Flight delay compensation

Flight delay compensation and rights in short

Flight delays, whether you’re heading off on holiday or travelling for business, are not only inconvenient but extremely stressful. It can be confusing for passengers to know what to do in this situation, which is unfortunately becoming an increasingly common issue in air travel.

The good news is that you have several options when your flight is delayed, but how much compensation you can receive is dependent on a variety of factors. When your flight arrives at the destination airport with a delay of more than 3 hours, you are entitled to 250 €, 400 € or 600 €, depending on the flight distance. With a delay of over 5 hours, you can claim compensation for the ticket fare if you no longer want to take the flight. The airline must provide you with services including free meals, refreshments and accommodation, depending on the length of your delay.

MYFLYRIGHT, experts for travel rights, check if you can claim compensation for your flight delay and it is free of charge. If you decide to use the service, MYFLYRIGHT will pursue your claim against the airline with no financial risk. Only in the event of a successful outcome is a commission of 25% plus VAT applied, saving you time, effort and stress. If we have to engage our external lawyers, we charge a surcharge of 10%. In certain cases, an immediate pay-out is offered, where the compensation is paid within 24 hours after receipt of all relevant documents. In this case, a commission of 35% plus VAT is charged.

Your flight was delayed? Compensation conditions

After experiencing the inconvenience of a flight delay, passengers could be entitled to compensation.

The amount of compensation depends on two factors - the distance of the flight and by how many hours the flight was delayed. It should be noted that in order to receive compensation, the flight must be delayed for over 3 hours.

This payment is on top of the services that the airline is obliged to offer in certain cases. Additional services must be provided by the airlines starting with flight delays of over 2 hours, and with a flight delay of more than 5 hours you can also receive a full ticket refund.

Our compensation calculator helps passengers to easily calculate their claim in the event of a flight delay.

EU rules on flight delay: Compensation requisite

A claim for compensation can be taken into account only when the flight reaches the destination with at least a 3-hour delay. This includes missing a connecting flight because your first flight was delayed and, as a result, the arrival at your destination is 3 hours later than scheduled – as long as both flights were purchased together.

Further requirements must be met to establish whether you can make your claim, as outlined in the EU Passenger Rights Regulation EC No 261/2004.

EU flight compensation - flight delay

As long as the flight delay is not caused by extraordinary circumstances, passengers will be entitled to receive compensation from the airline. There are 4 compensation amounts in the event of a flight delay, depending on the distance of the flight, which are set out by the EU Passenger Rights Regulation EC No 261/2004. It is important to note that compensation is calculated based on the arrival time at the destination and not on the departure time of the flight.

Delayed flight: Compensation amounts

The distance of your flight is a key factor when determining the amount of compensation you should receive.

Here is an outline of the compensation in relation to distance and delay:

• 3 500 kilometres (outside the EU) and a flight delay at the destination of at least 4 hours - 600 €
• 3 500 kilometres (outside the EU) and a flight delay at the destination of between 3 and 4 hours - 300 €
• Between 1 500 and 3 500 kilometres (outside the EU) and over 1 500 kilometres (in the EU) and if the flight is delayed at the final destination by at least 3 hours - 400 €
• Up to 1 500 kilometres and a flight delay at the destination of at least 3 hours - 250 €

Airline delay compensation and services overview

Airlines must provide passengers with various additional services in case of flight delays.

These services include free meals and refreshments, which you are entitled to when your flight is delayed by at least 2 hours. Passengers should also be granted free overnight accommodation, if necessary, plus free transfer between the place of accommodation and the airport. Even in the event of extraordinary circumstances, the airline is required to provide these additional services to the passenger.

Flight delayed: Refund and other options

With a delay of over 5 hours, you are not obliged to take the flight and the airlines cannot force you to accept it. After all, by this point it may be too late for whatever event you’re flying to, or perhaps you have already missed that important business meeting.

In case of a flight delayed by 5 hours, the airline must offer you the following:

• Ticket refund and, if applicable, the earliest return flight to the departure point must also be provided.
• Alternative flight at a later date to the destination under comparable conditions of transport, depending on seat availability.
• Alternative transport to the destination (e.g. bus, train, taxi).

If you renounce the flight and choose one of the above-mentioned options, it is important to remember that you as a passenger are still entitled to compensation of up to 600 €.

Flight delay compensation calculator

To help calculate how much you can claim for a delayed flight, you can use our compensation calculator. All you need is your flight number and flight date.

Flight delay compensation: EU passenger rights

For flight delays of over 3 hours, the EU Passenger Rights Regulation EC No 261/2004 stipulates that the amount of compensation is dependent on the following factors:

• Flight route and airline – The EU Regulation is applicable for passengers departing from an airport in the EU and for passengers arriving at an airport in the EU if the airline is based in the EU
• Responsibility – the airline is to blame for the flight irregularity
• Deadline – the claim for compensation is made within the statutory limitations

Rights when your flight is delayed: EU flights

To figure out if you have a claim and how much compensation you can expect to receive, you need to take into consideration where you are flying to and from, plus the airline with which you are flying. Passengers are protected under the EU Passenger Rights Regulation and are entitled to compensation from the airline if:

• The flight is within the EU, regardless of where the airline is headquartered.
• The flight is departing from the EU to a non-EU country, regardless of where the airline is headquartered.
• The flight is to the EU departing from a non-EU country, only if the airline is headquartered in the EU.

To clarify, if you are flying from Frankfurt in Germany to Bangkok Airport in Thailand with Thai Airways, a non-EU airline, and your flight is delayed by over 3 hours, the airline is required to compensate you because you are departing from an EU country. However, if the delay is on the return flight from Bangkok to Frankfurt, you are not protected and therefore not entitled to compensation, as the airline’s headquarters and the departure airport are outside of the EU.

EU flight delay compensation: Connecting flights

As of July 11, 2019, The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that requirements for compensation, with regards to connecting flights booked on a single reservation, have been extended. This means that even when your connection is outside the EU and your second flight is to a non-EU country with a non-EU airline, you are entitled to compensation, as long as this flight was delayed by 3 hours or more at the destination and it was purchased as part of the same reservation as your first flight.

The case which prompted this extension was a group of passengers who flew from Prague (in the EU), to Bangkok (outside the EU). Tickets were purchased from Czech Airlines, the itinerary being from Prague to Abu Dhabi, with a connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok. On the first flight, the passengers flew with Czech Airlines (an EU airline) and arrived in Abu Dhabi on time. The second flight was with Etihad (a non-EU airline) and arrived in Bangkok 8 hours after the scheduled time. Although the delay was beyond the control of Czech Airlines, the court ruled they are liable to compensate the passengers, as they provided the tickets for the whole journey.

So, when booking a flight with a connection, it is useful to note whether the airline providing the reservation is headquartered in the EU or not, as this will determine whether you receive compensation in case of a flight irregularity, such as a delay. You will also find more information on the topic in our article Missed connecting flight.

Flight delay rights - extraordinary circumstances

According to the EU Passenger Rights Regulation , airlines must take necessary precautions to prevent flight delays. However, the airline cannot be held responsible for all flight disruptions. When the reason for a flight delay is out of the airline's hands, this is deemed an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ and the airline is exempt from financially compensating passengers in this case. Judging whether something is an extraordinary circumstance or not is a grey area and airlines have been known to use this to their advantage. Therefore, it is important to know when you have a claim for compensation and whether the airline is liable. Here is a brief overview:

Can I claim compensation for delayed flight?

Deadline to claim late flight compensation

The timeframe in which you can make your claim for compensation varies by country. For example, in the UK the statute of limitations is 6 years from the date the flight was delayed, whereas in Germany it is 3 years, starting from the end of the calendar year in which the flight was scheduled. Another point to consider is in which country you should make your claim. This, as with the statutory deadline, is different across the EU. In Germany, for example, this is decided based on three factors:

• Country of departure airport
• Country of arrival airport
• Headquarters of airline

The following table offers an overview of the statute of limitations within a sample of European countries:

Flight delay: Check-list for making a claim

Flight delay compensation: Package & business trip

When you set off for that much-anticipated holiday or the conference of your career and the flight is delayed, it’s never a good start. Moreover, delays can cause you to completely miss family functions, important meetings or pre-booked activities.

Although money won’t totally make up for the inconvenience caused by a flight delay, at least you can always claim for the compensation you are entitled to. Even in case of package travel and business trips you have the same passenger rights as individual travellers.

In some cases, you can also enforce a claim for a package price reduction against the tour operator. In this instance you can refer to the Frankfurt Table, which was created using case examples in Germany to give guidance for potential price reduction in the event of travel disruptions during package travel.

Flight delay claim: Business trips

A flight delay during a business trip can have serious consequences. Missed meetings, losing clients or being late for a key presentation are all damaging to your business.

But when travelling for business, who receives the compensation – you or your company?

The compensation is always paid to the traveller. It is provided to make up for the inconvenience experienced by the passenger, so it is irrelevant who made the booking. However, some companies include a clause within the employee contract stating that they have the right to this compensation rather than the employee; if your work contract has this clause, unfortunately you would not receive the compensation. You will also find more information on the topic in our article Business travel.

Flight delay: How to claim compensation

You have a few options when making your claim against the airline. Either you choose to make the claim yourself or you delegate the task to someone else. If you choose the former, it is more than likely that you will need to seek legal help, as the airline will be able to argue skilfully against your claim with help of their legal team. If you do opt to enforce your claim independently, you save yourself the commission applied by MYFLYRIGHT in the event of a successful case; however, it will cost you much more time and nerves.

Considering the time it takes to gather all necessary documents - which can be several hours - as well as how stressful it is dealing with airlines, it may be worth making your claim with MYFLYRIGHT instead. Based on our experience, around 50% of cases we receive are enforced by the courts – a lengthy process which can be bypassed using MYFLYRIGHT’s services.

Claiming independently is a risky process since airlines frequently do not disclose all information regarding a delay. An example of this is when you make a claim against the airline due to technical issues, whereas the delay was caused by a bird strike, in which case the airline does not have to pay compensation. By the time this is made clear, you have spent a considerable amount of time, effort and money.

However, in the event of a rejected case when making your claim through MYFLYRIGHT, there is no need to worry about the costs, because commission is only charged when there is a successful outcome. The following table shows the costs involved in a case in Germany where 2 people each claim for compensation in the value of 400 € per person:

Delayed flight compensation letter template

When enforcing your passenger rights against the airline independently, there are several points to consider and steps to follow.

Step 1. Write a letter. You can either write your own letter or use our letter template. If you opt for our template, you can fill it in online and email it directly to the airline or print it, fill it out and post it. If you choose to send your letter by post, be sure to opt for registered post in order to make sure you know when the airline receives it, since this might be an important piece of evidence in court.

You must include the following information in your letter or email:

Flight delays: Airport statistics

Overview of the cancellation rate and on-time performance in main airports. (Source: OAG and MYFLYRIGHT analysis)

Statistics on airline flight delay

Overview of the cancellation rate of main airlines. (Source: OAG and MYFLYRIGHT analysis)