Flight delay compensation

How the three-hour rule works

Regulation 261/2004 does not compensate every late flight. It sets a single trigger: you must arrive at your final destination three hours or more after the time the airline originally scheduled. A flight that leaves late but makes up the time in the air owes nothing.

This is why a boarding delay of four hours and an arrival delay of forty minutes is not a claim, while a two-hour boarding delay that becomes a three-and-a-half-hour arrival delay is.

How much you are owed

The amount is fixed by how far you were flying, not by the price of your ticket or how long you waited:

• €250 — flights of 1,500 km or less.
• €400 — flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, and longer flights delayed by at least four hours.
• €600 — flights over 3,500 km, delayed by four hours or more.

When the airline does not have to pay

Article 5(3) removes the obligation where the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances — severe weather, an air-traffic-control strike, a security alert, a bird strike or a medical emergency on board. These are genuinely outside the airline’s control.

A technical fault is not automatically extraordinary. The European Court of Justice has held that most technical problems are part of the normal running of an airline, so compensation is still owed. The same is true of a shortage of crew, and of a strike by the airline’s own employees.

Care while you wait

Whatever the cause, once a delay passes about two hours (three for longer flights) the airline owes you care: meals and refreshments, two free calls or emails, and hotel accommodation and transfers if the delay forces an overnight stay. Keep every receipt.

How long you have to claim

The time limit depends on where the claim is brought. In most EU countries it is three years from the date of the flight; a few allow longer, and Ireland allows six. Claiming through the airline’s own process does not always stop the clock, so it is worth checking promptly.