Checked 26 October 2026

easyJet flight delay and cancellation compensation: how to claim

If your easyJet flight arrived 3 hours or more late, or was cancelled with less than 14 days' notice, you are owed £220 to £520 per passenger unless easyJet can prove an extraordinary circumstance. Claims go through one online portal on easyJet's own site, and the lead passenger can claim for everyone on the booking.

Which easyJet flights are covered

easyJet flies in the UK as easyJet UK, which is a UK airline. From the EU it flies as easyJet Europe (Austria), and from Switzerland as easyJet Switzerland. All its UK flights are covered.

• Leaving a UK airport: UK261 applies.
• Leaving an EU airport for the UK: EU261 applies.
• Arriving in the UK from outside the EU: UK261 applies, because easyJet UK is a UK airline.

For a delay, the clock runs to your final destination. "Arrival" means when at least one aircraft door opens, and a departure delay on its own does not count. The cause must not be an extraordinary circumstance.

How much easyJet pays

The amount is fixed by flight distance and is paid per passenger, including children with a paid seat. Infants travelling free are excluded.

On a flight over 3,500 km the amount drops to £260 if you arrived less than 4 hours late, or if you were re-routed and arrived less than 4 hours after your original time. On flights leaving the EU, EU261 pays €250, €400 or €600.

Care is owed whatever the cause: meals and refreshments once the wait reaches 2, 3 or 4 hours depending on distance, two phone calls or emails, and a hotel with transport if you must stay overnight.

How to claim from easyJet

1. Gather your details. You need the booking reference, flight number, date and the reason easyJet gave. Boarding passes help.
2. Open the portal. Go to the easyJet Compensation Claims Portal.
3. Pick the reason. The portal offers four: delayed flight, flight cancelled, denied boarding and voluntarily offloaded. Choose the one that matches what happened.
4. Check who is claiming. The claimant must be a passenger on the booking. The lead passenger can claim for everyone on it. Other passengers can claim only for themselves.
5. Submit and keep the reference. easyJet pays by bank transfer, so have your account details ready.
6. Handle any unused ticket separately. Submitting the form does not refund an unused ticket. For that, use Manage Bookings on easyJet's site.

You have 6 years from the flight date in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 5 years in Scotland.

If easyJet says no

easyJet can refuse if it proves the disruption came from an extraordinary circumstance and that it took all reasonable measures. Usually accepted:

• severe weather;
• air traffic control restrictions or strikes;
• airport closures or runway problems;
• security risks and political instability;
• strikes by third parties, such as airport or ground-handling staff;
• bird strikes (Pešková, 2017);
• a medical emergency or a disruptive passenger on that flight.

Not accepted: technical faults from the normal running of an aircraft (Huzar v Jet2.com [2014] EWCA Civ 791), the airline's own staff striking, crew sickness (Lipton v BA CityFlyer [2024] UKSC 24), crew shortages, rostering, knock-on delay from the airline's own earlier problem, and "operational reasons" without more.

If easyJet refuses or does not reply, the free dispute body is AviationADR (aviationadr.org.uk). You must have complained to easyJet first. You can go to AviationADR if easyJet has not replied within 8 weeks, or within 12 months of its final reply. The CAA says decisions typically arrive within three months. A decision binds easyJet if you accept it, and you can still go to court if you reject it.

The county court route is Money Claim Online, on the small claims track for claims up to £10,000. The fee is £35 up to £300 and £50 up to £500, recoverable if you win.

Claiming yourself or using a company

Claiming through the portal is free and you keep the full amount. The guide to claiming yourself covers what to keep, when to escalate and how the court stage works.

A claim company takes a share of what is recovered, so you receive less. Fees differ by company and by whether a case goes legal. The comparison of claim companies sets out each published fee with a worked example.

Related guides

• Flight delay compensation
• Cancelled flight compensation
• Denied boarding compensation
• How to claim it yourself
• Claim companies compared
• All airlines