applies even when the disruption is extraordinary. It covers meals and refreshments proportionate to the wait, hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary, transport between the airport and the hotel, and two free communications. In McDonagh v Ryanair the Court held this duty has no monetary or temporal limit. If an airline tells you it owes you nothing because the delay was weather, it is answering a different question.
Which flights are covered
- Departing from an airport in the EU, on any airline, EU or not.
- Arriving into the EU from outside it, only if the operating carrier is an EU airline.
- Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are covered.
- You need a confirmed reservation and must have checked in as instructed, or no later than 45 minutes before departure.
UK261 covers flights departing a UK airport on any airline, arriving at a UK airport on a UK or EU airline, and arriving at an EU airport on a UK airline. A non-EU, non-UK carrier flying out of the UK is covered by UK261 and not by EU261.
What the July 2026 reform changes
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Claim deadline | Nine months from the flight to submit |
| Airline response | Thirty days to pay or give reasons |
| Proactive notice | Claim instructions sent within four days of the journey |
| Self re-routing | No alternative within three hours means the airline reimburses what you arrange, capped at 400% of the ticket price, within fourteen days |
| Hand baggage | One personal item free, up to 40 × 30 × 15 cm |
| Seating | Children under 14 seated with an accompanying adult free of charge |
| Extraordinary circumstances | A codified non-exhaustive list, a required direct causal link, and a duty to explain the refusal in plain language |
| No-show | Cancelling a return leg because the outbound went unused is prohibited |
None of this applies to the United Kingdom. UK261 was not amended, so from around 2027 the two regimes diverge substantially. A UK passenger will not get the nine-month deadline, the thirty-day response duty or the free personal item.
How long you have to claim
The regulation itself sets no deadline. In Cuadrench Moré v KLM (C-139/11) the Court held that the limitation period is a matter for national law, so it depends on where you bring the claim, and you can often choose the airline’s home country.
We are not publishing a country-by-country table of limitation periods. Every source we could find for those figures is a claim company, which has a commercial interest in the longest plausible number, and we could not verify them against national civil codes. The principle is solid and we have published it; the figures are not, so we have not.
Sources
- Your Europe — air passenger rights
- European Parliament — reform adopted, 7 July 2026
- Regulation 261/2004 Article 7, as retained in UK law
- UK Civil Aviation Authority — delays
- Commission interpretative guidelines, C/2024/5687
Flight compensation — questions
Is the three-hour rule about departure or arrival?
Arrival. The clock is the delay at your final destination, not at the gate you left from. A flight that pushes back four hours late but makes up time and lands two hours fifty late owes you nothing, and a flight that leaves on time and lands three hours late does.
The airline says extraordinary circumstances. Is that the end of it?
No, and this is where most valid claims are wrongly refused. The airline has to prove two things, not one: that an extraordinary circumstance existed, and that it took all reasonable measures anyway. Airlines routinely assert the first and stay silent on the second.
Does a technical fault count as extraordinary?
Usually not. In Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia the Court held that technical problems arising in or from maintenance are inherent in the normal exercise of an airline’s activity. A hidden manufacturing defect can qualify; a component that failed in service generally does not.
What about a strike?
It depends whose. A strike by air traffic control, the airport operator or ground handling is a third-party event and generally extraordinary. A strike by the airline’s own staff in a pay dispute is not, per Airhelp v SAS, because collective bargaining is part of running an airline.
Do I still get food and a hotel if compensation is refused?
Yes. The right to care under Article 9 is separate from compensation and applies even in extraordinary circumstances. In McDonagh v Ryanair the Court held that this duty has no monetary or temporal limit, which is one of the least-explained rights in the regulation.
I missed my connection. Does that count?
If the whole journey was on one booking, the delay is measured at your final destination, so a short first-leg delay that costs you a connection and lands you hours late can be a full claim. On separate bookings the airline generally owes you nothing.
How long do I have to claim?
The regulation sets no deadline: the Court held in Cuadrench Moré v KLM that the limitation period is a matter for national law, so it varies by country. Under the 2026 reform a nine-month deadline to submit applies once the new rules take effect.
Can the airline give me a voucher instead of money?
Only if you agree in writing. Article 7(3) allows payment in travel vouchers exclusively with the signed agreement of the passenger. An offer of a voucher is an offer, not a settlement, and accepting one usually ends the claim.