Condor delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·8 min read

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger under EU261 is what Condor owes on a flight departing an EU airport that lands three hours or more late, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances; a UK departure runs on UK261, in pounds. Condor Flugdienst GmbH holds a German operating licence, so UK261 also reaches its flights arriving in the UK from outside it, and Germany’s own courts run a separate, shorter clock for suing over it.

• EU261 €€250–€600per passenger, 3 h or more late at arrival
• UK261 ££220–£520per passenger, 3 h or more late at arrival
• Claim serviceNo win, no feeHand the claim over →

Key facts: Condor

Source: EU261 arts. 3, 7 and 16 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 3 and 7, Limitation Act 1980 s.9 — legislation.gov.uk; EC licence list — transport.ec.europa.eu; LBA licence list — lba.de; BGB §§195, 199 — gesetze-im-internet.de, checked 2026-09-15/18.

#EU261 €How much does Condor pay under EU261 for a delay of 3 hours or more?

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger under EU261 is owed when a Condor flight departing an EU airport reaches its final destination three hours or more late, unless extraordinary circumstances caused the delay. Distance to that destination, measured great-circle from the first airport of your booking, sets the band.

Source: EU261 art. 7(1)-(2) and 7(4) — eur-lex.europa.eu; Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), para 63 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

Frankfurt to Fuerteventura is 3,056 km on the Air Travel Rights editorial team’s own great-circle calculation, an intra-EU flight over 1,500 km, so a delay of three hours or more there pays the full €400: Sturgeon’s 50% reduction only ever touches the top band.

The same three-band structure covers a Condor flight departing a UK airport under UK261, in pounds instead of euros: £220, £350 or £520, with the CAA’s £260 step where the arrival delay stays under four hours on a route past 3,500 km (Airport delays passenger rights).

Price your own flight in the compensation calculator, then the EU261 delay compensation guide.

#Which Condor flights do EU261 and UK261 cover, including flights into Europe and the UK?

1 licensed company flies for Condor: Condor Flugdienst GmbH, a Community carrier on the EU’s own operating-licence list, its German licence effective since 1965. EU261 covers a flight into the EU on Condor, and UK261 covers a flight into the UK on Condor too, on top of every UK or EU departure.

Which rules apply to your Condor flight

Operating entity: Condor Flugdienst GmbH, Community carrier (Germany), decision effective since 10 May 1965; confirmed against the LBA’s own licence list. A leisure carrier holding the same Community licence gives you identical cover.

One trip is never paid twice: both regulations drop their arrival rule once you have already received compensation and assistance in the country the flight left.

Not your situation? A delayed connection through Canada runs on the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, damaged or lost baggage on the Montreal Convention, and a flight inside the United States on US DOT rules. Which law covers my flight untangles a mixed itinerary.

#How do you claim compensation from Condor directly?

Booked through a tour operator? Condor still owes the article 7 payment, not the operator: take the flight number and date off the boarding pass, add how late you reached your final stop, and name Condor Flugdienst GmbH as the carrier.

Source: EU261 arts. 3(1), 7(1), 8(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 3(1), 7(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Write to Condor with the booking confirmation, boarding passes and disruption message attached, by its own claim channel or by letter. Cite the regime in the first line and state the band amount yourself: EU261 article 7 from an EU airport, UK261 article 7 from a UK one. The departure airport decides whether a claim exists, and on an arrival from outside both it is that German licence which brings the flight inside.

Reimbursement is a separate right and survives a refused compensation claim: article 8(1) returns the ticket price within seven days after a cancellation if you would rather not be re-routed, and a delay of five hours or more opens the same door (a changed departure time).

Date-stamp what you send. Escalation clocks run from that first written claim, not from the flight.

#Where do you escalate a refused Condor claim?

8 weeks of silence from Condor, or a refusal on paper, is what opens the CAA route, and even then only through the Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT), since Condor is absent from all three CAA ADR lists — AviationADR, CEDR and the Berlin scheme used by Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss.

Source: CAA, Alternative Dispute Resolution and How the CAA can help — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

PACT gives only an opinion, so an unresolved claim still needs the small claims court. On a Condor flight from an EU airport instead, complain to the enforcement body of the country you departed from, from the Commission’s list updated 27 August 2026; for a German departure that body is the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt.

#If Condor rejects your claim

Ask Condor in writing which cause it relies on and what measures it took. That answer has to clear article 2(o) of UK261, or article 5(3) of EU261, and which reasons survive that test is set out separately. A technical fault alone rarely qualifies: Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) held a maintenance problem is not extraordinary by itself. Articles 5(3) and 6(4) then lift the fixed amount alone: meals, a hotel where the wait needs one, re-routing and a refund all stay owed.

A tour operator once told a Condor package passenger their flight was cancelled; it flew as scheduled, and the claim was refused on that basis. In Condor Flugdienst (joined cases C-650/23 and C-705/23, 2024), the Court of Justice held the passenger could still claim article 7 compensation from Condor itself, regardless of what the tour operator said. Decided after 2020, the ruling is persuasive in a UK court, not binding.

Name the operating company, Condor Flugdienst GmbH, in anything that reaches a court.

Compare the ADR scheme guide, ADR membership map and refused compensation guide.

Rather not run CAA PACT or a national enforcement body yourself? AirHelp (third-party claim service) can take on rejected or ignored Condor claims, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; Condor’s own claim channel and PACT stay open.

Do it yourself · freeClaim with the airline, then the regulator

• Write to the airline and keep the reference
• Refused: the enforcement body of the country you left, 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 Condor 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

#How long do you have to claim against Condor?

6 years is the court deadline in England and Wales for a UK261 claim against Condor, since article 3(9) applies section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980, and Northern Ireland’s own statute lands on the same figure. Germany gives an EU261 claim only 3 years, not 6.

Source: UK261 art. 3(9); Limitation Act 1980 s.9; Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; BGB §§195, 199 — gesetze-im-internet.de, checked 2026-09-15/18.

Scotland’s 1973 Act prescribes at 5 years, a point no Scottish court has decided for UK261. EU261 fixes no time limit of its own: the Court of Justice held in Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) that each Member State’s own rules on limitation of actions decide instead.

A German departure runs on its own clock. The regelmäßige Verjährungsfrist under §195 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch gives 3 years, starting at the end of the year the claim arose and the passenger knew or should have known of it under §199(1), not from the flight date itself. The Bundesgerichtshof held on 10 December 2009 (Xa ZR 61/09) that the Montreal Convention’s 2-year limit does not shorten this period, and held again on 4 June 2024 (X ZR 62/23) that the same period applies even to a package flight — Condor’s own core business. The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt is Germany’s enforcement body for EU261, separate from this civil-court deadline.

In England and Wales, a £350 UK261 claim is a small claim, limit £10,000, £50 to issue if unpaid.

Other German-licensed Community carriers: Eurowings, TUI Airways and Lufthansa.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the enforcement body of your departure country, your national European Consumer Centre or a solicitor.

#Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, arts. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15 and 16 – eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 2-9 – legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
• The Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1370) – legislation.gov.uk, 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.
• Civil Procedure Rules r.26.9, small claims track – justice.gov.uk; gov.uk, Make a court claim for money (fees) – gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
• European Commission, active operating licence list – transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
• Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, licence list (Stand 10 Aug 2026) and Fluggastrechte – lba.de, checked 2026-09-15.
• Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch §195 and §199 – gesetze-im-internet.de, checked 2026-09-18.
• Bundesgerichtshof, Xa ZR 61/09 (10 Dec 2009) – bundesgerichtshof.de, checked 2026-09-18.
• Bundesgerichtshof, X ZR 62/23 (4 Jun 2024) – bundesgerichtshof.de, checked 2026-09-18.
• Civil Aviation Authority, Airline licence holders, Delays, Alternative Dispute Resolution and 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.
• Sturgeon, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009), CJEU – eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07 (2008), CJEU – eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 (2012), CJEU – eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Condor Flugdienst, joined cases C-650/23 Hembesler and C-705/23 (2024), CJEU – eur-lex.europa.eu.

#FAQ

How do I claim compensation from Condor?

1 fact decides the address: Condor Flugdienst GmbH holds a German operating licence, so a Condor flight into the EU or into the UK is claimable, not only a departure from one. Name the regime in the first line, EU261 article 7 or UK261 article 7, and attach the booking confirmation, boarding passes and disruption message.

Does UK261 apply to Condor flights from London?

Yes. Any Condor flight departing a UK airport falls under UK261, and a flight into the UK from outside it is covered too, since Condor Flugdienst GmbH is a Community carrier. £220, £350 or £520 per passenger is owed on a delay of three hours or more, unless Condor proves extraordinary circumstances.

How long do I have to claim against Condor?

It depends which country's courts hear the claim. England and Wales and Northern Ireland both give 6 years; Scotland's 1973 Act sets 5, untested for UK261. Germany runs a separate 3-year clock for an EU261 claim under §195 of the BGB, confirmed twice by the Bundesgerichtshof - half the time the UK allows.

What did the Condor Flugdienst ruling decide?

A tour operator wrongly told a passenger a Condor flight was cancelled; it flew as scheduled. In Condor Flugdienst (joined cases C-650/23 and C-705/23, 2024), the Court of Justice held the passenger could still claim article 7 compensation from Condor itself, the operating carrier, regardless of the tour operator's error.