SAS delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·11 min read · 4 tables

£220, £350 or £520 under UK261 on a SAS flight, and €250, €400 or €600 under EU261, once you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late. Extraordinary circumstances SAS proves are the only exit. A refused UK261 claim goes to CEDR, one of the CAA’s two approved ADR schemes, free of charge.

• 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: SAS

Source: EU261 arts. 3, 7, 16 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 3, 7, 16 — legislation.gov.uk; EC licence and NEB lists — transport.ec.europa.eu; CAA ADR and CEDR pages — caa.co.uk, cedr-assist.com, checked 2026-09-15.

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

3 distance bands set the figure, measured great-circle to your final destination: €250 up to 1,500 km, €400 from 1,500 to 3,500 km, €600 beyond. UK261 pays £220, £350 and £520 on the same bands. Arriving 3 hours or more late triggers either.

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

Article 7 itself says nothing about delay. Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009) put it there: the Court of Justice held that passengers reaching their final destination three hours or more late may claim article 7 compensation. Article 6 of UK261 has stated the rule outright since 14 December 2023.

A cancellation works differently. Where SAS cancels and re-routes you, article 7(2) lets it halve the payment if the new arrival does not exceed the original scheduled arrival by 2 hours up to 1,500 km, by 3 hours from 1,500 to 3,500 km or between two EU airports over 1,500 km, and by 4 hours on everything else. UK261 repeats those words.

London Heathrow to Copenhagen measures about 979 km on our own great-circle calculation: the first band. Cancel that flight 10 days ahead with a replacement leaving more than 2 hours early and compensation is owed, and the CAA’s cancellation table pays £110 each where the replacement lands less than two hours late, £220 from two hours.

The two texts part at exactly 2 hours 0 minutes. The CAA table pays the full £220 there; article 7(2) permits the halved £110 wherever the new arrival “does not exceed” two hours. EU261 has no such table.

Time-stamp the moment you were allowed off the aircraft, then test the band in the compensation calculator or the EU261 delay guide.

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

4 SAS companies hold active operating licences on the European Commission’s list, data as at 19 May 2026, licensed in Denmark, Sweden or Ireland as Community carriers. Whichever of them takes you out of an EU or UK airport, you are covered, and the licences add arrivals.

SAS companies and their licence status

Source: EU261 arts. 2(c), 3(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 2(c), 3(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EC licence list — transport.ec.europa.eu; IAA licence holders — iaa.ie, checked 2026-09-15.

All four carry identical coverage, and no licence list ties any of them to routes. The operator printed on your booking counts: if it is not one of these four, that airline’s licence settles arrivals.

Which rules apply to your SAS flight

Where the departure country already gave you benefits or compensation and assistance, the “on arrival” answers fall away. The 27 member states make up “EU”, with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland departures in the same rows; the “No” answers say nothing about flights landing in those three.

#When does UK261 cover a SAS flight?

Community carriers are named in article 3(1)(b)(i) of UK261, so a SAS flight landing in the UK is covered wherever it started, unless the departure country already gave you benefits or compensation and assistance. Connections on a single booking count from the first airport.

Article 3(5) of EU261 puts the duty on the operating air carrier, not on the airline that sold the ticket. A few flights with an SAS number sit outside both regulations: one booked on its own that leaves a country outside the UK, the EU, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland on a carrier that is neither UK nor Community.

Check which company is printed as the operator before you write.

#How do you claim compensation from SAS directly?

“EU261, article 7(1)(b), €400 per passenger” is the line to type into the SAS form yourself. A June 2026 comment on r/travel says SAS “make it slightly difficult to find the form on their website”, but that once found it can be filled in and filed online. Keep a dated copy.

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; SAS pages in Google UK results, 14 September 2026.

#Where are SAS’s compensation pages?

Google UK results for “sas flight compensation” on 14 September 2026 listed four SAS pages: claims, EU passenger rights, cancelled flights and delayed flights. Whichever page holds the form, the claim needs passenger names, the flight number with its date, the arrival delay or the cancellation notice, and the regime with the amount. The 8-week escalation clock starts on the date you send it.

u/Keffpie wrote that comment under a post about a rejected Iberia claim, and it is one passenger’s report, not SAS policy.

Offered a voucher? EU261 fixes what the compensation may be paid in, and nothing in SAS’s conditions of carriage reaches that.

A cancellation announced 14 days or more ahead pays nothing, and article 5(4) makes SAS prove the date it told you.

Screenshot the sent claim.

#Which SAS refusal reasons count as extraordinary circumstances?

2021 gave SAS its own precedent. In Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20), the Court of Justice ruled that a lawful strike by SAS’s own pilots is not an extraordinary circumstance, because it is internal to the carrier’s activity. Article 5(3) of EU261 excuses SAS only for circumstances it could not have avoided with all reasonable measures.

Source: EU261 art. 5(3); Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20, 2021), CJEU Grand Chamber — eur-lex.europa.eu; Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) paras 24-26 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 art. 2(o) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

That ruling came after 31 December 2020, so a UK court may find it persuasive but is not bound. Article 2(o) of UK261 carries the definition inside the statute.

Technical faults answer to Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) instead, and that case predates 2021, so UK courts are bound by it. Which faults clear article 2(o) and which never do is worked through one by one there, so put the cause SAS named beside that list before you write back. Whichever side it falls, only the fixed payment goes with it.

#If SAS rejects your claim

Write to SAS for two things: the cause it relies on, and the measures it took. Then read when an airline refuses compensation.

#Where do you escalate a refused SAS claim?

8 weeks without an answer, or a final refusal, sends a UK261 claim against SAS to CEDR, where the CAA lists “Scandinavian Airlines SAS” as a member. File within 12 months of that final response or last written communication. CEDR charges the passenger nothing.

Source: CAA ADR page (undated list) — caa.co.uk; CEDR page — cedr-assist.com; EU261 art. 16 — eur-lex.europa.eu; NEB list (27 August 2026) — transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

Brands appear on both lists, not companies: CEDR’s subscriber page adds “SAS Connect”, and neither ties the scheme to one SAS company. Incidents from the last 6 years qualify, or 5 for a passenger living in Scotland. Accept a decision and SAS must comply within 20 working days unless the decision says otherwise; court stays open to you either way.

PACT is for airlines outside a scheme. The CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team is “only likely to consider your complaint” where the airline is not an ADR member, and SAS is one.

EU261 runs on airports instead of schemes. Article 16 gives each country’s body the flights leaving its own airports and those arriving there from outside the EU, so the departure airport decides, not the licence. Copenhagen goes to the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority, Stockholm to the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket), Dublin to the Irish Aviation Authority.

Oslo goes to Transportklagenemnda, once SAS has had 4 weeks to answer (claiming EU261 in Norway).

Put the 8-week date in your calendar; 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; SAS’s claims page and CEDR stay free.

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 SAS 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 SAS?

6 years from the flight is the UK261 limit in England and Wales, where article 3(9) applies section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980, and Northern Ireland’s order gives the same. EU261 carries no limit of its own and leaves the question to national law.

Source: UK261 art. 3(9); Limitation Act 1980 s.9; Limitation (NI) Order 1989 art. 4; 1973 Act s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; Cuadrench Moré — eur-lex.europa.eu; court fees — gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15; Forældelsesloven §3 — retsinformation.dk; Preskriptionslag (1981:130) §2 — riksdagen.se; Statute of Limitations 1957 s.11 — revisedacts.lawreform.ie, checked 2026-09-18.

In Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) the Court of Justice held that each Member State’s own limitation rules set the time limit for an EU261 action. The countries the SAS companies are licensed in disagree by seven years. Denmark’s Forældelsesloven gives 3 years, Sweden’s Preskriptionslag 10, Ireland’s Statute of Limitations 6. Nothing in the Regulation says which of the three will govern yours.

5 years is what the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 allows, and whether that Act or article 3(9) governs a UK261 claim has never been put to a Scottish court. Work to five where one could hear yours.

Two passengers on that Heathrow to Copenhagen flight, delayed rather than cancelled and arriving 3 hours or more late, claim £220 each. In England and Wales £440 sits in the £300.01-£500 court-fee band: a £50 issue fee.

Diarise the shortest period that could reach you: time limits guide.

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

2 hours is where care starts on a flight up to 1,500 km, counted from the scheduled departure. Between two EU airports over 1,500 km, and on other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, it is 3 hours; past 3,500 km, 4. Care is meals, refreshments and two free calls or emails.

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

Because that wait runs from the scheduled departure, a long stand on the ground can owe you care while the arrival is still under 3 hours late.

An overnight wait adds a hotel and the transport to it. From 5 hours you may give up the flight and take reimbursement within 7 days instead. UK261 sets out the same thresholds on distance.

Extraordinary circumstances change none of that: article 5(3) of EU261, and articles 5(3) and 6(4) of UK261, take away article 7 compensation only.

Compare Norwegian, whose Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Swedish Community carrier, Finnair, whose Finnair Oyj is a Finnish one, and Icelandair.

Send the receipts with the claim; the right to care guide lists what counts.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the enforcement body of your departure country (arrival country for flights into the EU), the European Consumer Centre network, the CAA or a solicitor.

#Sources

• EU261 (Regulation (EC) No 261/2004) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• UK261 and SI 2023/1370 - legislation.gov.uk
• Airhelp v SAS, C-28/20 (2021) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Sturgeon, C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07 (2008) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 (2012) - eur-lex.europa.eu
• European Commission: active operating licence list, national enforcement bodies
• IAA, Licence Holders - iaa.ie
• CAA: Delays, Cancellations, ADR, How the CAA can help
• CEDR, aviation overview - cedr-assist.com
• Limitation Act 1980 s.9; Limitation (NI) Order 1989 art. 4; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 - legislation.gov.uk
• Small claims track and court fees - justice.gov.uk, gov.uk

#FAQ

Can I claim compensation from SAS for a cancelled flight?

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger is owed under EU261 when SAS cancels your flight with less than 14 days' notice, unless it offered a re-routing inside the article 5(1)(c) time windows or proves extraordinary circumstances. Under UK261 the figures are £220, £350 or £520. SAS must prove when it told you.

Four SAS companies hold licences: does it change what I can claim?

Not for cover. All four sit on the European Commission's list as Community carriers, so UK261 reaches an SAS flight out of a UK airport, and one into the UK from any country unless that country already gave you benefits. The band, £220, £350 or £520, turns on distance and survives unless SAS proves extraordinary circumstances.

Which country's time limit applies to an SAS claim?

3 years is the shortest of them, in Denmark under the Forældelsesloven; Sweden's Preskriptionslag gives 10 and Ireland's Statute of Limitations 6. EU261 sets no period of its own and does not say which national clock a claim against an SAS company runs on. England and Wales give 6.

Is SAS a member of an ADR scheme?

1 approved scheme covers SAS: the CAA's ADR page lists "Scandinavian Airlines SAS" under CEDR, and CEDR's own subscriber page also lists "SAS Connect". For a UK261 claim unanswered after 8 weeks, file free within 12 months of SAS's final response. A decision you accept must be honoured within 20 working days, and neither list names a specific SAS company.