EU Regulation 261/2004 owes you €250, €400 or €600 in cash if your flight is delayed 3+ hours, cancelled at short notice, or denied boarding — unless the airline can prove genuinely extraordinary circumstances. It applies to every flight out of the EU on any airline, and to flights into the EU on EU airlines. The amount is fixed by distance. You can claim yourself, free, and keep 100%.
What EU261 is
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishes "common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights." It replaced an earlier regulation (295/91) on overbooking and entered into force on 17 February 2005. It is directly enforceable in every EU member state, in Norway, Iceland and Switzerland through bilateral extension, and continues to apply to flights into the EU on EU airlines regardless of where they depart from.
The regulation is short — 19 articles — and it does three things:
- Sets fixed cash compensation for long delays, cancellations and denied boarding (Articles 5, 6, 7 and 4).
- Sets a right to assistance — meals, communication, hotel — that applies regardless of compensation eligibility (Article 9, "duty of care").
- Sets a right to choose between refund, rerouting at the earliest opportunity, or rerouting at a later date (Article 8).
Coverage: who EU261 protects
EU261 applies if any of the following is true:
- You are departing from an airport in the EU (any airline, any nationality).
- You are arriving at an airport in the EU on an EU-licensed airline, having departed from a non-EU airport.
- The airline operating your flight is licensed in the EU (the "Community carrier" rule).
"EU" for these purposes includes the 27 member states plus their outermost regions (the Azores, Madeira, French overseas departments). Iceland, Norway and Switzerland implement EU261 through separate-but-mirror legislation, so functionally it covers all of those too. The United Kingdom is now governed by UK261, which is substantively identical.
You also need to have a confirmed reservation, have checked in on time (or, for an unspecified-check-in service, presented yourself for boarding at least 45 minutes before scheduled departure), and have been travelling on a fare available to the general public (a fully-comp'd freebie does not count, but loyalty redemptions and discounted tickets do).
The compensation amounts
Compensation is owed when you reach your final destination on your booking 3 or more hours late (or 4 hours for long-haul beyond 3,500 km outside the EU), when your flight is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or when you are involuntarily denied boarding. The amount is governed by Article 7:
| Flight distance | Delay trigger | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | 3+ hours | €250 |
| 1,500 – 3,500 km (any route) | 3+ hours | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km, intra-EU | 3+ hours | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km, EU ↔ non-EU | 4+ hours | €600 |
Distances are calculated as the great-circle distance between departure and final destination — for multi-leg trips on a single booking, the EU261 distance is the start-to-end distance, not the sum of each leg.
Under Article 7(2), the airline can halve the compensation (to €125, €200 or €300) if it offers re-routing on which the actual arrival delay is less than 2 hours, 3 hours, or 4 hours respectively (depending on distance band). This is rarely invoked because most disruptions blow past those windows easily.
The Sturgeon 3-hour rule
EU261 as originally written paid compensation only for cancellations, not delays. The Sturgeon v. Condor ruling (joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07, decided 19 November 2009) and the later Nelson v. Lufthansa case (C-581/10) extended the same fixed compensation to long delays of 3 or more hours at arrival. This is the rule everyone now relies on, and it survived a later constitutional challenge by the airlines.
The "arrival" clock runs to the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate, not to landing — per Germanwings v. Henning (C-452/13). If you have evidence of cabin door opening at 11:03 against a scheduled 7:55 arrival, that's three hours and eight minutes of qualifying delay, even if the wheels touched the runway at 10:58.
Denied boarding
Article 4 governs denied boarding, almost always due to airline overbooking. The amounts are identical to the delay/cancellation amounts (€250 / €400 / €600 by distance band) and are owed in cash, not vouchers. The airline must first ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for agreed benefits before involuntarily denying anyone.
Critically, denied-boarding compensation under EU261 is owed regardless of whether the airline rebooks you on a later flight. The €600 stands even if you arrive only one hour late on the alternative. This is different from delay compensation, which is tied to final-arrival lateness.
Cancellation rules
For cancellations, Article 5 owes compensation unless:
- You were informed at least 14 days before scheduled departure, OR
- You were informed 7–13 days before departure AND the alternative flight gets you in within 2 hours of original arrival and departed within 2 hours of original departure, OR
- You were informed less than 7 days before departure AND the alternative gets you in within 4 hours of original arrival and departed within 1 hour of original departure.
If none of those exceptions apply, the airline owes the fixed amount plus a refund or rerouting (your choice, Article 8) plus duty of care (Article 9).
Extraordinary circumstances
Article 5(3) gives the airline an escape hatch: it doesn't owe compensation if it can prove the cancellation/delay was caused by "extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken." Twenty years of CJEU rulings have narrowed what this means in practice.
Generally accepted as extraordinary (no compensation):
- Severe weather that genuinely shuts the route — volcanic ash (the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull benchmark), named hurricanes, lightning damage to airframe
- Air-traffic-control strikes — ATC, not airline employees
- Security threats, terrorism, political instability
- Bird strikes — Pešková v. Travel Service, C-315/15
- Hidden manufacturer defects formally communicated by the aircraft maker
- Sabotage or third-party criminal acts
Generally NOT extraordinary (compensation still owed):
- Technical faults found in routine maintenance — Wallentin-Hermann v. Alitalia, C-549/07
- Component failures the airline could have prevented — van der Lans v. KLM, C-257/14
- Cabin crew or pilot strikes (airline's own employees) — Krüsemann v. TUIfly, C-195/17
- Knock-on delays from earlier flights on the same aircraft
- Routine winter conditions at airports that operate through winter
- Insufficient crew, scheduling errors, "operational reasons"
- Fuel spills caused by the airline's own ground handling — Moens v. Ryanair, C-159/18
The burden of proof is on the airline. If it claims extraordinary circumstances, it has to produce documentary evidence. A one-line "due to extraordinary circumstances" rejection is not legally sufficient; escalate.
Duty of care
Article 9 obliges the airline to provide, free of charge while you wait out a long delay or cancellation:
- Meals and refreshments proportionate to the waiting time
- Two free phone calls, emails or faxes
- Hotel accommodation if an overnight stay becomes necessary
- Transport between the airport and that hotel
This applies even when extraordinary circumstances exempt the airline from cash compensation. If the airline fails to arrange these, you can pay for reasonable equivalents and claim them back. There's no formal cap but "reasonable" is the standard — a €70 airport hotel near CDG is reasonable; a €700 city-centre suite usually isn't.
Downgrade compensation
Under Article 10(2), if the airline places you in a lower class than you booked, you're owed:
- 30% of the ticket price for flights up to 1,500 km
- 50% for flights 1,500–3,500 km
- 75% for flights over 3,500 km
This is in addition to any compensation owed for delay.
The 2026 reform — what actually changed
In June 2026 the EU reached political agreement on a long-debated package of reforms to passenger rights. The headline numbers (€250 / €400 / €600) and the 3-hour threshold were left untouched — both had been targets of proposed reform but were defended successfully by consumer groups. The actual changes are:
- Clarified rules on hand-luggage pricing
- Stronger rights for parents to sit with their children at no extra charge
- Tighter deadlines for airlines to respond to claims
- Standardised escalation channels across member states
- Clearer reimbursement timelines for involuntary downgrade
If a source is telling you EU261 amounts changed in 2026, that source is wrong.
How to claim
- Confirm you qualify — match the cause and delay length to Articles 5, 6 and 7. Cross-check the airline's stated reason against the case-law list above.
- Calculate the exact amount by distance. Use our calculator or look up the great-circle distance manually.
- Gather your evidence: booking reference, boarding pass, actual arrival time, the cancellation/delay communication from the airline, and any expense receipts.
- Write a claim letter citing the specific articles (5(1)(c), 7, and 9 are the usual suspects), the amount owed in euros, and your evidence. Send it via the airline's official claims channel.
- Give the airline 14 days to respond. If they refuse or ignore you, escalate free to the national enforcement body of the country you departed from. The European Commission maintains the official list.
ClaimBox writes your EU261 claim — free
Add the flight. ClaimBox tracks it on live data, catches the moment a delay or cancellation crosses the EU261 threshold, calculates the exact euro figure by distance, and assembles a claim packet citing the right articles — ready to send to the airline. You keep 100%.
Download on the App Store →Frequently asked questions
What is EU261?
EU261 — formally Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 — is the EU law that requires airlines to compensate passengers for long delays, cancellations and denied boarding, with fixed cash payouts of €250 to €600 depending on flight distance. It has been in force since 17 February 2005.
How much does EU261 pay?
€250 for flights up to 1,500 km; €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km; €400 for intra-EU flights over 3,500 km; €600 for flights between the EU and non-EU countries over 3,500 km. Amounts have not changed since 2004 and were unchanged by the 2026 reform.
What is the EU261 3-hour rule?
Under the Sturgeon CJEU ruling (C-402/07, 2009), passengers who reach their final destination 3 or more hours late are entitled to the same fixed compensation as for cancelled flights. The clock runs to actual arrival at the gate, measured by the cabin door opening, not by wheels-down.
Does EU261 cover US-to-Europe flights?
Only if the operating airline is EU-licensed. EU261 covers every flight departing an EU airport, on any airline, but only EU airlines flying into the EU. A New York–Paris flight on American Airlines is not covered; the Paris–New York return is.
What are extraordinary circumstances under EU261?
Genuinely external events the airline could not reasonably prevent: severe weather, ATC strikes, security risks, bird strikes, and hidden manufacturer defects. Technical faults found in maintenance, late inbound aircraft, cabin-crew strikes and operational reasons are NOT extraordinary — the CJEU has settled this through Wallentin-Hermann, van der Lans, Krüsemann and Moens.
This guide is general information, not legal advice, and rules can change. Always confirm specifics with the airline and the relevant national enforcement body. ClaimBox helps you prepare and send your own claim; it is not a law firm.
Sources
- EUR-Lex — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, full text
- Article 7 — Right to compensation (legislation.gov.uk text)
- Your Europe — Air passenger rights
- European Commission — National Enforcement Bodies list
- Sturgeon v. Condor, C-402/07 (3-hour rule)
- Wallentin-Hermann v. Alitalia, C-549/07 (technical faults)
- van der Lans v. KLM, C-257/14
- Pešková v. Travel Service, C-315/15 (bird strikes)
- Krüsemann v. TUIfly, C-195/17 (wildcat strikes)