EU Regulation 261/2004: Compensation, Care Rights, and How to Claim

EU Regulation 261/2004 gives air passenger rights that entitle you to up to €600 in fixed compensation when your flight is cancelled, delayed at arrival by three hours or more, or you are involuntarily denied boarding, along with meals, phone calls, hotel accommodation when needed, and a choice between a full refund or re-routing to your destination.¹ The care and refund rights apply regardless of what caused the disruption; the cash compensation can be refused only if the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.

Which Flights Are Covered

Two categories fall within the regulation. Any flight departing from an airport in an EU member state, Iceland, Norway, or Switzerland is covered no matter which airline operates it. Flights arriving into one of those countries from elsewhere are covered only when the operating carrier is licensed in the EU or one of those three additional countries.¹ The operating carrier is the airline that actually flies the aircraft, which matters on codeshare bookings where the marketing airline is a different company.

You need a confirmed reservation and must check in by the airline’s stated deadline. Free or specially discounted fares unavailable to the general public are excluded, but tickets bought with frequent flyer miles or loyalty points are fully protected.²

One boundary worth flagging: flights departing from the United Kingdom fall under the UK’s domestic version of the rules, known as UK261, which pays in pounds rather than euros. EU 261/2004 still applies to flights leaving the EU that arrive in the UK.

What Triggers Compensation

Three situations give rise to the same tier of cash compensation.

Denied boarding. If a flight is overbooked, the airline must first ask for volunteers. Only after that call can it bump passengers involuntarily. If you are bumped against your will, you are immediately owed compensation, a choice between refund or re-routing, and care while you wait.¹ Denials for legitimate health, safety, security, or missing-document reasons are not covered.

Cancellation. When the airline cancels, whether compensation is owed depends on how much notice you got. No compensation is due if the airline told you at least 14 days ahead. Between 7 and 13 days ahead, no compensation is due if the airline offers re-routing that departs no more than two hours before the original time and arrives less than four hours after it. Under 7 days, the equivalent windows tighten to one hour before departure and two hours after arrival.¹ If none of these windows are met, the full amount is owed.

Long delay at arrival. The regulation’s text does not mention delay compensation, but the Court of Justice held in the joined Sturgeon and Böck cases (C-402/07 and C-432/07) that passengers who reach their final destination three or more hours late are entitled to the same amounts as passengers whose flights were cancelled.³ This ruling is now applied as standard law across the EU.

How Much You Are Owed

The amounts are fixed by flight distance, measured along the great circle route between departure and destination:

€250 for flights of 1,500 km or less
€400 for EU flights over 1,500 km and all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km
€600 for all other flights over 3,500 km¹

No proof of financial loss is required. Someone on a €50 promo fare receives the same €250 as someone who paid €500 for the same seat.

The Half-Compensation Rule

If you accept re-routing and reach your destination within a tight arrival window, the airline can pay half the standard amount: €125, €200, or €300 instead of €250, €400, or €600. The windows are two, three, and four hours late respectively, matched to the same distance tiers.² The reduction applies only if you took the alternative flight. If you chose a refund, it doesn’t apply.

Care and Refund Rights That Always Apply

Some rights are triggered by waiting time and cannot be denied even during extraordinary circumstances.

Once the departure delay reaches two hours (short flights), three hours (medium flights), or four hours (longer flights), the airline must supply free meals, refreshments, and two phone calls or emails.⁴ If the disruption forces an overnight stay, hotel accommodation and transport to and from it are on the airline.

At five hours of delay, you gain the right to abandon the trip and receive a full refund of the ticket price for the unused portion. If you’re mid-journey and the trip no longer serves any purpose, the airline must also fly you back to your original departure point.¹

Whenever a flight is cancelled, you’re denied boarding, or a delay exceeds five hours, the airline must offer three options and let you pick: a full refund within seven days, re-routing at the earliest opportunity under comparable conditions, or re-routing at a later date subject to seat availability.⁵ The choice is yours, not the airline’s. Accepting a voucher when you wanted cash does not waive your right to insist on the reimbursement.

When the Airline Doesn’t Have to Pay Compensation

Airlines can escape the cash compensation, though not the refund or care obligations, if they prove the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by all reasonable measures.⁶ The burden of proof sits entirely with the airline. A vague reference to “technical issues” without documentation will not satisfy it.

Events that generally qualify:

Severe weather making operations unsafe
Air traffic control restrictions or airport closures
Political instability or security threats
Strikes by air traffic controllers or airport staff (not airline employees)
Bird strikes, which the Court of Justice has confirmed are not intrinsically linked to the aircraft’s operating system

Events that generally do not:

Technical problems found during routine maintenance, which the Court of Justice treats as inherent to running an airline
Crew shortages from scheduling issues or illness
Airline staff strikes, including spontaneous “wildcat” walkouts. In the TUIfly case, the Court of Justice ruled that the social consequences of corporate restructuring are part of business and cannot be classified as extraordinary.

The dividing line is whether the cause sits inside or outside the airline’s own operations. Weather is nobody’s fault; a maintenance backlog is an operational failure.

Involuntary Downgrading

If the airline seats you in a lower class than you booked, it must refund a percentage of the ticket price within seven days: 30% for flights of 1,500 km or less, 50% for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and 75% for flights over 3,500 km.⁷ This is automatic and doesn’t depend on notice or circumstances. If the airline upgrades you, it cannot charge extra.

Missed Connections

If a delay on the first leg causes you to miss a connection and you reach your final destination more than three hours late, compensation is owed, provided every flight was on a single booking. Separately booked flights don’t count, even if you planned them as one journey.¹ The protection reaches connections at airports outside the EU as long as the first flight departed from an EU airport and both segments were on the same booking. A delay confined to a leg between two non-EU airports falls outside the regulation.

You lose the entitlement if you missed the connection because of security queues or by failing to respect the boarding time at the transfer airport. The compensation for a missed connection uses the distance tiers and the 50% reduction rule based on the total distance to the final destination.

How to Claim

Gather your booking reference, flight numbers, dates, and boarding passes. Keep receipts for any meals, transport, or accommodation you paid for during the disruption; those are reimbursable on top of the flat-rate compensation.

Start With the Airline

Most carriers have an online claims portal in their customer relations or help section. Submit the flight details, your boarding pass, and a short description of what happened. Responses typically take six to eight weeks, sometimes longer. Accepted claims are usually paid by bank transfer.

Escalate If the Airline Refuses or Ignores You

Every EU member state has a National Enforcement Body responsible for policing airline compliance, and you can file a complaint there.⁸ An Alternative Dispute Resolution service can also mediate between you and the carrier. Both routes are free or low-cost and don’t require a lawyer.

Small Claims Court or a Claim Agency

If administrative channels fail, small claims court is the next step. Some passengers use “no-win, no-fee” claim agencies that handle everything in exchange for a share of the payout, typically 25% to 35%, rising to 50% or more if court proceedings are needed. Watch for separate VAT, wire fees, and “legal action” charges layered on the headline percentage. Filing yourself costs only the court fee and often draws a quicker airline response than a templated agency letter.

Deadlines Vary by Country

There is no single EU-wide time limit. The limitation period is set by national law and ranges from one year to six years depending on the country.¹ Identify the applicable deadline early. The relevant country is generally the one where the flight departed or where the airline is based, depending on where you bring the claim.

1
Your Europe. Air Passenger Rights
2
EUR-Lex. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council
3
The Constitutional Court. Regarding the Evidence in Proceedings for Compensation for Delayed Flights
4
Legislation.gov.uk. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 9 Right to Care
5
Legislation.gov.uk. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Right to Reimbursement or Re-Routing
6
Legislation.gov.uk. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 5
7
Legislation.gov.uk. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 10 Upgrading and Downgrading
8
European Commission. National Enforcement Bodies