Flight cancellation compensation

The 14-day rule

The obligation to pay compensation disappears if the airline told you about the cancellation at least two weeks (14 days) before the scheduled departure. It does not matter why the flight was cancelled.

If you were told between 14 and 7 days before departure, there is still no compensation — provided the airline also offered you an alternative flight that arrived no more than two hours after your original schedule. If it did not, compensation is owed.

If you were told less than 7 days before departure, compensation is owed unless the replacement flight arrived no more than one hour before your original departure time.

What you are owed whatever the notice

Regardless of timing, a cancellation always gives you a choice: a refund of the ticket (plus a return flight if you are stranded mid-journey), or rerouting to your destination at the earliest opportunity. The airline must also provide care while you wait.

Extraordinary circumstances

As with delays, a cancellation caused by severe weather, an air-traffic-control strike or another genuinely external event carries no fixed compensation — but the refund or rerouting and the duty of care still apply.

Cancelled before you even flew

A cancellation announced weeks ahead is often still worth a refund, a rerouting or, where the airline has changed your schedule substantially, compensation. If the airline simply cancelled and refunded, check whether the notice period genuinely reached 14 days.