EU Flight Cancellation Compensation: Your Rights Under EC261

Your flight has been cancelled. The airline sent a text, put up a notice at the gate, or — worst case — you arrived at the airport and found out when you got there. Now what?

EU Regulation EC 261/2004 is one of the strongest passenger rights laws in the world. If your flight was cancelled and you were flying to, from, or within the EU, you have three distinct rights — and airlines are legally required to tell you about all of them.

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Your Three Rights When a Flight Is Cancelled

Right 1: Choose Between Refund or Re-routing

The airline must offer you a choice between:

• Full refund — the entire price paid, within 7 days, to the original payment method
• Re-routing at the earliest opportunity — on the next available flight to your final destination at no extra cost
• Re-routing at a later date of your choice — subject to availability

This choice is yours, not the airline's. If they automatically rebook you without asking, you can still decline and request a refund instead.

Right 2: Care and Assistance While You Wait

If you choose re-routing and have to wait, the airline must provide:

• Meals and refreshments proportionate to the wait time
• Hotel accommodation if you need to stay overnight
• Transport between the airport and hotel
• Two phone calls, emails, or faxes

These are not "goodwill gestures" — they're legal obligations. If the airline doesn't provide vouchers, you can pay out of pocket and claim reimbursement. Keep every receipt.

Right 3: Financial Compensation (€250–€600)

This is separate from your refund. Financial compensation is based on flight distance:

Flight Distance	Compensation
Under 1,500 km	€250
1,500–3,500 km (within EU: all distances)	€400
Over 3,500 km	€600

The compensation can be reduced by 50% if the airline re-routes you and your new arrival time is within 2–4 hours of the original (depending on distance).

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When Can the Airline Refuse to Pay Compensation?

Financial compensation (the €250–€600) can be denied in two scenarios:

1. The Airline Gave You Enough Notice

If you were notified of the cancellation at least 14 days before departure, no compensation is owed — only a refund or re-routing.

Notice Period	Compensation Status
14+ days	No compensation
7–13 days	Compensation owed if re-route arrives 4+ hours late
Under 7 days	Compensation owed if re-route arrives 2+ hours late
No notice (gate cancellation)	Full compensation owed

2. The Cause Was "Extraordinary Circumstances"

Airlines can escape the €250–€600 payment if the cancellation was caused by events beyond their control — genuine ones, anyway. See our Extraordinary Circumstances Guide for the full list.

Genuinely extraordinary (compensation usually not owed):

• Air traffic control strikes
• Severe weather affecting airport operations
• Security alerts and terrorism threats
• Political instability or government-ordered groundings

NOT extraordinary (compensation still owed, despite airline claims):

• Technical faults and mechanical issues (courts consistently rule these are within the airline's control)
• Crew shortages (including sick crew — airlines must have contingencies)
• IT system failures
• "Operational reasons" (this is a catch-all excuse, not a legal exemption)

Airlines reject 40% of valid claims using the "extraordinary circumstances" defence. If the airline uses this excuse, verify it before accepting their decision.

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What About Short-Notice Cancellations at the Gate?

Same-day cancellations — notified at check-in, at the gate, or discovered by the passenger on arrival — carry the full compensation entitlement with no reductions. These are the strongest claims.

Document everything: take photos of departure boards, keep your boarding passes, note the time you were informed, and get the airline's written statement of the reason if possible.

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Cancellation vs. Denied Boarding: What's the Difference?

Cancellation: The flight doesn't operate at all.

Denied boarding (overbooking): The flight operates, but the airline refuses to let you board — usually because they sold too many seats. Denied boarding carries the same compensation rights as cancellation, often with faster payouts since airlines prefer to resolve these at the gate with vouchers.

Don't accept a voucher for overbooking without knowing your cash entitlement — the voucher offered is often worth less.

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How Far Back Can You Claim?

The time limit varies by country:

Country	Claim Period
UK	6 years
Germany	3 years
France	5 years
Netherlands	2 years
Spain	1 year
Portugal	3 years
Italy	2 years
Sweden	10 years

The key date is when you knew about the cancellation (or should have known), not the flight date itself in most jurisdictions.

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Step-by-Step: How to Claim Cancellation Compensation

1. Gather your evidence

• Original booking confirmation with flight number and scheduled times
• Boarding pass or check-in confirmation
• Screenshot or email of the cancellation notice with timestamp
• Receipts for care expenses incurred at the airport

2. Submit directly to the airline Most airlines have online claim portals. Use them and keep a copy of your submission. Response times legally should be within a few weeks, but often take longer.

3. Follow up in writing If no response after 4–6 weeks, send a formal letter (email or registered mail) citing EC Regulation 261/2004 Articles 5, 7, 8, and 9. State the exact compensation amount and give a 14-day deadline.

4. Escalate to the national authority If the airline refuses or ignores you, file with your country's National Enforcement Body (NEB):

• UK: Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
• Germany: Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA)
• France: DGAC
• Netherlands: ILT
• Portugal / Spain / Italy: Their respective aviation regulators

5. Consider a no-win-no-fee service For contested claims or difficult airlines (notably Ryanair and Wizz Air), specialist services like AirHelp, Flightright, or FlightOwed handle the legal process for you and take a percentage only if they win. See our comparison of services.

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Special Cases

Codeshare and Partner Flights

If you booked through Airline A but flew (or were supposed to fly) on Airline B's plane, the airline operating the flight is responsible for EC261 compensation, not the one that sold you the ticket.

Package Holiday Cancellations

If the cancellation was part of a package holiday, the package organiser (travel agent / tour operator) may have additional obligations under the Package Travel Directive. You can often claim both.

Non-EU Airlines on EU Routes

EC261 applies to all airlines departing from EU airports, regardless of the airline's country of registration. A cancelled United Airlines flight from Frankfurt to New York is covered. A cancelled United Airlines flight from New York to Frankfurt is not (but US consumer protection rules may apply instead).

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Common Questions

The airline gave me a voucher — do I have to accept it? No. Under EC261 you're entitled to cash. You can accept a voucher if you want, but you're not obligated. If you accepted one under pressure without being told about your cash rights, you may still be able to challenge it.

The airline says it's due to weather — how do I check? Weather must have directly caused the specific cancellation of your specific flight. A storm in another city 12 hours earlier doesn't count as extraordinary circumstances for your departure. Ask for the specific weather data for your departure airport at your departure time.

I was on a connecting itinerary and the first flight was cancelled — what about the second? If both flights were on a single booking/PNR, the cancellation of the first flight triggers EC261 rights for the whole journey. Your compensation is based on the original departure and final destination distance.

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For the full EC261 framework including delays and denied boarding, see our EC261 Complete Guide. For airline-specific claim guides, visit our Airlines Hub.