Air India delay and cancellation compensation
Checked 11 min read · 5 tables
A UK261 claim against Air India runs to £220, £350 or £520 per passenger, and an EU261 claim to €250, €400 or €600, when a flight leaving a UK or EU airport puts you at your final destination at least three hours behind schedule. Proof of extraordinary circumstances is the airline’s way out. Arrivals booked on their own fall outside both Regulations.
Air India runs to 
UK or 
EU airport puts you at your final destination at least three hours behind schedule. Proof of extraordinary circumstances is the airline’s way out. Arrivals booked on their own fall outside both Regulations.
- UK261 ££220–£520per passenger, 3 h or more late at arrival
- EU261 €€250–€600per passenger, 3 h or more late at arrival
- Claim service
No win, no feeHand the claim over →
Key facts: Air India
Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
Operator | AIR INDIA LIMITED, EASA third-country operator IND-0001, holding no CAA Type A licence |
Covered departures | Take-off from a UK airport, where UK261 applies; take-off from the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland, where EU261 does |
Outside both Regulations | Inbound flights to the UK or the EU sold as a booking of their own |
Band amounts | £220 / £350 / £520 (UK261); €250 / €400 / €600 (EU261) |
UK route after a refusal | No CAA-listed ADR scheme (lists read 15 Sep 2026); CAA PACT gives an opinion, not a binding ruling |
EU route after a refusal | The departure country's national enforcement body |
Deadline to sue | England, Wales and Northern Ireland 6 years; Scotland 5 years, an open point |
Calculator |
CAA Type A licence
Iceland, 
Norway or 
Switzerland, where EU261 does
England, 
Wales and 
Scotland 5 years, an open pointSource: EU261 arts. 3, 7 and 16 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 3 and 7, plus Limitation Act 1980 s.9, Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4 and Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; EASA authorised third-country operators — easa.europa.eu; CAA consumer pages — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
#Why do UK261 and EU261 cover Air India only on flights departing the UK or EU?
IND-0001 marks Air India as an authorised third-country operator on the EASA list of 14 September 2026, with no UK Type A licence behind it. Inbound cover is reserved for Community carriers under EU261, and for UK or Community carriers under UK261, which leaves Air India covered on departures.
Source: UK261 arts. 2(c), 2(m) and 3(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 3(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; EASA authorised third-country operators and CAA airline licence holders — easa.europa.eu, caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Which rules apply to your Air India flight
Your Air India booking | Regulation | Paid in |
|---|---|---|
Takes off from a UK airport | UK261 | £ |
Takes off from an EU, Icelandic, Norwegian or Swiss airport, the UK included as a destination | EU261 | € |
Lands in the UK or the EU on a separate booking that began outside both | Neither | None |
Norwegian or Where you take off decides. A multi-leg trip sold as one booking counts from its first airport under UK261, and Icelandic, Norwegian and Swiss airports sit on the EU261 side of that line.
Operating entity: AIR INDIA LIMITED holds third-country operator authorisation IND-0001 on the EASA third-country operators list, while the CAA airline licence holders list records no Type A licence in its name.
For a return leg on the same booking, neither UK261 article 3(1A) nor the EU261 text settles the point.
Check the first departure airport on your booking before you ask for Air India flight delay compensation.
#How much does Air India owe for a 3-hour delay from a UK or EU airport?
£220, £350 or £520 per passenger is the UK261 figure once an Air India departure from a UK airport leaves you three hours or more late at your final destination; from an EU airport EU261 pays €250, €400 or €600. The band follows great-circle distance, never the hours spent in the air.
Distance | UK261 £ | EU261 € |
|---|---|---|
Up to 1,500 km | £220 | €250 |
1,500-3,500 km | £350 | €400 |
Over 3,500 km | £520; £260 at 3 to under 4 hours late (CAA; carrier's option) | €600; €300 at 3 to under 4 hours late (carrier's option); intra-EU €400, no reduction |
Source: Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), para 63, and EU261 art. 7(1)-(2) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 2(n), 6(3), 7(1)-(2) and 7(4) — legislation.gov.uk; CAA, Delays — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Heathrow to Delhi runs 6,730 km, our own great-circle figure, far past the 3,500 km step.
Heathrow to Delhi runs 6,730 km, our own great-circle figure, far past the 3,500 km step.Cancellations run on notice instead. Fourteen days' warning or more pays nothing; shorter notice pays the band amount unless the replacement flight fits the article 5(1)(c) windows or extraordinary circumstances explain the cancellation. Where re-routing lands you within 2, 3 or 4 hours of the original arrival, by band, article 7(2) lets Air India pay half.
#UK261 on an Air India flight from a UK airport
The three-hour line lives in article 6(3), added on 14 December 2023, and it is read at your final destination from the moment passengers may leave the aircraft. Land 2 hours 59 minutes down and nothing is owed.
Above 3,500 km the CAA’s delay page prices an arrival “between three and four hours late” at £260 and “more than four hours” at £520. Heathrow to Mumbai is 7,210 km, so on that flight the minutes either side of the four-hour mark are worth £260 to a passenger. Article 7(2) says “may”, which makes the lower figure Air India’s choice rather than a ceiling.
#EU261 on an Air India flight from an EU airport
Passengers who land three hours or more behind schedule hold an article 7 claim under Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), extraordinary circumstances aside. Beyond 3,500 km, on a flight that is not intra-EU, paragraph 63 allows €300 in place of €600 where the arrival delay stays under four hours.
Write down the minute the doors opened, then run the numbers through the compensation calculator.
#How does a connecting Air India journey via its hub count?
1 ticket covering two legs is 1 journey for UK261 purposes. Article 3(1A) reads a flight sold as a single unit as a whole, taking its departure point from the first leg. Start in Birmingham and the test is met even where the late leg ends in Chennai.
Source: UK261 art. 3(1A) (inserted by SI 2023/1370), art. 6(3) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
#UK261: Gahan v Emirates and a connection through Delhi
The Court of Appeal in Gahan v Emirates [2017] EWCA Civ 1530 put the measuring point at the final destination for a single booking sold from an EU airport by a carrier outside the EU, a missed onward connection beyond the EU included. Those were Emirates flights out of Manchester, and lower courts in England and Wales follow the ruling. Read across to one Air India booking from a UK airport, the clock is read at the last airport rather than at Delhi.
Emirates [2017] EWCA Civ 1530 put the measuring point at the final destination for a single booking sold from an Connecting Air India journey: which distance sets the band
One Air India booking | The late leg alone | First airport to final destination | UK261 £ |
|---|---|---|---|
Birmingham-Delhi-Chennai | Delhi-Chennai, 1,760 km | 8,320 km | £520 |
London Heathrow-Delhi-Kochi | Delhi-Kochi, 2,050 km | 8,220 km | £520, not £350 |
Source: UK261 art. 3(1A), art. 7(1) and 7(4) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15; every kilometre figure here is an Air Travel Rights editorial calculation (haversine great-circle from published airport coordinates, rounded to 10 km), not an official distance.
The 2,050 km Delhi-Kochi hop cannot drag that Heathrow booking into the £350 band, because the measurement starts at Heathrow.
#EU261: Folkerts on a connection from an EU airport
Folkerts (C-11/11, 2013) fixes the same measuring point for EU261: on one Air India booking out of an EU airport, a missed onward flight is judged by when you reach the last airport.
Hold on to a boarding pass from every leg.
#How do you claim compensation from Air India directly?
8 weeks of silence from Air India, or a refusal on paper, is what unlocks the CAA route on a UK departure, so start with a written claim to the airline. Name the flight number and date, the arrival delay, the band amount in pounds or euros, and your legal basis: article 6(3) for UK261, Sturgeon for EU261.
Source: UK261 arts. 6(3) and 7(1) — legislation.gov.uk; CAA, How the CAA can help — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Air India’s own “EU/UK 261 Flight Compensation Claim — Submit Online” page showed up in search results on 15 September 2026; open it on the day to see what it asks for. Send the booking confirmation, the boarding passes and any disruption message with your claim for Air India flight delay compensation.
Reimbursement sits apart from compensation. Article 8(1) hands back the ticket price within seven days after a cancellation, if you would rather not be re-routed, and article 6(1) opens the same door once a delay passes 5 hours.
#Air India claim and complaint pages
What you need | Air India page, title as listed in search results on 15 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|
UK261/EU261 claim form | |
Disruption guidance | |
Passenger rights overview | |
Complaint escalation |
Set an 8-week reminder the day you send it.
#Where do you escalate a refused Air India claim from a UK flight?
4 other airlines sit on the CAA’s Berlin-scheme list; Air India appears on none of the CAA ADR lists read on 15 September 2026, AviationADR and CEDR included. With no scheme behind the carrier, the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) may take on a UK departure, without power to bind.
AviationADR and 
CEDR included. With no scheme behind the carrier, the Source: CAA, Alternative Dispute Resolution and How the CAA can help — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
#If Air India rejects your claim
On a UK departure, Air India’s reason still has to clear article 2(o), and the causes that qualify are set out separately. Even a cause that qualifies cancels the fixed sum alone: meals, a hotel, re-routing and a refund stay owed.
In a FlyerTalk thread from December 2024 (passenger report), 678flyer, delayed almost four hours on AI 128 from Heathrow to Mumbai, describes Air India’s rejection: “Air India has rejected my claim claiming that airport congestion caused the delay without specifying which airport or what date”. “Airport congestion” is not a term article 2(o) uses, so ask Air India in writing which cause it relies on and what reasonable measures it took. On 8 December 2024 the same poster reported filing with PACT, and on 19 January 2025 that PACT had accepted the complaint and asked Air India for a response; the posts report no final outcome. One thread is an anecdote.
PACT will “take it up with the business concerned” where it reads the complaint as valid.
From an EU airport the complaint belongs to the departure country’s enforcement body, named on the European Commission’s list of 27 August 2026.
European Commission’s list of 27 August 2026.Our ADR scheme guide, ADR map and refused compensation guide show where other carriers stand.
AirHelp (third-party claim service)- Write to the airline and keep the reference
- Refused, or no answer in 8 weeks: its ADR scheme or the CAA, free
- You keep all of the compensation
Hand it overAirHelp takes the claim, no win no fee- They deal with Air India for you
- AirHelp's fee is 35% of the compensation, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails.
#How long do you have to claim against Air India?
6 years is the window in England and Wales for a UK261 claim against Air India, since article 3(9) routes it to section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. Northern Ireland matches that. Scotland’s figure is 5 years under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, and how it meets UK261 stays unsettled.
Source: Limitation Act 1980 s.9, Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4 and Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6, read with UK261 art. 3(9) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Which of the two governs in Scotland, the 5-year prescription or article 3(9), is a question no Scottish court has answered. Complaints with under a year left to sue are turned away by PACT, so treat 4 years as your PACT cut-off where Scotland could be the forum.
A £520 claim falls inside the £10,000 small claims track in England and Wales; issuing costs £70, with further fees possible later. No period appears in EU261 itself, which leaves each EU country’s own rules to set the deadline.
Diary 5 years from the flight date if Scotland is in play.
Similar airlines, also third-country operators: Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Kuwait Airways.
Qatar Airways
Singapore Airlines
Kuwait AirwaysNot your situation? Any airline leaving an EU airport: EU261; a Canadian itinerary: Air Passenger Protection Regulations; still unsure: which law covers my flight. Flying inside the US? Federal rules there work differently: see US DOT rules.
Canadian itinerary: 
US? Federal rules there work differently: see This page is general information rather than legal advice. Take your own case to the CAA, to the European Consumer Centre in your country, or to a solicitor.
Air India complaints in the CAA figures
166 Reg 261 complaints about Air India reached CAA (PACT) in the CAA's 2025/26 figures (April 2025 to March 2026), an estimated 120 per million passengers, and 24.0% of cases were upheld. These are complaints the ADR body or the CAA received, not delays.
Air India: complaints, April 2025 to March 2026
| CAA figure | FY26 |
|---|---|
| Handled by | CAA (PACT) |
| Reg 261 complaints | 166 |
| All complaints opened | 185 |
| Per million passengers (CAA estimate) | 120 |
| Uphold rate | 24.0% |
Source: CAA, Passenger Complaints Data FY26 (Q2 2025 – Q1 2026), data correct as of 3 June 2026 — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-22. The CAA calls the per-million figure "an indicative estimated value only".
#Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 2-8 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- The Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1370) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, arts. 3, 5, 7, 8 and 16 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
- Limitation Act 1980 s.9 - legislation.gov.uk; Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4 - legislation.gov.uk; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- EASA, Authorised Third Country Operators (updated 14 Sep 2026) - easa.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
- Civil Aviation Authority, Airline licence holders - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- Civil Aviation Authority, Delays - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative Dispute Resolution for air passengers - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- Civil Aviation Authority, How the CAA can help - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (updated 27 Aug 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
- Civil Procedure Rules Part 26 - justice.gov.uk; Make a court claim for money: court fees - gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- Sturgeon, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
- Folkerts, C-11/11 (2013), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
- Gahan v Emirates [2017] EWCA Civ 1530, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
- Air India (listed in search results 15 Sep 2026): EU/UK 261 Flight Compensation Claim — Submit Online, Flight Disruption Management and Assistance, Passenger Rights and Travel Regulations Guide, Grievance Resolution — Customer Support & Feedback.
- FlyerTalk, “Air India delayed flight compensation as per UK rules”, posts by 678flyer (1 and 8 Dec 2024, 19 Jan 2025) - flyertalk.com, passenger reports, checked 2026-09-15.