Flight Cancellation Compensation | AirHelp (2024)

Check if previous canceled flights from the past 3 years qualify for up to €600 compensation:

Air travel is not always smooth and sometimes flight cancellations happen.

A couple of factors can lead to a cancelled flight. Sometimes, problems like bad weather or security risks can create a knock-on effect leading an airline to pull the plug on a flight.

Did you know that when an airline cancels your flight, you may be eligible to receive flight cancellation compensation?

EU regulation, EC 261, gives passengers the right to be reimbursed for flight cancellations providing certain criteria are met.

If you qualify under EC 261, an airline is obligated to pay you flight cancellation compensation EU of up to €600 .

Flight cancellation involves two parties, the airline and passenger.

The airline considers a flight as cancelled if the plane never left the tarmac. The EC 261 defines a cancelled flight as,

“The non-operation of a flight which was previously planned and on which at least one place was reserved”.

As a passenger, for your flight to be deemed cancelled: you must have booked a ticket for the flight in question.

Remember that a flight that takes off late, i.e. a delayed flight, is not a cancelled flight.

Under EC 261, you could be entitled to flight cancellation compensation EU if…

• Your flight was going to take off in the EU (flights to the EU also qualify in some cases).

• You need to have a confirmed reservation shown by a booking reservation (with information like the flight number, name of passenger etc.) of the flight.

• The airline notifies the passenger of the cancellation less than 14 days before the flight is set to depart

• Your cancelled flight should not be attributed to not-so-extraordinary circ*mstances like “technical difficulties” or “operational circ*mstances”. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has repeatedly stated that those don’t qualify as “extraordinary circ*mstances”, which means the airline must still oblige by EC 261 obligations and pay you compensation.

• Under a recent ruling by the ECJ, internal ‘wildcat strikes’ by flight staff do not constitute as ‘extraordinary circ*mstances’. Therefore, airlines must now compensate air passengers for flight delays and cancellations, when an airline strike is to blame.

Under EC 261, all cancelled flights are covered apart from when the airline has given you 14 days’ notice. But there’s a catch.

If the airline offers to re-route you, it can avoid paying cancellation compensation if the following criteria are met:

Flight cancelled and want to know what you could be entitled to?

We’re glad you asked! We’ve included a few highlights below. In addition to compensation for your loss of time, you are entitled to either:

• A full or partial refund of your original ticket and a return flight to your point of departure.

• The earliest possible alternative transport to your final destination.

• A new ticket to your final destination at a later date of your choosing, subject to availability.

Compensation

You could be eligible for a flight cancellation claim as much as €600.

Reimbursem*nt or rerouting + compensation

According to EC 261, when a flight is cancelled, you should be offered the choice between:

Reimbursem*nt within seven days of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought and, when relevant, a return flight to the first point of departure,

Or

Re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity or rerouting, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date

What is the relation between right to compensation, reimbursem*nt and rerouting?

Reimbursem*nt or rerouting + compensation!

Time-sensitive

If the airline notifies you of the cancellation less than 14 days departure, you can be entitled to compensation.

Free perks

When you’re stuck waiting for the airline to get you back on track, you’re entitled to a number of free perks, depending on your flight details.

The carrier must provide you with meals and refreshments during the delay as well as access to communications, including two telephone calls, telefax or fax messages, and emails.

If you need overnight accommodation, they must provide you with a hotel room and transport to and from the airport.

Upgrading and downgrading

If you’re offered an alternative flight and are lucky enough to be placed in a higher class than the one you booked, the carrier cannot charge you any additional payment. On the other hand, if the class of the alternative flight is lower, you can get a reimbursem*nt of between 30-75% of the price you originally paid.

What it boils down to is that your flight cancellation compensation may be halved if you accept an alternative flight.

If you decline the re-routing, you’ll get the amount in the ‘Never arrived’ column, as well as a refund of your ticket price and a return flight to your original departure location, if necessary.

Why choose AirHelp?

• AirHelp is the leading flight compensation company in the world, helping passengers understand their rights and get compensation for delayed or cancelled flights, and in instances of denied boarding.

• AirHelp is the best-rated flight compensation company in the world with a 9.5 score on Trustpilot.

• We have already helped more than 16 million passengers to get up to €600 in compensation.

• To avoid the burden of time and navigating the complex legal system.

• Airlines may deny your initial claim or ignore your claim request entirely, our team tackle bureaucratic hurdles to get you the money you deserve.

• Hold onto your boarding pass and add any other travel documents.

• Ask why the flight is canceled.

• Request an alternate flight to your destination or refund.

• Make a note of the arrival time at your destination.

• Ask the airline to pay for your meals and refreshments.

• Don’t sign anything or accept any offers that may waive your rights.

• Get the airline to provide you with a hotel room.

• Keep your receipts if your canceled flight ends up costing you extra money.

If you have just one flight, travel distance is a factor when determining how much money you are eligible for. But if you have a multi-flight trip, it’s possible that only part of it will be factored into your compensation. To determine this, your journey must meet a couple of conditions:

• The flights must be under one booking, not purchased individually

• Your flight disruption must be eligible under EC 261

When a flight cancellation happens to meet the criteria above, the carrier operating that flight is responsible for compensating you. To figure out the eligible distance, the disrupted flights and any legs that come after it are factored in.

Any legs of the journey that came before the disruption might be included as well, as long as they were operated by the same carrier responsible for the cancellation and there were no intervening flights operated by a different carrier.

To sum up, if one airline causes an issue, it will usually be responsible for all of its own flights, even if they came before the disruption, as well as any later flights that are affected, even if they are with a different airline.

Some EU courts interpret the regulation differently and may not include prior connecting flights in the eligible distance. The quickest way to check your eligibility is by entering your flight details in the box below.

Your right to compensation under EC 261 does eventually expire, so it’s important to know the Statute of Limitations for your claim.

This varies from one country to the next and is determined by where the headquarters of the airline is or what court has jurisdiction in cases concerning the airline.

Further compensation

Your right to compensation under EC 261 does not affect your right to request further compensation.

This rule does not apply in cases where passengers have voluntarily surrendered their reservations. Of course, the amount you are entitled to under EC 261 may be deducted from whatever additional compensation you receive.

Obligation to inform passengers about flight cancellation compensation EU

Your first basic right is to be informed about the content of EC 261. Every airline has to display information on passengers’ rights at their check-in counters at every airport in which they operate.

If you’d like to get even closer to the law, you can read the actual text of EC 261. And last but not least, here’s our man Scott with the basics of air passenger rights.

These flight cancellation rights fall under the regulations for EU flight delay compensation. Consequently, they apply until the UK officially leaves the union.

Time will tell how this impacts the UK but until then, the regulations stated above are the current law.