Delayed flight

Flight delayed 2, 3, 4 or 5 hours, or overnight: what may be owed

Under EU 261, meals and drinks are offered from two hours of delay on short flights, three on medium ones and four on the longest, and a hotel when the flight leaves the next day. From five hours you may take a refund. Compensation of €250 to €600 may be owed when you arrive three hours or more late.

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General information, not legal advice. Not a promise of payment. Norsk

What EU 261 says, hour by hour

Two clocks run. Meals, a hotel and the refund count from the time the flight was due to leave (Article 6). Compensation counts from the time you reach your final destination, compared with the time you were due there.

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, by length of delay
Delay	Meals and drinks	Hotel	Refund	Compensation
2 hours	Flights of 1,500 km or less	Only overnight	No	No
3 hours	Also flights within the EU over 1,500 km, and other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km	Only overnight	No	€250, €400 or €600 by distance, if you arrive 3 hours or more late. On the longest flights it may be halved below 4 hours.
4 hours	Every flight	Only overnight	No	€250, €400 or €600 by distance
5 hours	Every flight	Only overnight	You may give up the trip and get the unused fare back within 7 days	€250, €400 or €600 by distance
Overnight	Every flight	A hotel, and transport to it and back	Yes, from 5 hours	€250, €400 or €600 by distance

Meals, drinks and a hotel are owed whatever caused the delay. Compensation is not owed if the airline proves the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided. The amounts are the ones Article 7(1) sets; the airline works out the sum from the distance.

What each column means

Meals and drinks

Meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, and two telephone calls or emails, free of charge (Article 9). When they start depends on the distance of the flight: two hours for flights of 1,500 km or less, three hours for flights within the EU over 1,500 km and other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, four hours for all other flights (Article 6(1)).

Hotel

When the new departure is at least the day after the one first announced, the airline offers a hotel and transport between the airport and the hotel, free of charge (Article 6(1) and Article 9(1)).

Refund

When the delay is at least five hours, the airline offers a refund of the full cost of the ticket within seven days, for the parts of the journey not made, and for parts already made if the flight no longer serves any purpose in your original plan, with a flight back to where you started where relevant (Article 6(1) and Article 8(1)(a)).

Compensation

The regulation sets compensation for cancellations and denied boarding. The Court of Justice ruled in Sturgeon that passengers whose flight is delayed may rely on the same right when they reach their final destination three hours or more after the scheduled arrival, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. In Folkerts it ruled that the delay at departure does not matter when the arrival is three hours or more late.

Flight distanceAmount

Up to 1,500 km€250

Over 1,500 km within the EU, and other flights from 1,500 to 3,500 km€400

Over 3,500 km€600

On flights over 3,500 km that are not within the EU, the airline may halve the sum when you arrive three hours or more, but less than four hours, late (Article 7(2), applied to delays in Sturgeon).

What to do

Ask at the gate. Ask for the meals, the calls and the hotel while you wait. Keep every receipt if you pay yourself.
Write to the airline. Send a claim to the airline that operated the flight. There is a free claim template to copy.
No reply, or a refusal? Take it to the complaints body in the country you departed from.

AirwayControl

Or let the app fill it in.

AirwayControl is a flight tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch. Set your flight before you leave, and it follows the day for you. If the day goes wrong, it already knows the details the claim needs.

It tells you when it matters. A notification when your flight lands three hours late or more.
It knows which rules cover your route. EU 261, UK 261 and the rules of 18 more countries, in plain words.
It fills in the claim. Airline, flight number, date and route come from My Flight.
You send it. From your own email, or through the airline's own claim form with every answer ready to copy.
No fee and no share. AirwayControl never takes a part of what you receive.

Download on the App Store

7 days free, then 29 NOK a month.

Questions people ask

How many hours does a flight have to be delayed for compensation?

Three hours or more at your final destination. The Court of Justice ruled in Sturgeon that a passenger who arrives three hours or more late may be owed compensation under EU 261, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.

My flight was delayed 3 hours. What am I entitled to?

If you reached your final destination three hours or more late, €250, €400 or €600 by distance may be owed. Meals and drinks are owed from two hours on flights of 1,500 km or less, and from three or four hours on longer ones.

My flight is delayed 5 hours. Can I get a refund?

Yes. EU 261 says that when the delay is at least five hours, the airline offers a refund of the ticket within seven days, for the parts of the journey you do not make.

My flight is delayed overnight. Does the airline pay for a hotel?

Yes. When the new departure is at least the day after the one first announced, EU 261 says the airline offers a hotel and transport to it and back, free of charge.

Are meals owed when the delay is caused by weather?

Yes. Meals, drinks and a hotel are owed whatever the cause. The Court of Justice ruled in McDonagh that even extraordinary circumstances do not release the airline from its duty of care.

Is AirwayControl a claims company?

No. It tells you which rules cover your route and writes the claim, and you send it from your own email. AirwayControl never sends or handles a claim for you, and takes no share.