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Feroz Sheikh
Feroz Sheikh

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UK flight delay compensation (UK261) explained — how much you can claim

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If your flight arrived hours late, you may be owed a fixed cash amount from the airline, on top of meals and a hotel. In the UK these rules are known as UK261, the version of EU Regulation 261/2004 that the UK kept after Brexit.

It helps to separate three questions: Is my flight covered? How late did I arrive? Why was it late? This guide answers each one using the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) own figures.

1. Is your flight covered?

According to the CAA, UK261 covers a flight if it is:

  • departing from a UK airport, on any airline, or
  • arriving at a UK airport on a UK or EU airline, or
  • arriving at an EU airport on a UK airline.

The reverse catches people out: a flight into the UK on a non-UK, non-EU airline (say, a US carrier from New York) is generally not covered, while the same airline's flight out of the UK is.

What matters is the airline that actually operated the flight, not the one that sold you the ticket or appears in a codeshare.

2. How much: the four CAA amounts

Compensation is a fixed amount. The CAA is explicit that it "is not linked to the price you paid for your ticket." It depends on the flight distance and, for long-haul flights, on how late you arrived:

Flight distance Example (CAA) Arrival delay Compensation per person
Under 1,500 km Glasgow–Amsterdam 3+ hours £220
1,500–3,500 km East Midlands–Marrakesh 3+ hours £350
Over 3,500 km London–New York 3 to 4 hours £260
Over 3,500 km London–New York more than 4 hours £520

Many tables show only "£220 / £350 / £520" and leave out the £260 row. A long-haul flight arriving 3.5 hours late gets £260, not £520.

The number that counts is arrival delay, not departure delay. The CAA says compensation may apply "if you arrive more than three hours late at your destination airport."

Connecting flights on one booking: the CAA measures distance "between the first and last airport in your booking," and only lateness at your final destination counts. Arriving late at the connection point doesn't count on its own. Separate bookings (self-transfer) get no compensation for a missed onward flight, although each flight keeps its own rights.

To find your band, work out the great-circle distance and apply the table. I built a free UK flight compensation calculator that does the distance maths and shows all four CAA bands, but you can check it by hand too.

3. Why was it late? The "extraordinary circumstances" test

Airlines don't have to pay compensation if the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances, events outside the airline's control. The CAA's examples include:

  • weather incompatible with safe operation
  • strikes unrelated to the airline (airport staff, ground handlers, air traffic control, Border Force)
  • terrorism or sabotage, security risks, political or civil unrest
  • hidden manufacturing defects (e.g. a manufacturer recall that grounds a fleet)

Ordinary technical faults are generally not extraordinary. The CAA points to the Jet2 v Huzar judgment (Court of Appeal, 2014) and van der Lans v KLM (European Court, 2015), which found that technical problems, including early failure of a component, are not extraordinary circumstances.

A current example: after the NATS flight-planning failure on 8 September 2026, the CAA said that delays and cancellations caused by the incident, and its knock-on effects, "are likely to be 'extraordinary circumstances'". Passengers are therefore "unlikely to be entitled to compensation" for those disruptions. The CAA added that airlines must still look after passengers, and that its view is guidance, not a ruling on individual cases. It took the same view of a second NATS technical issue, at the Prestwick centre in Scotland, on 21 September 2026.

If you're unsure, claim anyway. The CAA says the airline "should explain to you the reason for the disruption" and, if it relies on extraordinary circumstances, "will need to clearly set out why."

Care and refunds apply even when compensation doesn't

Compensation is only one of your rights. While you wait, the CAA says your airline must provide care "regardless of the reason for the delay" once you've been held up beyond scheduled departure by:

  • 2+ hours for flights under 1,500 km
  • 3+ hours for 1,500–3,500 km
  • 4+ hours for over 3,500 km

Care means food and drink, two calls or emails, and a hotel plus transport if you're delayed overnight. If the airline doesn't arrange it, you can book reasonable care yourself and claim it back. Keep itemised receipts.

If the delay reaches five hours, you can choose not to travel and get a refund for the flights you haven't taken. Don't choose this if you still want to travel.

Cancellations follow a different logic. You may be owed compensation if you were told less than 14 days before departure, depending on the cause and what replacement flight you were offered.

How to claim, step by step

  1. Collect evidence: booking confirmation, boarding passes, the scheduled and actual arrival times, any messages giving the reason, and receipts.
  2. Claim directly from the airline using its own claim form or process. The CAA recommends going to the airline first. It also notes that claim agencies typically charge a fee that "can often be a significant proportion" of the compensation, and that not all airlines will deal with a complaint made through a third party.
  3. Escalate if needed. If you're unhappy with the final response, or the airline hasn't replied within eight weeks, go to the airline's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body if it belongs to one, or to the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) if not. Note that PACT "cannot impose a decision on an airline", while CAA-approved ADR bodies can.
  4. Court as a last resort. The small claims court is usually the right place, and GOV.UK explains how to make a court claim for money.

How long do you have? UK261 itself doesn't set a deadline. National limitation law applies instead. In England and Wales, contract claims generally have six years (Limitation Act 1980, s.5). In Scotland, the prescriptive period is generally five years (Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, s.6). Don't leave it late, and get advice if you're close to a deadline.

The short version

Arrived 3+ hours late on a covered flight, and the cause was within the airline's control? Then the CAA figures are £220, £350, £260 or £520 per person, depending on distance and, for long-haul, whether you were more or less than four hours late. Claim from the airline yourself first; it costs nothing.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Figures and quotes were checked against the CAA website on 28 September 2026.

Sources

Disclosure: I run FlightRefundCalc, a free educational calculator. It is not a law firm or claims company, and it shows an optional, disclosed AirHelp referral that you never need to use.

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