Checked 26 October 2026

Flight delay compensation: when a late arrival pays £220 to £520

If you reached your final destination 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time, and the cause was not an extraordinary circumstance, you are owed £220, £350 or £520 per passenger, set by the distance flown. Whatever the cause, the airline owes you food, drink and, if needed, a hotel while you wait.

The 3-hour test is about arrival, not departure

Compensation depends on when you arrive at your final destination, measured from the scheduled arrival time. "Arrival" means the moment at least one aircraft door opens.

A flight that leaves 4 hours late but makes up time and lands 2 hours 40 minutes late does not qualify. A flight that leaves 2 hours late and lands 3 hours 10 minutes late does. Jet2 says on its own claim page that the arrival delay counts, not the departure delay.

If you missed a connection because your first flight was late, and both flights were on one booking, the delay is measured at your final destination. The distance band is also set by that journey.

How much you are owed

Under UK261, the amount is fixed per passenger by the great-circle distance of the flight. It does not depend on the ticket price. Children with a paid seat count. Infants travelling free do not.

Distance	Example routes from London	Compensation
Up to 1,500 km	Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh	£220
1,500 to 3,500 km	Malaga, Faro, Athens, Istanbul, Tenerife, Marrakech	£350
Over 3,500 km	New York, Dubai, Orlando, Cancun, Bangkok	£520

On a flight over 3,500 km the amount drops to £260 if you arrived less than 4 hours late. A delay of 3 hours 30 minutes on a flight to Orlando therefore pays £260, and a delay of 4 hours or more pays £520.

EU261 applies to flights leaving an EU airport and to EU airlines arriving in the EU. The amounts are €250, €400 and €600. Flights within the EU over 1,500 km pay €400, and the reduced long-haul amount is €300.

What the airline owes you while you wait

Care is owed whatever caused the delay, including weather and strikes. The trigger is how long the delay is expected to last, and it depends on the distance.

Up to 1,500 km: Meals and refreshments once the delay reaches 2 hours.
1,500 to 3,500 km: Meals and refreshments once the delay reaches 3 hours.
Over 3,500 km: Meals and refreshments once the delay reaches 4 hours.
Any distance: Two phone calls or emails. Hotel and transport to it if an overnight stay becomes necessary.
5 hours or more: You may choose not to travel and take a full refund within 7 days. If you are part-way through a journey, you also get a flight back to your starting point.

If the airline does not provide meals or a hotel, keep receipts and ask for the cost back. Care is separate from the fixed compensation, and you can claim both.

Delays the airline can and cannot blame on extraordinary circumstances

The airline does not owe the fixed amount if it proves the delay came from an extraordinary circumstance. It must also show it took all reasonable measures to limit the delay. The burden is on the airline.

Usually accepted:

Severe weather.
Air traffic control restrictions or strikes. The NATS air traffic control failure of August 2023 was treated as extraordinary.
Airport closures or runway problems.
Security risks and political instability.
Strikes by third parties, such as airport or ground-handling staff not employed by the airline.
Bird strikes (CJEU, Pešková, 2017).
Hidden manufacturing defects.
A medical emergency or a disruptive passenger on that flight.

Not accepted:

Technical faults that arise from the normal operation of an aircraft (Huzar v Jet2.com [2014] EWCA Civ 791; CJEU, van der Lans, 2015).
Strikes by the airline's own staff (CJEU, Krüsemann, 2018, and Airhelp v SAS, 2021).
Crew sickness, including the captain (Lipton v BA CityFlyer [2024] UKSC 24).
Crew out of hours, crew shortages and rostering.
A knock-on delay from the airline's own earlier problem.
"Operational reasons" with nothing more.

How to prove your delay

Keep your boarding passes. Keep the booking reference, flight number and date as well.
Get the reason in writing. Ask for the airline's stated cause by email, in the app or at the desk. Save any text message or email it sends.
Screenshot the flight status. Take screenshots showing the scheduled and actual times, ideally after landing.
Note the arrival time. The time the door opened is what counts.
Keep receipts for meals, taxis and hotels the airline did not provide.

Not sure whether your flight qualifies?

Check your flight

Free to check. If a claim company takes the case it keeps 35% of the payout, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails. You can also claim it yourself for free.

Three ways to get the money

Start with the airline. Use its online form or write to it, quoting the booking reference, flight number, date and the reason it gave. This costs nothing. Each airline page on this site links to the direct claim form: Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways, Jet2, TUI and Wizz Air.

If the airline refuses or ignores you, the next step is a free dispute scheme (alternative dispute resolution, or ADR) or the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team for airlines that are not in a scheme. You can go to ADR if the airline has not replied within 8 weeks, or within 12 months of its final reply. If you accept an ADR decision, it binds the airline.

The last step is the county court. In England and Wales that means Money Claim Online and the small claims track. You can claim the court fee back if you win. The step-by-step guide to claiming yourself covers each stage.

You can also hand the claim to a claim company, which keeps part of the compensation. The comparison of claim companies shows each published fee.

Time limits

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you have 6 years from the date of the flight (Limitation Act 1980; Dawson v Thomson Airways [2014] EWCA Civ 845). In Scotland the limit is 5 years.

Delay compensation questions

Does a 2 hour 55 minute delay count?

No. The threshold is 3 hours or more at arrival, so a delay of 2 hours 55 minutes does not qualify for fixed compensation. You may still be owed meals and refreshments, depending on the distance and how long the delay was expected to last.

What if the delay was on the second leg?

If both legs were on one booking, the delay is measured when you reach your final destination. If the legs were on separate bookings they are separate contracts: the second airline owes nothing for a connection you missed, and only a delay of 3 hours or more on the first flight itself, measured at its own destination, pays compensation.

The airline blamed the weather at the departure airport. Is that the end of it?

Not necessarily. Severe weather is usually accepted, but the airline must prove it caused your delay and that it took all reasonable measures. It still owes you meals and a hotel if needed. Ask which weather, at which time, affected your flight.

I was delayed on a package holiday flight. Can I claim?

Yes. The flight part of a package is covered in the same way, and you claim from the operating airline, not the tour operator. TUI Airways flights (flight numbers TOM, BY or BLX) are claimed on TUI's own form; Jet2holidays flights on Jet2's.

Can I claim for a delay in 2021?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, yes. The limit is 6 years from the flight date, so a 2021 flight is still in time. In Scotland the limit is 5 years, so check the date of your flight against it.