Your Flight Was Delayed or Cancelled. The Airline Legally Owes You Up to €600. Here's How to Claim It.

Bottom line: EC 261/2004 entitles air passengers to €250–€600 per person for delays of 3+ hours or cancellations on qualifying routes — flights departing EU airports or EU-carrier flights arriving in the EU. Airlines do not pay automatically. Most passengers never claim. The statute of limitations is 3 years in most EU member states. If you have had a qualifying delay in the past 3 years, Compensair checks your eligibility and files on your behalf — no fee if unsuccessful.

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What is EC 261/2004 and what does it require airlines to pay?

EC 261/2004 is an EU regulation requiring airlines to compensate passengers €250–€600 per person for delays over 3 hours, cancellations with less than 14 days’ notice, or denied boarding due to overbooking. The amount depends on flight distance. The regulation applies to all flights departing EU airports and to EU-carrier flights arriving in the EU. Airlines owe this automatically when conditions are met — they do not need to offer it, and they frequently don’t.

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What EC 261/2004 Actually Requires

EC 261/2004 is EU law — not an airline policy, not a voluntary scheme. When specific conditions are met, compensation is mandatory. Three situations trigger it:

Situation 1: Delay of 3+ hours at destination Your flight arrived at your destination 3 or more hours late. This is measured by actual arrival time against scheduled arrival. A departure delay that results in a 2.5-hour arrival delay does not qualify — the 3-hour threshold is at the destination.

Situation 2: Cancellation with less than 14 days’ notice The airline cancelled your flight and notified you fewer than 14 days before departure. If you received notice 14+ days ahead and were re-routed to arrive at a comparable time, no compensation is owed.

Situation 3: Denied boarding The airline bumped you from an overbooked flight and you did not volunteer to give up your seat.

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How Much You Are Owed

Compensation amounts are fixed by regulation — the airline cannot offer less:

Route Type	Flight Distance	Compensation
Short-haul EU	Under 1,500km	€250/person
Medium-haul	1,500–3,500km	€400/person
Long-haul	Over 3,500km	€600/person

Examples:

• London to Paris (590km): €250 per person
• London to Athens (2,400km): €400 per person
• London to New York (5,500km, on an EU carrier): €600 per person
• New York to London (5,500km, on British Airways — EU carrier): €600 per person
• New York to London on American Airlines — American is not an EU carrier, and the flight departs a non-EU airport, so EC 261/2004 does not apply

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When Airlines Can Legally Refuse to Pay

The regulation includes an “extraordinary circumstances” exemption. Airlines are not required to pay when the delay or cancellation was caused by something outside their control and unavoidable even with all reasonable measures taken:

Exempt (airlines usually win):

• Severe weather conditions (snowstorm, hurricane, extreme fog)
• Air traffic control strikes
• Airport closures due to security threats
• “Bird strike” causing aircraft damage

Not exempt (airlines frequently try to claim these incorrectly):

• Technical failures — aircraft technical problems are considered within the airline’s control
• Staff shortages — crew scheduling problems are the airline’s responsibility
• IT system failures
• Knock-on delays from the airline’s own network disruptions

Airlines frequently misclassify technical issues as extraordinary circumstances to avoid payment. This is why most successful claims require formal dispute escalation.

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Why Most Passengers Never Get Paid

The compensation process is deliberately opaque. Airlines are not required to proactively notify passengers of their EC 261/2004 rights (though some EU countries require this at the airport). The typical passenger experience:

1. Flight is delayed or cancelled
2. Airline offers a voucher, re-booking, or meal vouchers — passengers accept and leave
3. Passenger never learns they were entitled to additional monetary compensation
4. Even when passengers claim, airlines frequently deny the first submission citing extraordinary circumstances — often incorrectly
5. Correct appeals require knowledge of the regulation’s specific language and willingness to escalate to national aviation authorities

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) estimated that billions of euros in valid EC 261/2004 compensation go unclaimed annually.

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How to File a Claim

Option 1: File directly with the airline

1. Gather: booking confirmation, boarding pass, evidence of actual delay (flight tracking screenshot from Flightradar24 or similar showing arrival time)
2. Submit a formal written compensation request to the airline’s customer service — specifically citing EC 261/2004 and the specific route, date, and delay duration
3. Airline has 14 days to respond in most EU countries
4. If rejected: escalate to your national aviation authority (UK: Civil Aviation Authority; Germany: Luftfahrt-Bundesamt; France: DGAC; Ireland: Commission for Aviation Regulation)

Timeline: 2–6 months for the direct route. Success rate without professional assistance is significantly lower due to airline tactics.

Option 2: Use a claims service

Services like Compensair handle the full process:

1. Submit your flight details online (takes 5 minutes)
2. They assess eligibility against regulation criteria
3. They handle all airline correspondence, appeals, and authority escalation
4. They charge 25–35% of the compensation amount — only if successful

For a €600 claim, you receive approximately €390–€450 after their fee. For a €250 claim, approximately €163–€188. The tradeoff: you lose 25–35% but gain near-zero effort and significantly higher success rates on contested claims.

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Use Our Calculator First

Before contacting an airline or a claims service, use our EU flight delay compensation calculator to determine:

• Whether your specific route qualifies
• Whether the delay duration meets the 3-hour threshold at destination
• The exact compensation amount owed based on flight distance
• Whether extraordinary circumstances likely apply

This takes 2 minutes and tells you whether a claim is worth pursuing before you spend any time on it.

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If You’re Flying International Soon

Consider protecting the next trip before it happens. Faye travel insurance covers trip cancellation, baggage delay, and emergency medical — separate from EC 261/2004 compensation, which only applies after a qualifying EU-route delay has already occurred. The two forms of protection cover different scenarios and work alongside each other.

For platform comparisons that help you find the cheapest fare before booking, our Trip.com vs Expedia vs Booking.com test shows which site wins by route type across 6 matched searches.

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Check Your Flight Delay Eligibility — Compensair

This article explains EC 261/2004 passenger rights as of the publication date. Regulation interpretation varies by country, court, and specific circumstances. Claims success depends on the specific facts of your delay or cancellation. Compensair’s fee and process details are subject to change — verify current terms before submitting. This article contains affiliate links — Verto earns a commission for qualifying claim submissions at no additional cost to you.