EU261 explained: what you're owed for a delayed or cancelled flight
Under EU Regulation 261/2004 you are owed €250, €400 or €600 per passenger — decided by how far you were flying — if you arrived at your final destination more than three hours late, and the airline can't show an extraordinary circumstance.
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 |
| Over 1,500 km within the EU | €400 |
| 1,500–3,500 km | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km, outside the EU | €600 |
Who it covers
- —Any flight departing an EU or EEA airport, whichever airline operates it.
- —Flights arriving in the EU/EEA only when the operating carrier is EU-licensed — this is Art. 3(1)(b), and it is the rule people most often get wrong in their own favour.
- —Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are inside the regime.
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
Common questions
How much is EU261 compensation?+
Under EU Regulation 261/2004 you are owed €250, €400 or €600 per passenger — decided by how far you were flying — if you arrived at your final destination more than three hours late, and the airline can't show an extraordinary circumstance.
How long do I have to claim?+
It depends on the country whose courts would hear it: six years in the UK and Ireland, five in France and Spain, three in Germany, two in the Netherlands and Italy, and only one year in Canada. Our checker tells you your exact deadline.
What counts as an extraordinary circumstance?+
Weather, air traffic control strikes, security incidents and medical emergencies usually do. Technical faults do not — the Court of Justice held so in Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07) — and neither does a strike by the airline's own staff (Krüsemann, C-195/17).
Sixty seconds, free, no account.