LOT Polish Airlines delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·8 min read

One year is all Poland gives you. Article 778 of the Kodeks cywilny runs from the day the flight was flown, or should have been, and the Passengers' Rights Ombudsman turns away a request filed after it: a sixth of the deadline an English-language source will quote you. Inside that year LOT Polish Airlines owes €250 to €600 under EU261, or £220 to £520 under UK261, for landing three hours or more late, unless it proves extraordinary circumstances. Its Polish licence carries both regimes onto arrivals too, and a refused UK-departure claim has no CAA-approved ADR scheme to reach: PACT, then court.

• 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: LOT Polish Airlines

Source: EU261 art. 7(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 art. 7(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EC active operating licence list (19/05/2026) — transport.ec.europa.eu; CAA, Alternative Dispute Resolution — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

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

€250, €400 or €600 under EU261 is LOT Polish Airlines' compensation for a delay of three hours or more, fixed by distance, and Warsaw to Lisbon’s roughly 2,749 kilometres shows a route where a pure delay never drops below the full €400, however late you land.

That band is article 7(1)(b), which covers intra-Community flights past 1,500 km and other flights up to 3,500 km alike, and great-circle distance sets it, not the fare. Sturgeon para 63 limits the delay reduction to flights outside that band, so a Warsaw-Lisbon delay owes the full €400 at 3 hours or at 13 hours alike; only a flight beyond 3,500 km ever earns a lower delay figure, and only at LOT’s own choice.

LOT sometimes points to a wider disruption, weather or an air traffic restriction, as its defence. Article 5(3) sets a two-part test: the event must sit outside the normal exercise of LOT’s own activity, and the airline has to show it took every reasonable measure and still could not avoid the delay. A cause common to the whole industry on a given day, such as a snowstorm at Warsaw Chopin, can meet the first half of that test; it still has to clear the second.

Check your route on the compensation calculator, and read the EU261 hub and its delay compensation guide.

Source: EU261 art. 5(3), 7(1)-(2), art. 7(4) — eur-lex.europa.eu; Sturgeon, C-402/07 and C-432/07, para 63 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 6(3), 7 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

#Which LOT Polish Airlines flights do EU261 and UK261 cover, and what depends on the licence check?

1 Polish licence carries this page: the European Commission lists Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S. A. as a Community carrier, category A, with effect from 26 August 2003. EU261 then reaches its arrivals into the EU, and UK261 its arrivals into the UK, on top of every departure.

Which rules apply to your LOT Polish Airlines flight

That list is arranged by country rather than by brand, so it can show who holds a licence and never that no other company flies under the LOT name: read the “operated by” line on your booking. Coverage runs on any departure, and on an arrival into the EU or the UK unless you already received benefits, compensation and assistance in the country you flew from for the same disruption.

LOT flies past the reach of this page. Toronto lands you under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations; a domestic hop in the United States earns nothing, as US DOT rules explains. Work out which law covers your flight.

Source: EU261 art. 2(c), 3(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 art. 3(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EC active operating licence list (19/05/2026) — transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

#How do you claim compensation from LOT Polish Airlines directly?

€250 to €600 is what LOT Polish Airlines owes for your distance band, paid directly once you send it your flight number, the date and the length of the delay. Name Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S. A. on the claim itself; article 15 blocks a lower tariff figure.

The date on your own message to LOT matters as much as its content: it is what starts the eight-week window if the claim needs to escalate later. Ask for a bank transfer and give your account details; the EU261 hub has what else article 7(3) permits and the signature a voucher needs. A tariff clause cannot lower this figure, under article 15, and accepting a refund or a replacement flight under article 8 leaves your fixed article 7 compensation untouched, so the two rights run side by side, not one replacing the other.

Source: EU261 art. 3(5), 7(3), 15(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

#Where do you escalate a refused LOT Polish Airlines claim?

8 weeks with no reply, or a flat refusal, sends a stalled LOT Polish Airlines claim to one of two different places depending on where you flew from. A UK departure reaches the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team; a Polish departure instead splits between two separate national bodies.

The Passengers' Rights Ombudsman is where an individual complaint goes; the President of the Civil Aviation Authority’s own Commission on Passengers' Rights works the wider enforcement side instead, not single claims. On the UK side, PACT only opens once you have written to LOT and either eight weeks passed with no answer or you disagree with what LOT said; PACT’s own view carries no binding force, so the small claims court guide is where an enforceable outcome comes from; the ADR membership map shows which carriers do have a scheme.

#If LOT Polish Airlines rejects your claim

A blanket “weather” or “air traffic control” refusal is worth testing against article 5(3)'s own two conditions, not accepted on its name alone. LOT has to show the event sat outside its normal activity, and that it took every reasonable measure open to it and still could not have avoided the delay; a rostering or connection problem the airline itself could have planned around fails that second condition. Ask LOT to state, in writing, which specific event it relies on and what measures it took, and read what to do when an airline refuses compensation.

Even a refusal that clears both conditions excuses LOT from the article 7 money and nothing else. The meals, the hotel and the article 8 choice between re-routing and a refund survive it, because article 5(3) removes the compensation and leaves the rest of the regulation untouched.

Source: CAA, “How the CAA can help” — caa.co.uk; European Commission, national enforcement bodies list (27 August 2026) — transport.ec.europa.eu; EU261 arts. 5(3), 8 and 9 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

Still unpaid after PACT or Poland’s own bodies? AirHelp (third-party claim service) can take on rejected or ignored LOT Polish Airlines claims, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; LOT’s own claim channel stays open too.

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 LOT Polish Airlines 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 LOT Polish Airlines?

1 year is the Polish deadline on a LOT Polish Airlines claim: article 778 of the Kodeks cywilny, counted from the day the carriage was performed, or from the day it should have been performed where the flight never operated at all.

The Ombudsman applies that same year to its own request form, ruling a request inadmissible once a year has passed since the flight flew or was due to, under article 205a(15) of the Prawo lotnicze. A UK departure is another world: article 3(9) with section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980 gives England and Wales six years from the flight date, Northern Ireland’s 1989 Order the same, Scotland’s 1973 Act five, untested. Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) is why one booking can carry both answers.

Compare LOT Polish Airlines with Wizz Air, covered by three separate licences across its group, and Lufthansa and airBaltic, both reaching the same EU261 and UK261 result from a different national licence.

General information on LOT Polish Airlines compensation, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact Poland’s Passengers' Rights Ombudsman, Citizens Advice or a solicitor; for flights from another EU country, that country’s national enforcement body.

Source: Kodeks cywilny art. 778 — isap.sejm.gov.pl; Prawo lotnicze art. 205a(15), with the Ombudsman’s own request form — pasazerlotniczy.ulc.gov.pl; Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 — eur-lex.europa.eu; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6, Limitation (NI) Order 1989 art. 4, Limitation Act 1980 s.9 and UK261 art. 3(9) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-18.

#Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• UK261 as it forms part of UK domestic law - legislation.gov.uk.
• European Commission, active operating licence list - transport.ec.europa.eu.
• European Commission, national enforcement bodies list (27 August 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu.
• CAA, “How the CAA can help” - caa.co.uk.
• Kodeks cywilny art. 778 (Poland, one-year limitation on carriage-of-persons claims) - isap.sejm.gov.pl.
• Rzecznik Praw Pasażerów, request form and admissibility - pasazerlotniczy.ulc.gov.pl.
• Limitation Act 1980 s.9; Limitation (NI) Order 1989 art. 4; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 - legislation.gov.uk.
• Sturgeon, C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009) - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 (2012) - eur-lex.europa.eu.

#FAQ

Does a Warsaw-departure claim run out sooner than a UK one?

Far sooner. Poland's Civil Code article 778 gives one year from the day the flight was operated, or should have been, and the Passengers' Rights Ombudsman applies that same year to its own request form, rejecting anything filed later. England, Wales and Northern Ireland allow six years.

Which Polish body actually decides a complaint against LOT?

The Passengers' Rights Ombudsman, attached to the President of the Civil Aviation Authority, is the one that takes an individual claim. The Authority's own Commission on Passengers' Rights sits on the enforcement side instead and does not rule on single cases. Send the Ombudsman your flight number, the date and LOT's reply.

LOT blamed the weather - does that end the claim?

Not on the name of the event alone. Article 5(3) sets two hurdles, and a storm at Warsaw Chopin can clear the first at most: LOT must also show it took every reasonable measure open to it and still could not have avoided the delay. Ask in writing which event, and which measures.

LOT offered a travel voucher instead of money - must I take it?

No. A voucher counts only where you have signed for it separately. Reply in writing to Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S. A., the company to name on the claim itself, and keep the date: that date starts the eight-week window a UK-departure claim needs before CAA PACT will look at it.