Flight Delay Compensation: How to Calculate What You're Owed Under EU261 and UK261
Under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 and its UK copy, a long delay, a short-notice cancellation or denied boarding can entitle you to a fixed cash payment that has nothing to do with your ticket price. The amount depends on the flight distance and how late you arrived; whether it is owed at all depends on why the flight was disrupted. The Flight Delay Compensation Calculator applies those rules from three inputs: the distance band, the delay in hours and the reason. This guide explains the rules it encodes, works an example and lists the details that decide real claims.
Who is covered
EU261 applies to any flight departing from an airport in the EU (plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland), whatever the airline, and to flights arriving in the EU on an EU airline. UK261 mirrors it for flights departing the UK on any airline and flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU airline. A flight between two non-European countries on a non-European carrier is outside both.
Compensation is owed when the cause was within the airline's control: technical faults, crew problems, overbooking, operational decisions. Article 5(3) exempts the airline when the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, such as severe weather, air traffic control restrictions or security risks. There is no partial payment in that case: it is the full amount or nothing.
How the amount is calculated
1. Arrival delay of 3 hours or more at the final destination (or a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice, or denied boarding). Under 3 hours, no fixed compensation is owed, though the airline still owes care such as meals and, where needed, accommodation.
2. Distance band sets the base amount under Article 7(1): €250 for flights up to 1,500 km, €400 for 1,500–3,500 km (and all intra-EU flights over 1,500 km), €600 for other flights over 3,500 km. UK261 pays £220, £350 and £520.
3. Article 7(2) reduction: if you were re-routed and arrived less than 2, 3 or 4 hours late (for the three bands respectively), the airline may halve the payment. The calculator applies the one case that arises for a pure delay: a long-haul (over 3,500 km) arrival between 3 and 4 hours late pays 50%, so €300 (UK261: £260).
4. Reason: airline fault pays the amount above; the calculator returns €0 for extraordinary circumstances or a security or health emergency.
Worked example. A 2,000 km flight arrives 4 hours late because of a technical fault.
1. Delay check: 4 hours ≥ 3 hours, so compensation applies.
2. Distance band: 1,500–3,500 km, base €400.
3. Reason: airline fault, full amount. Result: €400 per passenger.
Change the flight to 5,500 km with the same 4-hour delay and the base is €600, paid in full because the delay reached 4 hours; at 3 hours 30 minutes it would be €300. Change the cause to a storm the airline could not have avoided and the result is €0 whatever the distance. A family of four on the original flight claims 4 × €400 = €1,600, since the amount is per passenger.
Filing a claim
Measure arrival delay, not departure delay. The test is the time the aircraft doors opened at the final destination compared with the scheduled arrival. A flight that leaves 4 hours late but makes up an hour in the air may not qualify.
Keep evidence. Boarding pass, booking confirmation and any airline messages about the delay and its cause.
Claim with the airline first. Cite the regulation and your figures; many valid claims are paid without a dispute, and a claims agency will take a share of the same money.
Challenge weak "extraordinary circumstances" claims. Court rulings have repeatedly treated routine technical faults as within the airline's control. Weather and air traffic control are the usual legitimate exemptions.
Check the time limit. Each country sets its own limitation period for bringing a claim, often several years.
Watch for the revised regulation. EU negotiators reached a political agreement in June 2026 on a long-discussed revision of EU261. Reports of the deal say the three-hour threshold and the €250/€400/€600 amounts are kept, but other rules change; check the final text and its entry-into-force date before relying on any single summary, including this one.
Common mistakes
- Confusing compensation with the ticket price. A €49 ticket on a long-delayed long-haul flight can still be worth €600.
- Assuming weather always kills the claim. Only genuinely unavoidable causes do; "operational reasons" is not an exemption.
- Forgetting it is per passenger, including children with a paid seat.
- Mixing up the currencies. UK261 pays in pounds at the fixed amounts above, not a conversion of the euro figures.
Key takeaways
- Test: arrival 3+ hours late (or short-notice cancellation or denied boarding) on a covered flight, for a cause within the airline's control.
- Amounts: €250 / €400 / €600 (UK261 £220 / £350 / £520) by distance band; long-haul delays of 3–4 hours pay half.
- Example: a 2,000 km flight 4 hours late for a technical fault pays €400 per passenger.
- Extraordinary circumstances such as unavoidable severe weather mean no fixed compensation, but care obligations still apply.