Flight DELAYED, CANCELLED
or MISSED?

You may be entitled to compensation if your flight was covered by EU Regulation 261/2004 and the disruption meets the applicable legal conditions.

Common situations include:

• Your flight arrived at your final destination 3 hours or more late.
• Your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days' notice, unless an eligible alternative was offered.
• You were denied boarding against your will despite having a valid reservation.
• You missed a connecting flight because of an eligible disruption on an earlier flight under the same booking.

Eligible passengers may receive up to €600, depending on flight distance and circumstances. Booking directly with the airline or through a travel agent does not by itself remove your passenger rights.

Check your eligibility with Flyjustice — the initial eligibility check is free.

Under EU Regulation 261/2004, eligible passengers may receive:

• €250 for flights up to 1,500 km
• €400 for intra-EU flights over 1,500 km and other flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km
• €600 for longer flights over 3,500 km

Compensation is generally based on flight distance and applicable passenger-rights rules, not the ticket price.

In certain rerouting situations, compensation may be reduced by 50% when the alternative flight arrives within the applicable time limits.

NOTE: Each eligible passenger may have an individual compensation entitlement.

EU Regulation 261/2004 coverage mainly depends on where the flight departs and which airline operates the flight.

Generally:

• A flight departing from an EU airport can be covered regardless of the airline's nationality.
• A flight arriving in the EU from outside the EU can be covered when operated by an EU-based airline.
• The airline that physically operates the flight is important when determining responsibility.

For example, Paris to New York can fall under EU Regulation 261/2004 regardless of the airline. New York to Paris can generally fall under EU261 when operated by an EU airline.

The rules also apply across the relevant EEA framework, including Iceland and Norway. Flights departing from the UK are generally subject to UK261 rather than EU261.

For flight-delay compensation, the important measurement is generally the arrival delay at your final destination.

If you arrive at your final destination 3 hours or more late, you may be entitled to compensation when the other legal conditions are satisfied and no valid extraordinary circumstance applies.

Your right to care and assistance can arise earlier, depending on the flight distance and length of the disruption.

If your delay reaches 5 hours or more, you may also have the right to request reimbursement if you no longer wish to continue your journey.

You may be entitled to compensation if your flight was cancelled depending on when the airline informed you and whether an acceptable alternative flight was offered.

Generally:

• 14 days or more before departure: compensation is normally not payable, although applicable refund or rerouting options must still be offered.
• Between 7 and 14 days: compensation may be payable unless the airline offers qualifying alternative transport within the required legal conditions.
• Less than 7 days: compensation may be payable unless the replacement flight meets the applicable legal conditions.

Compensation can also be excluded where the cancellation resulted from a qualifying extraordinary circumstance.

Regardless of compensation, passengers affected by a flight cancellation may have the right to choose between applicable reimbursement or rerouting.

An airline may avoid paying compensation when it establishes that the disruption resulted from a genuine extraordinary circumstance that could not have been avoided even if reasonable measures had been taken.

Examples can include certain severe weather events, air traffic management restrictions, security risks and other events outside the airline's reasonable control.

However, an airline cannot simply label every disruption an extraordinary circumstance. The reason given should be assessed against the actual circumstances. Some technical problems, operational failures and airline-controlled issues may remain the airline's responsibility.

Even when compensation is not payable, passengers may still have rights to care and assistance, such as meals, accommodation and transport where applicable.

Yes. EU institutions adopted a revision of the air passenger-rights framework in 2026, but the new rules do not immediately replace the existing EU flight compensation rules.

The current framework continues to provide compensation for qualifying delays of more than three hours, with compensation levels of €250, €400 and €600 depending on flight distance.

The updated rules will enter into force after the required period following publication. Until they become applicable, claims continue to be assessed under the existing framework.

NOTE: Passengers should therefore not assume that a three-hour qualifying delay has suddenly become ineligible because of the 2026 reform.

There is no single EU-wide deadline for every compensation claim.

The applicable limitation period can depend on the country whose law and courts apply to the claim. Because limitation periods differ between jurisdictions, you should not assume that every EU261 claim has the same three- or six-year deadline.

If your flight happened several years ago, it may still be worth checking.

Flyjustice can review the relevant flight details and determine whether the claim eligibility may still be within the applicable limitation period.

Yes. An airline's rejection does not automatically mean that your claim has no legal basis.

Airlines may reject claims for reasons including alleged extraordinary circumstances, missing information, eligibility issues or disputes about responsibility.

If you have received a rejection, keep the airline's response and submit it with your claim. Flyjustice can review the reason given and assess whether the claim may still have a valid basis.

We do not promise that every rejected claim can be recovered. If the evidence shows that compensation is not legally recoverable, we will tell you honestly.

You pay nothing upfront.

Flyjustice operates on a No Win, No Fee basis. If we successfully recover compensation, our current success fee is 25% of the compensation recovered, with applicable taxes where required. If your claim is unsuccessful, you do not pay our success fee.

There are no upfront charges for starting the eligibility check.

For complete information about our fees and any circumstances involving additional legal escalation, please review our Our Fees page.

You can start by providing your flight number and travel date so we can check the basic eligibility of your flight.

For the claim process, we may normally ask for:

• Booking confirmation or e-ticket
• Boarding pass, if available
• Airline correspondence about the disruption
• Receipts for reasonable additional expenses such as meals, accommodation or transport

If you no longer have your boarding pass, you can still make a claim. Other records may help establish your journey and the circumstances of the disruption.

NOTE: You can begin without having every document immediately available.

After you submit your claim, Flyjustice reviews your flight information and supporting documents, assesses eligibility and, where appropriate, manages communication with the airline on your behalf.

The timeframe depends on the airline, jurisdiction, complexity of the claim and whether the airline disputes the case. Some straightforward claims may resolve within weeks, while disputed or legally escalated cases can take considerably longer.

We keep you informed about important developments and provide access to your claim status through the client dashboard.

If compensation is successfully recovered, Flyjustice deducts the applicable service fee and transfers the remaining amount to you.