Under European Commission Regulation 261/2004, you are entitled to up to €600 (£502) in compensation if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late.
The only exception to this rule is if the delay is caused by so-called extraordinary circumstances such as bad weather, strike action or the protest actions.
A technical fault does not count as extraordinary — that's been the case ever since a Supreme Court ruling in 2014. Most airlines will allow you to file a claim on their website.
If the carrier offers you an alternative flight with a similar schedule, the compensation may be reduced by up to 50 per cent.
EC regulation 261/2004 covers extraordinary circumstances where 'the impact of an air traffic management decision gives rise to a long delay, an overnight delay, or cancellation of one or more flights by that aircraft' and in cases of 'meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned'.
Under EU 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.
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 and the ruling that outlines these rights is Regulation (EC) 261/2004.
The amounts available start from €250 (£212) for flights of less than 1,500km long which are delayed by at least three hours and go up to €600 (£509) for flights of more than 3,500km between an EU and non-EU airport, delayed by at least four hours.
Regulation (EC) 261/2004 requires that airlines compensate passengers if their flight is cancelled or heavily delayed.
They must also offer you meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation as appropriate whilst you wait for a rearranged flight.
They should also cover any transport costs between the hotel and the airport. There are no time or monetary limits on the provision of this assistance.
If your airline does not provide assistance, keep your spending to a minimum, make sure you get receipts and claim reimbursement from your airline when you get home.
You should tell them that under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 Article 5 you are entitled to be reimbursed or re-routed under Article 8 and also offered assistance, including accommodation, meals and transport under Article 9. You should also state that under Article 5, airlines are able to not pay compensation in accordance with article 7 in the case of 'extraordinary circumstances', but crucially that this extraordinary circumstances clause does not apply to the entitlement to assistance under Article 9.
| Delay | Assistance / Entitlement |
|---|---|
| 2 hour or more, in the case of flights of 1500 kilometres or less; or | Passengers must in every case be offered free meals and refreshments plus two free telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails |
| 3 hours or more, in the case of all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres and of all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres; or | |
| 4 hours or more, in the case of all flights not falling under (a) or (b), | |
| If the time of departure is deferred until the next day | Passengers must also be offered hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation |
| When the delay is five hours or longer | Passengers may opt for reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket together with, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure. |
| Delay to your arrival | Flight distance | Amount of compensation |
|---|---|---|
| At least three hours | Less than 1,500km | €250 |
| Between 1,500km and 3,500km | ||
| More than 1,500km and within the EU | €400 | |
| Three to four hours | More than 3,500km, between an EU and non-EU airport | €300 |
| At least four hours | More than 3,500km, between an EU and non-EU airport | €600 |
The compensation shall be paid in cash, at the passenger's bank account, by bank transfer or by check. If the passenger accepts it, compensation may consist of travel vouchers or other services.
WARNING: Vouchers or other services may have a time restriction and may only be valid at a particular airline!
With cancelled flights, you won't receive compensation if:
In the event of re-routing, you will not be entitled to compensation if the arrival time does not exceed the scheduled arrival time of the flight originally booked:
If your airline tries to claim extraordinary circumstances, challenge them to explain exactly what they were and why they could not have been reasonably avoided. The onus is on them to prove this.
Airlines have a duty of care to look after stranded passengers, even if cancellations are due to extraordinary circumstances out of their control.
The rules state that airlines must provide passengers with accommodation, meals and refreshments and transport between the airport and accommodation. Airlines are breaking the rules if they shirk this obligation.
If you have been left stuck and out of pocket by your airline, then you will need to keep a record of what you have spent, including receipts and try to reclaim from airline using the EU rule.
You can call the firm's customer service number and ask how to make a claim.
You will need all your flight details, booking confirmation details and boarding passes. Passengers can claim by telling the airline their flight number, names of passengers and the reason for the delay.
If you can't remember how long the delay was, the website Flightstats.com is free to use and will show you how long a flight has been delayed for, although it won't state what the delay was for.
The key is to mention the EC Regulation and the Supreme Court case that involved Jet2. Use this phrase: 'In light of the Supreme Court's decision in Jet2 v Huzar, I am seeking compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 for my disrupted flight.'
If the airline rejects your claim, you can take your complaint to an independent dispute service — there are three for airlines. The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution will look at complaints if you travelled with firms including British Airways, easyJet, Thomson and Thomas Cook. Call 020 7536 6099. There is no fee if you win, but if you lose you'll have to pay a £25 administration charge.
The Retail Ombudsman covers firms including Ryanair and Turkish Airlines. There is no fee. Call 020 3540 8063.
If you flew with Swiss, Lufthansa or Germanwings, go to German website Soep.
You can complain at soep-online.de/request-form-flight.html
If your airline has not signed up to an ombudsman service, you can ask the CAA to investigate your case for free. Call 01293 567171 or email infoservices@caa.co.uk
If you still don’t get the answer you believe is right it is possible to take the airline to the small claims court.
See: https://claim.flight-delayed.co.uk/
Regulation (EC) 261 does not set a time limit on how far back claims can go, instead stating that this should be determined by the laws in respective EU countries.
In the UK, the statute of limitations law is six years, so by this logic an airline should consider claims for delays dating back six years from the time the claim is submitted.
Some airlines have used legal loopholes to avoid paying out here too. In 2014 a Monarch passenger found the airline was delaying their claim while it waited for a court ruling. When that ruling arrived in passengers' favour, the passenger tried to claim only to be told that he was out of the six years. When he contested this on the basis it was Monarch that delayed things not him, he was told that despite having been in touch regularly over the years, as he had not made a court claim within the past six years he was outside the allotted time period. Monarch said: 'If a customer presents their claim to an airline within six years but does not issue court proceedings and the six years have now expired, they are unfortunately unable to claim. 'It is our customers' responsibility to seek legal advice from either the Citizen's Advice Bureau, Civil Aviation Authority, or otherwise in order to find out if they need to take any action to stop time running out under the Limitation Act.'
There are reports of airlines trying to fob off passengers, denying they are issuing reimbursements or claiming that this is not the law. That is untrue and while you may need to be persistent, you should get your money.
Your expenses should be reasonable such as a hotel similar to the standard of the one you were staying in or a simple meal.
Living it large and then trying to charge it to the airline is unlikely to work.
You are also unlikely to find airlines paying for the expense of you abandoning your flight and navigating your way home yourself.
Although, if you have taken the simplest and best-value route you may be covered and if you had been advised to get yourself home and that you would be reimbursed by the airline, then you should state this and claim.
1. When an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure:
passengers shall be offered by the operating air carrier:
2. In any event, the assistance shall be offered within the time limits set out above with respect to each distance bracket.
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to:
In determining the distance, the basis shall be the last destination at which the denial of boarding or cancellation will delay the passenger's arrival after the scheduled time.
2. When passengers are offered re-routing to their final destination on an alternative flight pursuant to Article 8, the arrival time of which does not exceed the scheduled arrival time of the flight originally booked
3. The compensation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank orders or bank cheques or, with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers and/or other services.
4. The distances given in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be measured by the great circle route method.
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:
2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.
3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:
2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.
3. In applying this Article, the operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children.
1. The operating air carrier shall ensure that at check-in a clearly legible notice containing the following text is displayed in a manner clearly visible to passengers: “If you are denied boarding or if your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least two hours, ask at the check-in counter or boarding gate for the text stating your rights, particularly with regard to compensation and assistance”.
2. An operating air carrier denying boarding or cancelling a flight shall provide each passenger affected with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with this Regulation. It shall also provide each passenger affected by a delay of at least two hours with an equivalent notice. The contact details of the national designated body referred to in Article 16 shall also be given to the passenger in written form.
3. In respect of blind and visually impaired persons, the provisions of this Article shall be applied using appropriate alternative means.
The 4 September, 2014 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on a definition for arriving at a destination. Articles 2, 5 and 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91, must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘arrival time’, which is used to determine the length of the delay to which passengers on a flight have been subject, refers to the time at which at least one of the doors of the aircraft is opened, the assumption being that, at that moment, the passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft.
In a ruling, November 2009, the Court of Justice of the European Union changed the interpretation of Regulation (EC) 261/2004 regarding flight delays, to include cash compensation similar to flight cancellations if the delay is three hours or longer at the destination. However, this unless the airline can prove that the delay was caused by ‘extraordinary’ circumstances. Before the ruling cash compensation was only rewarded for cancelled flights but not for delays. Flight delays prior to the ruling gave the passenger the right to assistance free of charge as mentioned above. These rights still apply to the air passengers when faced with a delay.
This Regulation is applicable to all worldwide airlines when departure takes place within the EU and, in the case of flights from outside the EU to a destination within the EU, only to airlines licensed in a Member State of the EU.
Dear Sir/Madam I am writing regarding flight [flight number] on [date] from [departure airport] to [arrival airport] with the scheduled departure time of [scheduled departure time]. My booking reference is [booking or reservation reference if available]. This flight arrived [number of hours] hours late at [airport] (or) This flight was cancelled and I arrived late on [time and date of arrival]. The passengers in the party were [names of party]. The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Tui & others v CAA confirmed the applicability of compensation for delay as set out in the Sturgeon case. As such, I am seeking compensation under EC Regulation 261/2004 for this delayed flight. My scheduled flight length was [number of kilometres – see here if you need to check flight length http://gc.kls2.com/], therefore I am seeking [if less than 1500km: €250, if more than 1500km but less than 3500km: €400, if more than 3500km: €600) per delayed passenger in my party. The total compensation sought is €]. I look forward to hearing from you and would welcome a response in 14 days., Yours faithfully, [passenger name]
Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing regarding flight [flight number] on [date] from [departure airport] to [arrival airport] with the scheduled departure time of [scheduled departure time].
My booking reference is [booking or reservation reference if available]. This flight arrived [number of hours] hours late at [airport] (or) This flight was cancelled and I arrived late on [time and date of arrival].
Unfortunately, your airline failed to meet its obligations under EU rules and did not provide me with the assistance it should have in the form of rerouting home / accommodation / meals / transport to the airport. [Delete as applicable.]
I am therefore asking you to please compensate me for £----. I enclose receipts.
The EU rules that state that I should have been assisted by yourselves are in Regulation (EC) 261/2004. In this Article 5 states that in the case of cancellation or delay of more than one day I am entitled to be reimbursed or re-routed under Article 8 and also offered assistance, including accommodation, meals and transport under Article 9.
Article 9 states:
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:
(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;
(b) hotel accommodation in cases
— where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary,
or — where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary;
(c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).
2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.
3. In applying this Article, the operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children.
Under Article 5 part 3, airlines are able to avoid paying compensation in accordance with Article 7 in the case of 'extraordinary circumstances', but this extraordinary circumstances clause does not apply to the entitlement to assistance under Article 9.
A 2014 ruling ratified by the Supreme Court, in the case of Huzar vs Jet2, says that European airlines can no longer claim technical faults as extraordinary circumstances, so must pay out compensation for flight delays of longer than three hours in such cases.
I thank you for your assistance with this and await your response.
Yours faithfully
[passenger name]