Lufthansa delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·11 min read · 4 tables

€250 to €600 per passenger under EU261, or £220 to £520 under UK261, is Lufthansa compensation for reaching your final destination 3 hours or more late. Its German licences also bring both laws onto arrivals into the EU and the UK.

• 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: Lufthansa

Source: EU261 arts. 3, 7, 16 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 3, 7 — legislation.gov.uk; EC, LBA and CAA lists, checked 2026-09-15; CityLine flights: news reports of 16 April 2026.

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

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger is what Lufthansa owes under EU261 when your flight reaches its final destination 3 hours or more late, banded by great-circle distance. Flights under UK261 pay £220, £350 or £520 instead, unless Lufthansa proves extraordinary circumstances.

Only the longest band has a reduced delay step.

Source: EU261 art. 7 and Sturgeon para 63 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 6(3), 7 — legislation.gov.uk; CAA, Delays — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

In Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), the Court of Justice held that passengers reaching their final destination three hours or more late may claim article 7 compensation. Its paragraph 63 lets the airline halve a long-haul payment while the delay is “less than four hours”; from 4 hours 0 minutes, €600 is due.

New York JFK to Frankfurt is 6,189 km by great-circle distance: a family of 3 landing 3 hours 20 minutes late is owed €1,800, or €900 if Lufthansa takes its option. Frankfurt to Lisbon, 1,874 km between two EU airports, pays €400 each.

The CAA’s UK261 delay page does not say whether £260 or £520 applies at exactly 4 hours 0 minutes.

Cancellations carry a different cut. If a re-routed arrival does not exceed the schedule by 2, 3 or 4 hours, by band, article 7(2) lets Lufthansa halve the payment, even at exactly that limit. The CAA’s UK261 cancellation table pays £110, £175 or £260 only below that limit. That table covers 7 to 14 days' notice.

Note when you left the aircraft, then use the compensation calculator, the EU261 hub or the EU261 delay guide.

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

3 Lufthansa companies hold German Community carrier licences on the European Commission’s list (data as at 19 May 2026): Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft and Lufthansa City Airlines GmbH, plus Lufthansa CityLine GmbH. CityLine’s flights ended in April 2026. EU261 covers EU departures and UK261 UK departures on any airline; a Community licence adds arrivals.

Lufthansa companies and their licence status

CityLine’s licence now matters only for flights it operated before April 2026. Those stay claimable within the limitation periods below. Lufthansa City Airlines GmbH is a separate company that still flies. No list ties routes to a company.

Source: EU261 arts. 2(c), 3 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 2(c), 3 — legislation.gov.uk; EC and LBA licence lists, checked 2026-09-15; CityLine flights ended: news reports of 16 April 2026.

Which rules apply to your Lufthansa flight

An “on arrival” entry falls away if you already received benefits or compensation and assistance in the country you left. “EU” means the 27 member states; departures from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland count as EU rows.

#When does UK261 cover a Lufthansa flight?

UK261 covers any Lufthansa flight leaving a UK airport, and flights arriving in the UK from elsewhere because article 3(1)(b)(i) names Community carriers. A connecting single booking counts as departing from its first airport.

A 3-hour delay from London Heathrow to Munich, 941 km, pays £220. Coming back, EU261 pays €250 for the Munich departure; UK261’s £220 for the arrival falls away once you received benefits or compensation and assistance in Germany.

Codeshares follow the operating air carrier (EU261 article 3(5)). “Operated by United Airlines” from Chicago into Frankfurt is not covered on arrival: EASA lists United as a third-country operator.

Read the “operated by” line; US routes: transatlantic guide.

Not your situation? Canada: Air Passenger Protection Regulations; delayed bags: 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 Lufthansa directly?

A greyed-out option is what one passenger met on Lufthansa’s own compensation form in January 2026, reporting on r/travel that only reimbursement of expenses could be selected. A form that will not carry the claim does not end it: send a dated message naming article 7(1)(c) and €600 per passenger.

Source: EU261 arts. 5, 7(3), 15(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 art. 7(3) — legislation.gov.uk; CAA ADR page — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15; Google UK results, 14 September 2026.

#Where is Lufthansa’s claim page?

Google UK results on 14 September 2026 listed Lufthansa’s Compensation in the event of flight delay and cancellation page. Whatever the form accepts, the message needs the passengers' names, the flight number and date, your arrival delay or cancellation notice, and the regulation with the amount. The CAA’s route to ADR starts from that written complaint.

The January 2026 report on r/travel says of that form: “The online form won’t allow me to request compensation. That option is greyed out and I can only request reimbursement of expenses”. The comment gives no outcome.

Offered a voucher? EU261 sets the form the payment must take and blocks any booking condition that trims it. Ask Lufthansa in writing for a bank transfer and give your IBAN in the same message.

14 days' notice or more removes compensation; Lufthansa must prove when it told you.

Screenshot the claim you send, with its date.

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

Under EU261 and UK261, meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the wait, plus 2 free calls or emails, are owed once a Lufthansa departure up to 1,500 km is expected to be 2 hours late. The line moves to 3 hours for 1,500-3,500 km, and 4 hours beyond.

Source: EU261 arts. 5(3), 6, 8, 9 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 5(3), 6, 9 — legislation.gov.uk; Montreal Convention art. 31, checked 2026-09-15.

EU261 puts flights between two EU airports over 1,500 km in the 3-hour band. A next-day departure adds a hotel and transfers. From 5 hours you may drop the trip for a refund within 7 days.

Article 8 lets you choose reimbursement or re-routing after a cancellation. If Lufthansa re-routes you to another airport serving the same city, it pays the transfer to the one you booked.

Care survives a valid refusal. Article 5(3) of EU261 releases the airline only from “compensation in accordance with Article 7”, as do UK261 articles 5(3) and 6(4); meals, hotel and re-routing stay owed.

Delayed baggage reimbursement is a separate claim: where the Montreal Convention applies, complain in writing within 21 days of the bag being placed at your disposal.

Send itemised receipts with your claim.

#Which Lufthansa refusal reasons count as extraordinary circumstances?

2 things must be proven by Lufthansa before an EU261 refusal on extraordinary circumstances holds: that such circumstances caused the cancellation, and that they could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009) applies that defence to 3-hour delays.

Source: EU261 art. 5(3) — eur-lex.europa.eu; Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) operative part and paras 24-26 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 2(o), 3(1)(b), 3(1A) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Technical trouble has a boundary, and Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) draws it. That pre-2021 ruling binds UK courts, where UK261 article 2(o) now defines the test, and the faults that clear it are worked through one by one there.

Ask Lufthansa which cause it is relying on and what it did about it, then measure the answer against that test. A cause that passes cancels the fixed sum alone, never the meals, hotel, re-routing or refund. Strikes: see the strike compensation guide.

#If Lufthansa rejects your claim

Check which law a refusal tested before arguing the cause. A MoneySavingExpert forum passenger report (June 2026) on an Amritsar-Delhi-Munich-London booking quotes Lufthansa’s reply: “As your journey starts in India and ends in the United Kingdom we cannot accommodate your request for compensation according Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004.”

That reply tested only EU261. UK261 covers a Community carrier into the UK, counting the booking as departing Amritsar, unless benefits or compensation and assistance were received in India: 6,327 km, the £520 band, subject to extraordinary circumstances. A later post in that thread by Punjabputer reads: “After 1 more email to Lufthansa direct, they have agreed to pay the full compensation.”

Ask in writing for the cause and measures taken; see when an airline refuses compensation.

#Where do you escalate a refused Lufthansa claim?

On 15 September 2026, the CAA’s ADR list showed Lufthansa under Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr (Berlin), together with Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Swiss. The CAA approves 2 providers (AviationADR and CEDR), and its list places Lufthansa under neither of those approved schemes.

Source: CAA ADR page — caa.co.uk; EU261 art. 16 and Commission NEB list (27 August 2026) — transport.ec.europa.eu; UK261 art. 16, checked 2026-09-15.

The CAA’s ADR page sets general conditions. Complain to the airline first. You may go to ADR if the airline has not responded within eight weeks. Submit within 12 months of its final response or last written communication. For Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr’s own procedure, fees and timescales, read its rules before filing.

Under EU261 article 16, each member state’s enforcement body handles flights from its airports and flights into them from outside the EU. Germany’s, on the Commission list, is the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), National Enforcement Body Air Passenger Rights. UK261’s enforcement body is the Civil Aviation Authority.

Save Lufthansa’s final written reply, then 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; Lufthansa’s own claim page and the enforcement bodies stay open to you.

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 Lufthansa 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 Lufthansa?

6 years is the UK261 court deadline against Lufthansa in England and Wales, through article 3(9) and section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980, and Northern Ireland’s statute also gives 6 years. EU261 sets no period of its own: each member state’s rules on limitation of actions decide.

Source: UK261 art. 3(9); Limitation Act 1980 s.9; NI Order 1989 art. 4; 1973 Act s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; BGB §§195, 199(1) — gesetze-im-internet.de; Cuadrench Moré — eur-lex.europa.eu; small claims — justice.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-18.

In Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012), the Court of Justice held that the time limits for actions under articles 5 and 7 come from each member state’s own rules. Germany’s are shorter than the English ones and start later: section 195 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch gives three years, and section 199(1) runs that period from the end of the year the claim arose, so a March 2026 delay is time-barred on 1 January 2030.

Scotland’s Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 sets 5 years. No Scottish court has decided whether that rule or article 3(9) governs a UK261 claim: file inside 5 years there (Airline refused compensation what next).

A court claim names the operating company from your booking, not the brand. Two passengers owed £220 each for London to Munich claim £440: an England and Wales small claims track case with a £50 issue fee.

Similar airlines: Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, Community carriers also under Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr; SWISS, a Swiss AOC holder on that list; Eurowings, German and Maltese licences; Condor, another German Community carrier. Other deadlines: time limits, delay thresholds and payout-times data.

Diary a claim over a German departure from 31 December, not from the flight date.

General information, not legal advice. For your case: the enforcement body for your flight (the LBA for German airports), the CAA, Citizens Advice or a solicitor.

#Sources

• EU261 (Regulation (EC) No 261/2004) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Sturgeon, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07 - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch §195 and §199 - gesetze-im-internet.de
• UK261 and limitation statutes - legislation.gov.uk, Limitation Act 1980 s.9, Limitation (NI) Order 1989 art. 4, Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6
• European Commission, EU air carriers holding an active operating licence (ACOL data 19/05/2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu
• Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, licence list (Stand 10 Aug 2026) - lba.de
• EASA, Authorised Third Country Operators (14/09/2026) - easa.europa.eu
• European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies (updated 27 August 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu
• CAA, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Delays and Cancellations - caa.co.uk, Delays, Cancellations
• Montreal Convention 1999 - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Lufthansa CityLine flights ended, news reports of 16 April 2026 - Skift, Euronews, One Mile at a Time
• Small claims track and court fees - justice.gov.uk, gov.uk

#FAQ

Which Lufthansa company do I actually claim against?

Three German licences sit behind the brand: Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft, Lufthansa City Airlines GmbH, and Lufthansa CityLine GmbH, whose flying ended in April 2026. Name the company printed as operating carrier on your booking, not the brand. A CityLine flight from before that date is still claimable.

What does Lufthansa owe for landing three hours late in Frankfurt?

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger under EU261, set by great- circle distance to your final destination, once you arrive three hours or more late. Lufthansa escapes that payment only by proving extraordinary circumstances. Meals and a hotel where the wait needs one stay owed either way.

How long does a German claim against Lufthansa last?

Three years under section 195 of the German Civil Code, but section 199(1) starts the clock at the end of the year the claim arose, not on the flight date. A March 2026 delay therefore runs until 31 December 2029. England and Wales allow six years from the flight itself.

Who hears a Lufthansa complaint the airline has already refused?

Two bodies, split by where you took off. A German departure goes to the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, the enforcement body Germany names on the Commission's list. A UK departure goes to Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr in Berlin, the only foreign scheme the CAA lists, within 12 months of Lufthansa's final reply.

Can Lufthansa settle my claim in travel vouchers?

Only if you sign for one. Ask for a bank transfer instead and give your IBAN in the same message, sent to the company named as operating carrier rather than to the brand. Keep every written answer Lufthansa sends: the 12-month ADR clock runs from the last of them.

Does EU261 reach a Lufthansa flight from the United States into Germany?

Yes. A German operating licence makes Lufthansa a Community carrier, so EU261 follows its arrivals into the EU from third countries, the United States included, and €250 to €600 falls due for arriving three hours or more late unless extraordinary circumstances are proved.