UK261 flight compensation, explained

What UK261 is

UK261 is the UK version of the old EU261 regulation. After Brexit, the EU rule was retained in UK law as Regulation 261/2004 and is now commonly called UK261. The substance is the same.

The Civil Aviation Authority is the regulator. The full legal text is the retained Regulation 261/2004.

Who is covered

UK261 applies to:

• Any flight departing from a UK airport, on any airline.
• Any flight arriving at a UK airport operated by a UK or EU airline.

Flights into the UK on a non-UK, non-EU airline (a US carrier flying JFK to Heathrow, say) are not covered by UK261. They may be covered by other consumer rules from the country of departure.

How much you get

The payout is based on the flight distance, not the ticket price. A £40 short-haul seat pays the same as a £400 flexible fare for the same route.

These are per passenger. A family of four on a delayed long-haul flight is owed £2,080 between them, assuming the delay meets the threshold.

When it pays (and when it does not)

Three situations can trigger a payout:

1. Delay of three hours or more on arrival. This is the most common trigger. What matters is when the aircraft doors opened at the destination, not when it left. A flight that took off three hours late but made up the time in the air and landed less than three hours late does not qualify.
2. Cancellation with less than 14 days notice. If the airline emails you two weeks before departure to say the flight is off, there is no compensation. Inside that window, there is, unless the rebooked flight gets you there at roughly the same time.
3. Denied boarding because the flight was overbooked. If the airline sold more seats than the plane has and bumps you, UK261 pays.

The airline can avoid payment only by proving extraordinary circumstances: a specific event outside its control that it could not have avoided even with all reasonable measures. The standard is high. The CAA publishes its view on what typically counts and what does not.

Care and rerouting are separate

Compensation is not the only thing UK261 gives you. If your flight is delayed, the airline has a separate duty to look after you at the airport:

• Meals and drinks in reasonable relation to the waiting time.
• Two phone calls or emails.
• A hotel and transfers if the delay pushes into an overnight.

This duty applies even when compensation does not. A weather cancellation (which often counts as extraordinary) still triggers the care obligation. You are also entitled to a refund or a rerouting at the earliest opportunity, at no extra cost.

How to claim

Claim directly with the airline. There is no central portal. Most airlines have an online form labelled something like "EU261 claim" or "flight disruption claim". If they do not respond or reject unreasonably, the next step is the airline's alternative dispute resolution scheme, usually CEDR or AviationADR. That decision is binding on the airline.

You need the booking reference, the flight number, the scheduled and actual times, and the names of all passengers you are claiming for. A screenshot of the airline's own delay notification is useful.

The defences airlines actually use

Airlines push back more than train operators do. The most common rejections:

• "Weather at a prior airport."Sometimes valid, often not. If the knock-on delay is entirely within the airline's normal schedule buffer, it is not extraordinary.
• "Technical fault." Technical faults are almost never extraordinary. The UK Supreme Court ruled on this in Huzar v Jet2 (2014), and it is still the leading case. A hidden manufacturing defect is the narrow exception.
• "Air traffic control restriction." Valid if the restriction is genuinely a one-off. Not valid if the airline simply did not leave enough buffer in its schedule.
• "You accepted a voucher." Vouchers offered during a disruption never replace your UK261 right, unless the airline made that crystal-clear in writing and you signed it off.

If you get a rejection that uses one of these phrases, it is worth a second reply asking for the specific evidence the airline is relying on. Escalate to CEDR or AviationADR if they do not provide it.

Deadlines

You have six years from the flight date to bring a claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland. This is much longer than most passengers realise. A delayed flight from two years ago is still claimable.

That is UK261. The rules are good, the amounts are real, and the airlines know all this. The main thing standing between a passenger and the payout is usually the energy to write the second email.

Sources

• What you are owed when a flight is delayed or cancelled, from the aviation regulator. Civil Aviation Authority, delays and cancellations
• The two approved dispute schemes, and which airlines belong to which. Civil Aviation Authority, alternative dispute resolution
• The regulation itself, as it applies in UK law. Regulation 261/2004, legislation.gov.uk

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