Eurowings delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·8 min read · 4 tables

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger under EU261, or £220, £350 or £520 under UK261: Eurowings owes this on a flight departing an EU or UK airport, and on many flights arriving there too, once your final destination is three hours or more late.

• 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: Eurowings

Source: EU261 arts. 3, 7 and 16 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 3 and 7, Limitation Act 1980 s.9, Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; EC licence list — transport.ec.europa.eu; CAA licence and ADR lists — caa.co.uk; Commission NEB list — transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

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

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

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.

Düsseldorf to Gran Canaria is 3,190 km on the Air Travel Rights editorial team’s own great-circle calculation: an intra-Community route over 1,500 km, so Sturgeon’s 50% reduction never reaches it and a three-to-four-hour delay still pays the full €400. The same rule sends a short hop like Düsseldorf to Birmingham, 598 km, into the bottom band at €250, or £220 flown the other way under UK261.

The same three-band structure covers a Eurowings 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.

Check your band in the compensation calculator, then read the EU261 delay compensation guide.

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

2 licensed companies fly for Eurowings: Eurowings GmbH in Germany and Eurowings Europe Ltd in Malta, both Community carriers with no UK licence between them. EU261 covers a flight into the EU on either company, and UK261 covers a flight into the UK on either company too, on top of every UK or EU departure.

Eurowings operating companies and inbound cover

One trip is never paid twice. Both regulations drop their arrival rule for a passenger who already had compensation, benefits and assistance in the country the flight left: a Dusseldorf-Birmingham flight paid under EU261 in Germany is not a second UK261 claim on landing.

Which rules apply to your Eurowings flight

A single booking with a connection is treated as one journey and departs from its first airport under UK261 article 3(1A); Flightright v Eurowings (C-939/19, 2020, order) confirmed the parallel EU261 rule, banding a single multi-leg booking on the total distance from the first departure to the final destination, even when only the last leg was delayed (Flight delay compensation calculator).

#UK261 on Eurowings flights from or into the UK

Article 6(3), in force since 14 December 2023, draws the 3-hour line at your final destination for a Eurowings flight from a UK airport, counted from when passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft. The same 3-hour rule reaches a Eurowings flight arriving in the UK from outside it, on either licensed company, since both are Community carriers.

In a cancellation notified less than 7 days before departure, flightright v Eurowings (C-130/18, 2018, order) held that compensation is due once the re-routed arrival is more than 2 hours late, even under the usual 3-hour line: the short-notice window is tighter.

Not your situation? Any airline from an EU airport falls under EU261; Canadian routes fall under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. Flying in the US? US federal rules differ, see US DOT rules.

#How do you claim compensation from Eurowings directly?

A Lufthansa-marketed ticket does not make Lufthansa the payer: article 3(5) puts the claim on the company that actually flew you, and on a Eurowings-operated flight that is Eurowings. Name it in the first line of what you send, then the flight number and the date.

Source: EU261 arts. 3(5), 7(3), 15 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 art. 7(3) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Article 15 stops any contract term waiving that duty, and no agency, tour operator or airline website that sold the seat takes it on. Add the arrival delay or the cancellation notice you received, and the amount for your distance band.

Attach the booking confirmation, the boarding passes and whatever Eurowings sent you about the disruption. Give the delay measured where you finally landed, not at a connecting airport: on a Düsseldorf booking through to Gran Canaria that is the arrival in Las Palmas.

Offered a voucher instead? What EU261 lets an airline pay you in is fixed.

A refund is a separate right: when Eurowings cancels, article 8(1) lets you take reimbursement of the ticket within seven days instead of re-routing, and a delay of five hours or more opens the same reimbursement.

Set an 8-week reminder the day you send it, before the CAA’s escalation route opens for a UK departure.

#Where do you escalate a refused Eurowings claim?

Eurowings is not among the airlines on the CAA’s ADR lists checked 15 September 2026, whether AviationADR, CEDR or the Berlin scheme listed for four other airlines. A refused Eurowings claim on a UK departure goes instead to the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT), which cannot make a binding decision.

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

On a Eurowings flight from an EU airport instead, complain to the national enforcement body of the departure country on the European Commission’s list, updated 27 August 2026; for a German departure, that body is the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA).

#If Eurowings rejects your claim

Ask Eurowings in writing to name the cause and the reasonable measures it took. Only a cause that clears article 2(o) excuses Eurowings, and the reasons that qualify are set out one by one; even then it lifts the fixed amount alone: care, re-routing and a refund survive. In Eurowings (CS), C-613/20 (2021), the Court of Justice held that a solidarity strike by a subsidiary’s own staff, backing the parent company’s staff, is not extraordinary; a UK court may follow that reasoning but is not bound by it, because the judgment came after 2020.

Outside PACT, take the claim to court instead: name Eurowings GmbH or Eurowings Europe Ltd, whichever your booking shows.

Compare the ADR scheme guide, ADR membership map and refused compensation guide; in England and Wales the claim then goes to the small claims court.

Rather not run CAA PACT or the enforcement body yourself? AirHelp (third-party claim service) can take on rejected or ignored Eurowings claims, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; Eurowings' 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 Eurowings 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 Eurowings?

3 years is the deadline on a Eurowings flight out of a German airport: §195 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, started by §199(1) at the end of the year the claim arose rather than on the flight date. A UK departure is the generous one, 6 years in England and Wales.

Source: BGB §§195, 199(1) — gesetze-im-internet.de; 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; Cuadrench Moré — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15/18.

Article 3(9) of UK261 carries section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980 into that six-year figure, and Northern Ireland’s 1989 Order matches it. Scotland’s 1973 Act sets 5 years, untested against article 3(9): file inside five years if a Scottish court might hear the case (UK261).

Which clock you are on follows the airport you left, not the company on your ticket. EU261 fixes no period of its own, and Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) sends the question to national law; both Eurowings companies are Community carriers, so a flight into Germany from outside the EU is on the German clock too.

Similar Community-carrier group airlines: Lufthansa, Condor and Austrian Airlines.

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. 3, 5, 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.
• European Commission, active operating licence list - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
• Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, licence list (Stand 10 Aug 2026) - lba.de, checked 2026-09-15.
• Civil Aviation Authority, Airline licence holders, Delays and ADR pages - 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.
• Sturgeon, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Eurowings (CS), C-613/20 (2021), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• flightright v Eurowings, C-130/18 (2018, order), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Flightright v Eurowings, C-939/19 (2020, order), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.

#FAQ

Eurowings cancelled six days out and rebooked me: how late must the new flight land?

More than two hours, in the short-notice window. flightright v Eurowings (C-130/18, 2018, order) held that where the cancellation comes less than seven days before departure, compensation is due once the re-routing lands you more than two hours late, tighter than the usual three-hour line.

Does UK261 apply to Eurowings flights from London?

£220, £350 or £520 is owed under UK261 on a Eurowings flight from a UK airport that arrives three hours or more late, whichever of the two licensed Eurowings companies operated it, unless Eurowings proves extraordinary circumstances. Both Eurowings GmbH and Eurowings Europe Ltd are Community carriers, so UK261 also covers many Eurowings flights arriving in the UK.

How long do I have to claim against Eurowings?

The airport you left decides it, not which Eurowings company flew. A German departure is a 3-year claim under §195 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, with the clock starting only at the end of the claim year. A UK departure gives 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 5 in Scotland, untested.

Eurowings blamed a strike by staff at another company in the group: does that count?

No, on the Court of Justice's reading. In Eurowings (CS), C-613/20 (2021), a solidarity strike called by a subsidiary's own staff in support of the parent company's staff was held not to be extraordinary. A UK court may follow that reasoning but is not bound by it, the judgment being later than 2020.