easyJet delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·9 min read · 4 tables

£220 to £520 per passenger under UK261, or €250 to €600 under EU261: that is easyJet delay compensation once your flight arrives 3 hours or more late at its final destination, unless easyJet proves extraordinary circumstances.

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

Key facts: easyJet

Source: UK261 arts. 3(9) and 7, limitation statutes — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 7 — eur-lex.europa.eu; CAA ADR page — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

#UK261 £How much does easyJet pay under UK261 for a delay of 3 hours or more?

£220, £350 or £520 per passenger is what easyJet owes under UK261 when your flight reaches its final destination 3 hours or more late. The band follows the great-circle distance to that destination. Flights under EU261 pay €250, €400 or €600 instead.

Source: UK261 arts. 2(n), 6(3), 7(1)-(2) — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 7 — eur-lex.europa.eu; CAA, Delays — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Over 3,500 km, the CAA puts an arrival between three and four hours late at £260 and more than four hours late at £520. It does not say which applies at exactly 4 hours 0 minutes. Article 7(2) says “may”, so the cut is easyJet’s option. EU261’s matching option is €300, never on a flight between two EU airports.

UK261 counts arrival when passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft. Two hours 59 minutes late earns nothing; from 3 hours 0 minutes, compensation is due.

Note when the doors opened, then check your band in the compensation calculator or the UK261 delay guide.

#Which easyJet company operated your flight, and which law covers it?

3 easyJet companies appear on official licence and AOC lists. On flights into the UK or the EU, the company that flew you decides the law. Departures need no check: UK261 for UK departures and EU261 for EU departures apply whichever easyJet company flies.

Which rules apply to your easyJet flight

easyJet companies and their licence status

Source: UK261 arts. 2-3 — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 3 and EU-Switzerland Air Transport Agreement — eur-lex.europa.eu; licence lists, checked 2026-09-15.

easyJet Europe Airline GmbH has held its Austrian operating licence since 19 July 2017 on the European Commission’s list of active licences, data as at 19 May 2026. That licence, not the aircraft’s paint, is what carries EU261 into an arrival.

Where the table gives both regimes, the inbound one falls away if you already received benefits or compensation and assistance in the country you left. The EU-Switzerland Air Transport Agreement applies EU261’s Member State rules to Switzerland and counts a Swiss-licensed airline as a Community air carrier. If your flight was operated by EasyJet Switzerland SA, EU261 covers it inbound only if that company holds a Swiss operating licence; FOCA lists only its air operator certificate. Whether UK261 covers it into the UK is unresolved.

No list maps routes to companies: check the operating carrier on your booking.

Not your situation? Canada: Air Passenger Protection Regulations; baggage: Montreal Convention. Flying in the US? US federal rules differ: US DOT rules. Unsure? Which law covers my flight.

#How do you claim compensation from easyJet directly?

2 easyJet forms cover a disrupted flight: the Compensation Claims Portal for the fixed payment, and the Expense Claim Form for costs from a cancelled, diverted or delayed flight. Use both where they apply, because compensation under article 7 and care under article 9 are separate duties.

Source: UK261 arts. 5, 7 and 9 — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 arts. 5, 7 and 9 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

#Where are easyJet’s claim and expense forms?

easyJet runs two separate forms and sends you to the wrong one if you guess: compensation goes through the claim portal at easyjet.com/claim/en/eu261, out-of-pocket expenses through the welfare form at easyjet.com/claim/en/welfare, both opened and checked on 17 September 2026. Give each passenger’s name, the flight number, the date and the time you left the aircraft, then state the regime and figure yourself: “UK261, article 7(1), £350 per passenger”.

With 14 days' notice or more of a cancellation, neither regime owes compensation, though you still choose between reimbursement within 7 days and re-routing. easyJet must prove when it told you. Compensation paid as a flight voucher needs your signed agreement.

Save both submissions with the date sent: after 8 weeks without a reply, AviationADR opens.

#What does easyJet owe you while you wait at the airport?

2 hours of delay beyond scheduled departure starts easyJet’s UK261 duty of care on flights up to 1,500 km: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the wait, plus two free calls or emails. The threshold is 3 hours on 1,500-3,500 km flights and 4 hours on longer ones.

Source: UK261 arts. 5(3), 6(1), 6(4), 8(1) and 9 — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 arts. 6(1) and 9 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

EU261 uses the same hours, except that a flight between two EU airports over 1,500 km sits in the 3-hour band. A next-day departure adds a hotel and transfers. At 5 hours, you may give up the flight and take an easyJet refund.

Care survives a valid refusal. Articles 5(3) and 6(4) of UK261 release easyJet only from article 7 compensation. An air traffic management decision can remove the £220-£520, but meals, hotel and, after a cancellation, re-routing stay owed.

If easyJet provided nothing, file itemised receipts on the Expense Claim Form.

#Which easyJet refusal reasons hold up?

2 Court of Appeal decisions name easyJet. In Blanche v EasyJet Airline Company Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 69, an air traffic management decision causing a long delay to a particular aircraft on a particular day was extraordinary, if easyJet proves causation. Dore & Anor v EasyJet Airline Company Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1553 held that portal submissions are claims.

Source: UK261 art. 2(o) — legislation.gov.uk; judgments — caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Which causes clear article 2(o) is set out separately; easyJet has to prove the one it names and the measures it took against it. Under Dore, a claims company may also use the portal in your name.

A MoneySavingExpert forum passenger report (August 2026) quotes the poster’s easyJet refusal: “the equipment operating your flight was affected by an unforeseen issue”. The wording names no equipment. If it was the aircraft, Jet2.com Ltd v Huzar [2014] EWCA Civ 791 applies: the Court of Appeal held that an unforeseeable technical fault is inherent in normal airline activity, so not extraordinary. All three decisions bind lower courts in England and Wales.

#If easyJet rejects your claim

Ask in writing for the cause, the equipment involved and the measures taken. Check METAR reports against an "adverse weather" refusal, and ask what caused any crew hours problem. See when an airline refuses compensation.

#How does AviationADR handle an easyJet complaint?

8 weeks without a reply to your written complaint, or a final refusal, lets you take easyJet to AviationADR, the scheme the CAA lists for the easyJet brand. File within 12 months of easyJet’s final response or last written communication; the scheme is free, and a decision you accept binds easyJet.

Source: CAA ADR and PACT pages — caa.co.uk; AviationADR members page — aviationadr.org.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Neither the CAA nor AviationADR names an easyJet company: membership is brand-level. AviationADR takes member-airline complaints when the flight involves a UK airport, and lists Switzerland too for easyJet. The CAA says ADR covers incidents within 6 years, or 5 if you live in Scotland. Its FY26 file puts easyJet at 154 complaints per million passengers, set against the other AviationADR airlines in UK airline complaint rates.

The CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team is only likely to consider non-ADR airlines. With no UK or Swiss airport involved, an EU261 complaint can go to the national enforcement body of the EU country you departed from or, on a flight from outside the EU, where you landed. For Austrian airports the Commission names the Agentur für Passagier- und Fahrgastrechte, which takes a free request 6 weeks after your written complaint; for Swiss ones, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation.

Mark the 8-week date; compare the ADR scheme guide and ADR map.

AirHelp (third-party claim service) works no win no fee and keeps a fee from any payout; easyJet’s portal and AviationADR stay free.

Do it yourself · freeClaim with the airline, then ADR

• 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

Use the claim letter template →

Hand it overAirHelp takes the claim, no win no fee

• They deal with easyJet 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 easyJet?

6 years from the flight date is the UK261 court deadline against easyJet in England and Wales, through article 3(9) and section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. Northern Ireland’s statute also allows 6 years. For Scotland, the deadline is unresolved.

Source: UK261 art. 3(9); Limitation Act 1980 s.9; Limitation (NI) Order 1989 art. 4; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

In Scotland, the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 sets 5 years. No Scottish court has yet decided whether that rule or article 3(9) governs a UK261 claim. Suing there? File inside 5 years.

Those are UK figures. An EU261 claim takes the limitation law of the court you bring it in, and Austria, where easyJet Europe Airline GmbH holds its licence, allows 3 years from the day you knew of the damage and who caused it, under Austria’s ABGB §1489. Swiss law is shorter still and works differently: article 14 of the Lufttransportverordnung forfeits a carriage claim 2 years after arrival, where the Code of Obligations would otherwise give 10.

A family of 4 arriving 3 hours late on a route under 1,500 km can claim £880 under UK261: in England and Wales, a small claims track case with a £70 issue fee (CPR r.26.9; gov.uk court fees). See the small claims court guide.

Compare easyJet delay compensation with Ryanair, Wizz Air and Transavia, also multi-company, or UK-only Jet2 and British Airways; payout times: data page.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the CAA or Citizens Advice.

easyJet complaints in the CAA figures

7,676 Reg 261 complaints about easyJet reached AviationADR in the CAA's 2025/26 figures (April 2025 to March 2026), an estimated 154 per million passengers, and 24.5% of cases were upheld. These are complaints the ADR body or the CAA received, not delays.

easyJet: complaints, April 2025 to March 2026

CAA figure	FY26
Handled by	AviationADR
Reg 261 complaints	7,676
All complaints opened	7,982
Per million passengers (CAA estimate)	154
Uphold rate	24.5%

1. Wizz Air629
2. Air France / KLM419
3. Ryanair283
4. EgyptAir273
5. TUI Airways259
6. Turkish Airlines197
7. TAP Air Portugal169
8. easyJet154
9. Air Canada129
10. Virgin Atlantic112

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

• UK261, limitation statutes - legislation.gov.uk, s.9
• EU261, EU-Switzerland agreement - eur-lex.europa.eu, agreement
• CAA licences, ADR - caa.co.uk, ADR
• AviationADR - aviationadr.org.uk
• EU licences - transport.ec.europa.eu
• Court fees - gov.uk
• Judgments: Blanche, Dore, Huzar
• Austria: ABGB §1489 (3-year limitation), Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes; Agentur für Passagier- und Fahrgastrechte, deadlines page - apf.gv.at, checked 2026-09-18.
• Switzerland: Lufttransportverordnung (SR 748.411) art. 14 and Code of Obligations art. 127, Fedlex; FOCA, how to refer a case - bazl.admin.ch, checked 2026-09-18.

#FAQ

Which easyJet company operated your flight, and does it change what you can claim?

3 companies hold licences behind the brand: EasyJet UK Limited, a UK air carrier; easyJet Europe Airline GmbH, a Community carrier licensed in Austria; and EasyJet Switzerland SA, listed by FOCA only as an air operator certificate holder. Departures are covered whichever flew; arrivals turn on the operator.

Does easyJet pay compensation when a technical fault delayed the flight?

Usually yes. In Jet2.com Ltd v Huzar [2014] EWCA Civ 791 the Court of Appeal held an unforeseeable technical fault inherent in normal airline activity, so not extraordinary circumstances, leaving £220, £350 or £520 due on a 3-hour arrival delay. Blanche v EasyJet Airline Company Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 69 treats an air traffic management decision differently.

Where does an easyJet claim go once easyJet has refused it?

To AviationADR, which the CAA lists against the easyJet brand rather than one company. A refusal opens it at once, and so does 8 weeks without a reply. File within 12 months of the final response or last written communication. Filing is free, and a decision you accept binds easyJet. The listing covers Switzerland too.

How long do you have to sue easyJet?

6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for a UK261 claim; Scotland's 1973 Act says 5, untested for UK261. An EU261 claim runs on the forum's own law: Austria allows 3 years from knowledge under ABGB §1489, and Switzerland's air transport ordinance forfeits a carriage claim after 2.