The complete EC261 guide

Everything you need to know about compensation for delays, cancellations, denied boarding and missed connections under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.

Eligibility

EC261 covers flights departing from the EU (any airline) and flights arriving in the EU operated by an EU carrier. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are treated like EU countries. You must hold a confirmed reservation and check in on time. The disruption must be within the airline's control — this is assessed case by case.

Compensation amounts

Compensation is fixed by flight distance, not by ticket price:

Flights up to 1,500 km — €250
Flights within the EU over 1,500 km, and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km — €400
Flights over 3,500 km (EU to non-EU) — €600

If re-routing gets you to your destination with a small delay (2, 3 or 4 hours depending on distance), the airline may reduce compensation by 50%.

Delays

You are entitled to compensation if you arrive at your final destination 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time. What counts is the arrival delay, not the departure delay — measured when at least one aircraft door opens. From 2 hours of delay you also have the right to care; from 5 hours you can abandon the trip and request a full refund.

Cancellations

If your flight is cancelled you can choose between a refund and re-routing, and you are generally entitled to compensation — unless the airline informed you at least 14 days before departure, or offered re-routing with timings close to your original flight, or the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances.

Denied boarding

If you are denied boarding against your will — most commonly due to overbooking — you are entitled to immediate compensation, a choice between refund and re-routing, and care. This does not apply if there were reasonable grounds such as health, safety or inadequate travel documents. Volunteers who give up their seat negotiate benefits directly with the airline.

Missed connections

If you miss a connection because your first flight was delayed, and both flights were booked as a single reservation, compensation is based on the delay at your final destination. This applies even if the connection is outside the EU, as long as the itinerary started at an EU airport (or was operated by an EU carrier into the EU).

Weather

Severe weather that genuinely prevents safe operation — heavy snow, freezing fog, volcanic ash — counts as an extraordinary circumstance, so compensation is not due. However, the airline must still provide care and a refund or re-routing. Note that weather affecting an earlier rotation of the aircraft is not automatically extraordinary for your flight.

Extraordinary circumstances

Airlines are exempt from paying compensation when the disruption was caused by events that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Courts interpret this narrowly.

Usually extraordinary: air traffic control restrictions, security risks, political instability, severe weather, wildcat strikes by third parties (e.g. air traffic controllers), bird strikes.

Usually NOT extraordinary: technical faults discovered during maintenance, crew shortage or sickness, strikes by the airline's own staff, knock-on effects of earlier flights.

Even when circumstances are extraordinary, the rights to care, refund and re-routing always remain.