EC261: your rights when a flight is delayed or cancelled — and why nobody claims them

EU Regulation EC261/2004 is one of the strongest consumer protections in the world. It entitles you to financial compensation of up to €600 per passenger in cases of significant delay, cancellation or denied boarding. It applies to millions of flights every year.

Fewer than 3% of eligible passengers ever claim anything.

That's not purely a matter of ignorance — it's also the result of a deliberate strategy by airlines.

What the law says

EC261/2004 applies if:

• Your flight departs from an airport in the European Union (regardless of airline), or
• Your flight arrives in the EU and is operated by a European carrier.

It covers three situations: arrival delay of more than 3 hours, flight cancellation, and denied boarding (overbooking).

Compensation amounts

Flight distance	Delay ≥ 3h / Cancellation	Example routes
Flights ≤ 1,500 km	€250	Paris → Lyon, Amsterdam → Brussels
Flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km	€400	Paris → Marrakech, London → Istanbul
Flights > 3,500 km (EU to non-EU)	€600	Paris → New York, Madrid → Singapore

These amounts are per passenger. Two people on the same flight: €1,200 on a long-haul. A family of four: €2,400. In cash, not vouchers.

Exact eligibility conditions

The delay is measured at arrival, not departure. A flight that takes off two hours late but lands only 2h45 late does not trigger compensation — even if you waited two hours at the gate.

For cancellations, you're entitled to compensation unless the airline notified you at least 14 days in advance. Between 7 and 13 days' notice, rules vary based on the rerouting offered. Under 7 days, compensation is almost always due.

The main exception: extraordinary circumstances. Airlines invoke this clause reflexively for almost anything. The legal list is narrow: exceptional weather, political instability, strikes unrelated to the airline, security threats. A strike by the airline's own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance under European case law. Neither is a technical failure, in most cases.

Why airlines count on your inaction

Airlines know exactly what the law requires. They have dedicated legal teams focused on minimising payouts. The strategy is simple and effective:

1. Don't proactively inform passengers. The law requires airlines to inform passengers of their rights during disruptions. In practice, the paper handed out at the gate rarely spells out the amounts. Many passengers simply don't know the money exists.

2. Complicate the claims process. Unintuitive online forms, long response times, excessive documentation requests. The goal is for you to give up before getting anything.

3. Offer vouchers instead of cash. A €400 airline voucher costs less to issue than a €400 bank transfer. And it often expires. You have the right to refuse and demand cash payment.

4. Invoke extraordinary circumstances abusively. It's the default argument. "Weather", "ATC restrictions", "unforeseen issue". Some invocations are legitimate. Many are not — and courts confirm this regularly.

An airline has no interest in making things easy for you. Your claim is their cost. Your giving up is their profit.

How to claim — step by step

Limitation periods

You don't need to claim on the day. Deadlines vary by country of departure:

• France: 5 years from the flight date.
• United Kingdom: 6 years (the UK created its own UK261 regulation post-Brexit, essentially identical to EC261).
• Germany: 3 years.
• Belgium: 1 year recommended in practice.

If you had a disrupted flight in the past few years and never claimed, check your records. There may be money waiting.

What Flight Guardian does differently

Most passengers discover their EC261 rights after the flight, back home, with the frustration fading. The moment when a claim is easiest — with fresh evidence, details clear in your mind — has passed.

Flight Guardian monitors your flight in real time and automatically generates an EC261 rights assessment the moment thresholds are crossed. You know what you're entitled to before you've even collected your bags.