What are you owed for a delayed or cancelled flight in the EU, and what is changing?

Which flights do the EU rules cover?

• Flights within the EU, whether the airline is from the EU or not.¹
• Flights leaving the EU for a country outside it, on any airline.¹
• Flights arriving in the EU from outside it, but only when an EU airline operates them.¹
• Flights to and from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.¹

The rules do not apply if you have already received compensation, re-routing or assistance for the same journey under the law of a country outside the EU. The EU here includes places such as the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira, but not the Faroe Islands.¹

How much compensation can you claim, and when?

You can claim a fixed sum if your flight is cancelled and you were told less than 14 days before departure, if you are denied boarding against your will (for example because of overbooking), or if you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late.¹

The fixed sum is between €250 and €600, depending on the distance of the flight and how late you reach your final destination.¹⁴ Check the latest: European Commission, Air passenger rights We do not reproduce the amounts for each case: Your Europe sets them out in its official compensation tables for cancellations, denied boarding and delays at arrival. Check them for your own flight.

If the airline offered you re-routing and you reach your final destination with a delay, Your Europe says the compensation may be reduced; its tables show when.¹

If you arrived on time for check-in, Your Europe says you should always receive compensation when you are denied boarding. The only exception is when there were reasonable grounds to deny you boarding, such as health, safety or security concerns, or when you did not have the required travel documents.¹

For cancellations there is no compensation if you were told more than 14 days ahead. With shorter notice, there is none if the re-routing offered stays within set windows: if you were told between 2 weeks and 7 days ahead, the new flight must leave no more than 2 hours earlier and arrive less than 4 hours later than planned; if you were told less than 7 days ahead, no more than 1 hour earlier and less than 2 hours later.¹

On connecting flights booked as one reservation, compensation for a missed connection depends on arriving at your final destination 3 hours or more late. It is not due if you missed the connection because of delays at security or because you did not respect the boarding time at the transfer airport.¹

Where does the right to delay compensation come from?

The European Commission's case-law summary says that Article 6 of the Regulation associates certain rights with a delay at departure, and that the Court of Justice of the EU also considered that a long delay in arrival entitles passengers to compensation.³

The European Commission's summary of the case law points to the joined Sturgeon cases (C-402/07 and C-432/07), followed by the Nelson and Germanwings rulings: a delay of three hours or more at the final destination gives the same compensation as a cancellation, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.³

For connections, only the delay at the final destination counts, wherever along the journey it built up.³ The same summary says that, for connecting flights, the distance used is the great-circle distance between the first departure airport and the final destination.³

The Commission case-law summary we used is the version of March 2022; later rulings are not covered here.³

What counts as extraordinary circumstances?

Your Europe gives air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather and security risks as examples. It says most technical problems that come to light during maintenance or come from failing to maintain an aircraft do not count, nor does a collision of mobile boarding stairs with the aircraft, nor a strike by the airline's own staff.¹

Strikes outside the airline, such as by air traffic controllers or airport staff, may count. To avoid paying, the airline must prove both that the event caused the delay or cancellation and that it could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures, for example with logbook extracts or incident reports.¹²

Even when extraordinary circumstances apply, the airline must still offer reimbursement or re-routing, and care while you wait.²

What must the airline give you while you wait?

If your departure is delayed, the right to meals and refreshments starts after a delay of two to four hours, depending on the distance of the flight. Your Europe lists the thresholds on its air passenger rights page.¹

• Meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, and two free phone calls, emails or faxes.¹
• A hotel and transport to and from it if the new departure is at least the day after the original one.¹
• If the departure is delayed by at least 5 hours, a refund of your ticket and, with a connection, a return flight to your first departure airport.¹
• If care is not offered and you pay yourself, the airline should reimburse necessary, reasonable and appropriate costs, so keep every receipt.¹
• If you are downgraded, a refund of part of the ticket price for that flight, depending on the flight distance; Your Europe gives the shares.¹
• For lost, damaged or delayed checked luggage, compensation up to a limit that Your Europe states; complain in writing to the airline within 7 days, or within 21 days of getting a delayed bag back.¹

What does the 2026 reform change, and when?

On 7 July 2026 the European Parliament approved the changes agreed with the Council of the EU in the Conciliation Committee, by 646 votes to 12 with three abstentions.⁴⁵

The Parliament's procedure file records the Council's decision on 13 July 2026 and the signing of the final act on 16 September 2026. When we last checked (see the access dates below), its status still read: Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal⁵

According to the Parliament, the updated rules would enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal, and from that moment EU countries and companies would have one year to prepare for their implementation.⁴ Until the reform applies, the rules described above are the ones in force.

Amounts in this table change. Check the latest: European Parliament, European Parliament achieves upgrade to air passenger rights

Not yet confirmed from an official source when we checked: the reform's Official Journal publication, its regulation number and the date from which it applies. We will update this page when it is published.

Where do you complain?

1. Send your complaint to the airline that operated the flight first, using its complaint form.¹
2. If you get no reply within 2 months, or the reply does not satisfy you, complain to the national enforcement body in the country where the incident took place; it gives a non-binding opinion.¹
3. The European Commission publishes the list of national enforcement bodies, based on information from EU countries; the version we read was updated on 27 August 2026.⁶
4. If you live in the EU, Iceland or Norway and the trader is based in another of those countries, your European Consumer Centre can help you settle the dispute.⁷
5. Alternative dispute resolution is open to EU residents only. You can also use the European Small Claims procedure or the national courts; time limits for court action depend on each country's law.¹

This is not legal advice. For your own case, check with the national enforcement body or your European Consumer Centre.

What this page cannot tell you

• This is not legal advice. We summarise what the official pages say and link them so you can check them yourself. Your Europe describes the national enforcement body's opinion as non-binding.
• No amounts per case. We give only the range; the exact amount for each distance and delay is in Your Europe's compensation tables.
• Two sets of rules. The rules in force are those of Regulation 261/2004 as Your Europe describes them. The reform is described only as far as the European Parliament states it; the final published text may differ in detail.
• Case law moves on. The court summary we used dates from March 2022, and later rulings may refine what counts as extraordinary circumstances.
• Primary texts not read. The official legal database was not reachable when we checked, so we relied on the Commission's and the Parliament's own summaries rather than the Regulation's text.

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