By now, it’s pretty common knowledge that Europe has what can undeniably be described as the best compensation rules in the world when it comes to flight delays and cancellations.
On February 17, 2005, a law known as EU Regulation 261/2004 came into force across the European Union, requiring airlines to give passengers big cash payouts if they are hit with a significant delay or cancellation.
The basics of EC261
More commonly known as EC261, the regulations guarantee passengers the right to claim between €250 and €600 for a significant delay or cancellation, and the only way that an airline can avoid paying out is to prove that the disruption was a result of “extraordinary circumstances.”
What is and isn’t an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ should probably be covered in a separate article, as the lawmakers who wrote EC261 failed to define what this actually means.
As a result, there have been a slew of court cases over the years to determine what this phrase means in practice. In short, bad weather, air traffic restrictions, external strike action, and acts of terrorism are considered an ‘extraordinary circumstance,’ whereas most technical issues with a plane and internal strike action are not.
The regulations become even more complicated based on the length of the delay, the amount of warning you received before your flight was canceled, and whether the airline is able to reroute you without too much of a delay.
Which airline you choose matters
It’s also worth mentioning that when you fly to the European Union or the United Kingdom, your right to compensation when things go wrong depends very much on what airline you choose to fly with.
This is because the regulations only apply to non-European airlines in two specific circumstances:
- For flights within the EU operated by any airline
- For departing the EU on any airline
If you fly to the EU from a country outside the bloc and your airline isn’t based in the EU, you are not entitled to compensation.
Scenarios
Scenario 1
For example, you might fly from New York JFK to Frankfurt (FRA) and arrive more than three hours later than scheduled due to a technical problem with the aircraft. If you were flying with German flag carrier Lufthansa, you would be entitled to compensation of €600 per passenger. But if you were flying with Delta Air Lines, EC261 would not be claimable, because Delta is not based in Europe.
Scenario 2
How about if you were flying from Istanbul (IST) to Madrid (MAD), which covers a distance of around 2,700 km? You book your ticket through Air Europa, which is a European airline, but end up on a codeshare flight operated by Turkish Airlines, which isn’t based in the EU.
Despite the fact that you booked your ticket with a European airline, the regulations are only concerned with which airline operated the flight. Therefore, you could not claim €400 in compensation per passenger under EC261.
Scenario 3
Conversely, what if you buy a ticket from Tunisair to fly from Tunis (TUN) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO)? The ticket is for a codeshare flight, and you end up flying on a plane operated by Italian flag carrier ITA Airways. In this case, although Tunisair is not a European airline, you could still claim €250 per passenger for an arrival delay of three hours or more under EC261 as the operating airline is based in the EU.
Scenario 4
Finally, what if you book an Air France flight from Dubai (DXB) to Atlanta (ATL) with a connection at Paris Charles de Gaulle? The first flight ends up being delayed, and you are booked on a later flight, which results in you arriving in Atlanta three hours later than scheduled. You traveled on a European airline and connected through a European airport, but in this case, EC261 does not apply because the origin and destination airports are both outside the EU.
How do these rules apply in the UK following Brexit?
When the United Kingdom left the European Union in January 2020, the government didn’t take a torch to all the EU regulations that had been applied in the country for decades.
In the case of EC261, the British government decided to incorporate the regulations into its own domestic law, although with a few minor adjustments.
Known as UK261, British compensation rules apply to a delay or cancellation if:
- You are flying on a domestic flight on a UK airline
- You are flying from the UK to Europe on a British or European airline
- You are flying from the UK to a destination outside Europe on any airline
- You are flying from Europe to the UK on a British or European airline
- You are flying from a destination outside Europe to the UK on a British or European airline
- You are flying from a destination outside Europe to Europe on a British airline
Confusing right?! Although, the main point still stands. If you fly to the UK on a non-British or European airline and your flight is delayed, then you have no right to claim compensation.
EC261 and UK261 compensation amounts for delays
The amount you can claim under UK261 regulations differs slightly from EC261.
The European version of the rules has three compensation amounts based on the distance of the flight:
| Distance | Delay | Cash amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1,500 km or less | 3 hours or more | €250 |
| More than 1,500 km within the EU, and all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km | 3 hours or more | €400 |
| More than 3,500 km | 3 hours or more | €600 |
In contrast, the British UK261 rules apply different delay periods to the length of flight.
| Distance | Delay | Cash amount |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 km | 2 hours or more | £220 |
| 1,500 km to 3,500 km | 3 hours or more | £350 |
| Over 3,500 km | 4 hours or more | £520 |
| Over 3,500 km | More than 2 hours but less than four hours | £260 |
As you can see, in the case of UK261, airlines only have to pay half the compensation amount of long-haul flights if they can get to you destination with a delay of less than four hours.
