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Air Transat delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 10 min read

C$400 to C$1,000 per passenger is what Air Transat owes under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations once an arrival delay clears three hours, on the large-carrier scale the Canadian Transportation Agency assigns to Air Transat A.T. Inc. — but only for a disruption inside Air Transat’s control, disclosed 14 days or less before departure. Take a Toronto–Cancun flight that lands 6 hours 45 minutes late for a reason inside Air Transat’s control: C$700 per passenger, the minimum the Regulations fix for that band. Add C$900 to C$2,400 for an involuntary denied boarding. Because Air Transat operates as a third-country carrier, a flight departing a UK or EU airport on Air Transat still carries £220–£520 or €250–€600 of its own — cover that never reaches Air Transat’s inbound flights.

Illustration: travellers and aircraft at an airport, for the Air Transat page

Key facts: Air Transat

Fact

Detail

Legal entity

Air Transat A.T. Inc.; third-country operator, not a UK or EU air carrier

APPR carrier size

Large (Canadian Transportation Agency classification, checked 2026-09-17)

APPR delay/cancellation compensation

C$400–C$1,000; Air Transat is a large carrier (CTA classification)

APPR denied-boarding compensation

C$900–C$2,400, any carrier size

UK261 (UK departures only)

£220–£520

EU261 (EU departures only)

€250–€600

Claim deadline

Before the first anniversary of the disruption

Escalation

Canadian Transportation Agency; CAA's PACT for UK-related complaints — Air Transat is not in an approved ADR scheme

Source: APPR ss.19-20 — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca; UK261 art. 7(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 7(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; EASA TCO list (14/09/2026) — easa.europa.eu; CTA large/small guidance — protection-passager-passenger.otc-cta.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-17.

#How much does Air Transat pay under APPR for a delay of 3 hours or more?

C$400 to C$1,000 per passenger is the minimum the Regulations set for an Air Transat arrival delay of three hours or more, Air Transat A.T. Inc. being one of the airlines the CTA counts as large. None of it is owed where the cause sat outside Air Transat’s control, or where safety required the disruption.

Arrival delay

Air Transat owes

3 h to under 6 h

C$400

6 h to under 9 h

C$700

9 h or more

C$1,000

What a carrier publishes in its own terms binds it, and the CTA enforces a tariff commitment the way it enforces the Regulations. Air Transat’s own baggage page carries one, C$50 a day for up to seven days while a bag is missing, taken up in the claim section below. Read the delay figures above the same way — a floor set by regulation, with anything above it coming from the tariff that came with your ticket. Run the compensation calculator or the APPR calculator, and check the large-versus-small carrier rules.

Source: APPR s.19(1)-(2), s.1(2), s.1(4) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15; CTA large/small guidance — protection-passager-passenger.otc-cta.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-17.

#Which APPR disruption category did Air Transat give?

3 categories under APPR sort every Air Transat disruption: outside its control, within control but required for safety, and fully within its control. Only the third pays, and only if Air Transat gave 14 days' notice or less. A Montreal–Cancun snowstorm cancellation falls in the first category, paying nothing beyond rebooking or a refund.

Outside Air Transat’s control (category 1) takes in war or political instability, unsafe weather, air traffic control instructions, a security threat, an airport-side problem, a medical emergency, a wildlife strike, and a labour dispute touching Air Transat or a service it depends on. Required-for-safety work that Air Transat itself controls (category 2) sits apart from scheduled maintenance. Both pay nothing beyond re-routing or a refund, though category 2 still triggers care — food, drink and a way to communicate — once a two-hour wait starts, provided you had under 12 hours' notice.

Category 3 is everything else within Air Transat’s control. In a CTA complaint, the Canada Transportation Act presumes the disruption sat in category 3 unless Air Transat proves otherwise; write down the exact reason Air Transat gave you, since that reason is what the presumption tests against. The Canada APPR hub covers the Regulations in full.

Source: APPR s.10(1)-(2), s.11, s.1(1), s.12(2)-(4) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca; Canada Transportation Act s.85.07(2) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

#How do you claim from Air Transat before the first anniversary?

Air Transat’s deadline for a written APPR claim sits 12 months out from the disruption. From receiving that claim, Air Transat has 30 days to pay or set out its refusal. Cash is the default payout; only a non-expiring option of equal or greater value, offered in writing and accepted by you, can replace it.

Submit your claim through Air Transat’s own claim form before the first anniversary of the disruption, naming the flight number, the date and the length of the arrival delay — the reason Air Transat gives decides which of the three categories applies. A refund on the unflown fare runs the same 30-day window, credited back the way you paid originally, unless you’ve given written consent to a non-expiring swap instead. A lost or damaged bag runs under section 23 instead, as a separate claim: Air Transat’s own delayed-baggage page states it covers “$50.00 CAD per day, per baggage for a maximum of 7 days” toward essential purchases while a bag is missing (checked 2026-09-18) — its own published commitment, enforceable through the CTA as a tariff term, not an APPR or Montreal Convention right, on top of the statutory minimum APPR ties to the Carriage by Air Act. If Air Transat refuses to honour it, take the refusal to the CTA like an unpaid APPR claim.

A lost or damaged bag is a separate claim with shorter clocks, set out in what Canada adds for a lost bag.

Keep your filing date — it starts the 30-day countdown toward a CTA complaint if Air Transat leaves the claim unanswered.

Source: APPR s.19(3)-(4), s.18.2(1)-(2), s.21, s.23(1)-(2) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca; Canada Transportation Act s.85.01(2) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

#What does Air Transat owe you if you are denied boarding?

Involuntary denied boarding on Air Transat starts at C$900 and rises to C$2,400 as your rearranged arrival lands later — under 6 hours owes the floor, 6 up to 9 the middle figure, 9 hours or more the ceiling. Category 3 has to apply, and Air Transat owes the money within 48 hours of turning you away.

Fall into category 1 or 2 instead and none of this is owed, only alternative arrangements — the identical three-category filter that decides ordinary delay compensation decides this too. If Air Transat hasn’t paid before your replacement flight boards, it still owes you a written figure, revised upward if you land even later than that estimate.

None of this reaches a routine delay, a cancellation, or a passenger who accepts a seat swap for an agreed benefit — the payment is only for an involuntary denial that sits inside Air Transat’s control with no safety justification behind it.

Source: APPR s.20(1)-(2), (4)-(5) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

#How do you take an Air Transat claim to the Canadian Transportation Agency?

Let 30 days pass with no resolution to your written Air Transat claim, and a Canadian Transportation Agency complaint opens. A resolution officer then has 30 days to begin mediating, then 60 more for a binding order if mediation fails. Only Air Canada runs a CADR pilot; every other Air Transat dispute goes through the Agency.

Once that 30-day window on your written Air Transat claim closes without an answer, the Agency’s online complaint form is open to you — or work through the CTA complaint guide first if you want the steps mapped out. A resolution officer opens mediation within 30 days of your filing and, should that fail, issues a binding order 60 days after mediation began; the same route covers a refused C$50 baggage claim, not only a delay payout.

#If Air Transat rejects your claim

Air Transat, not the passenger, carries the burden here: the Canada Transportation Act presumes a disputed disruption sat in category 3 unless Air Transat proves it did not. That proof has to be written down, and a resolution officer weighs it against the presumption. Keep filing before the first anniversary no matter how flimsy the refusal reads — a late claim loses on timing alone, regardless of the merits. Insist Air Transat name the category, and see what to do when an airline refuses compensation for the rest of the process.

Source: Canadian Transportation Agency, air travel complaints — protection-passager-passenger.otc-cta.gc.ca; Canada Transportation Act s.85.07(2) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca; APPR s.19(3)-(4) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

#Flying from the UK or Europe on Air Transat? Which law applies

UK261 on a London departure pays £220 to £520 for an Air Transat delay of three hours or more; EU261 pays €250 to €600 from an EU airport such as Paris. Coverage runs one way: Air Transat’s own arrivals into the UK or EU carry none of it, holding no UK or EU operating licence.

Which rules apply to your Air Transat flight

Your route

Which rules apply

Canada to, from or within Canada, including connections

Air Passenger Protection Regulations (C$)

UK to anywhere

UK261 (£)

EU to anywhere

EU261 (€)

Outside Canada, the UK and the EU, arriving in the UK

No UK261 — Air Transat is a third-country operator

Outside Canada, the UK and the EU, arriving in the EU

No EU261 — Air Transat is a third-country operator

Air Transat A.T. Inc. holds only EASA third-country authorisation CAN-0018, no CAA Type A licence: neither EU261 nor UK261 covers its inbound flights. Not your situation? Montreal Convention covers bags; US DOT rules cover US flights; an unusual routing, work it out here.

#UK261 on Air Transat flights

£220, £350 or £520 follows the same three distance bands on a UK departure. Air Transat sits on no CAA ADR list — not AviationADR, CEDR nor the foreign schemes — so a stalled claim goes to the CAA’s PACT once eight weeks pass with no reply: an opinion only, not a binding order. Court, inside the six-year England & Wales limit, remains the binding route; cross-check any carrier on the ADR membership map.

#EU261 on Air Transat flights

€250, €400 or €600 applies from an EU departure under Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), since EU261’s article 7 covers a delay only through that ruling, not its own text. A payment already made under UK261 or EU261 rules out an APPR claim for the same event, never the other way; the anti-double-recovery rule in article 3(1)(b) does not reach Air Transat regardless, since it operates outside the article as a third-country carrier.

Source: UK261 art. 3(1), 7(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 3(1), 7(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; CAA ADR and PACT — caa.co.uk; EASA TCO list (14/09/2026) — easa.europa.eu; APPR s.3(3), Canada Transportation Act s.86.11(3) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

Already turned down on a UK or EU departure? AirHelp (third-party claim service) can take on rejected UK261 or EU261 claims against Air Transat, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; this does not cover APPR claims, which AirHelp does not process.
Do it yourself · freeClaim with the airline, then the CTA
  • Claim in writing; the airline can take up to 30 days
  • Refused or no answer: a complaint to the CTA, free
  • You keep all of the compensation
Use the claim letter template →
Hand it overAirHelp takes the claim, no win no fee
  • They deal with Air Transat for you
  • AirHelp's fee is 35% of the compensation, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails.
Start with AirHelp Third-party claim service

Compare Air Transat with Air Canada and WestJet, the same UK/EU cover; Condor is EU-licensed and carries no APPR exposure at all.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the Canadian Transportation Agency, a legal aid clinic or a lawyer; for a UK or EU departure, the CAA, Citizens Advice or the enforcement body of that country.

Source: APPR s.19(4) — laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

#Sources

#FAQ

What does Air Transat owe for a delayed or cancelled flight?
The Regulations set a minimum, not a price - C$400 once you arrive 3 hours late, then C$700 and C$1,000 as the delay passes six and nine hours. Where Air Transat's own tariff promises more, the CTA enforces that too. Nothing is owed if the cause sat outside its control or safety required it.
Does Air Transat's own C$50-a-day baggage payment replace an APPR claim?
No. The C$50-a-day, seven-day allowance on Air Transat's own baggage page is a published carrier commitment, enforceable through the CTA as a tariff term, sitting on top of the statutory minimum APPR ties to the Carriage by Air Act, not instead of it. Ask the CTA to enforce it if Air Transat refuses to pay.
How does a refused UK-departure claim against Air Transat get escalated?
Air Transat carries no CAA ADR membership, so a claim left unanswered eight weeks after filing moves only to the CAA's PACT for a non-binding opinion, never an order. Court, inside the six-year England and Wales limit, remains the only enforceable route for a UK departure.
What happens after 30 days if Air Transat won't resolve a claim?
A Canadian Transportation Agency complaint becomes available once 30 days pass with your written claim unanswered. A resolution officer then has 30 days to start mediating and, if that fails, 60 more to issue a binding order; Air Transat runs no CADR-style pilot, so the Agency is the only route left.

Spotted a wrong figure, a changed rule or a dead link? Tell the editorial team. How fixes are handled: corrections.