Wizz Air delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 15 Sep 2026·11 min read · 4 tables

Wizz Air compensation is £220 to £520 per passenger under UK261, or €250 to €600 under EU261, once your flight arrives 3 hours or more late without extraordinary circumstances. Three Wizz Air companies hold licences; the one on your booking decides the rules on arrival.

• 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: Wizz Air

Source: UK261 arts. 3, 7 — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 arts. 3, 7 — eur-lex.europa.eu; Limitation Act 1980 s.9, 1973 Act s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; CAA and EC lists, checked 2026-09-15.

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

£220 for flights up to 1,500 km, £350 up to 3,500 km and £520 beyond: Wizz Air owes these UK261 amounts per passenger once the flight reaches its final destination 3 hours or more late. EU261 flights use €250, €400 or €600 instead.

Only the longest band has a reduced delay step.

Source: UK261 arts. 2(n), 5(1)(c), 5(4), 6(3), 7(1)-(2) — legislation.gov.uk; EU261 art. 7 — eur-lex.europa.eu; CAA, Delays — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Beyond 3,500 km, the CAA puts an arrival between three and four hours late at £260. Article 7(2) says “may”, so that cut is Wizz Air’s option; EU261’s matching €300 option never applies between two EU airports.

Arrival means the moment passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft. 2 hours 59 minutes late earns nothing; from 3 hours 0 minutes, compensation is due.

A cancellation with under 14 days' notice pays the same amounts unless Wizz Air proves extraordinary circumstances or offered a close enough replacement. Between 14 and 7 days' notice, that replacement must leave no more than 2 hours before and land less than 4 hours after your original times; inside 7 days, the window tightens to 1 hour early and 2 hours late. Wizz Air carries the burden of proving when it told you.

Note when the doors opened and run the compensation calculator or read the UK261 delay guide.

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

3 Wizz Air companies appear on UK and EU licence lists. Departures need no check: UK261 covers flights from UK airports and EU261 flights from EU airports, whichever company flies. On arrivals into the UK or the EU, the operating company’s licence decides.

Wizz Air operating companies and inbound cover

Only Wizz Air UK Limited loses EU261 on arrival in the EU; UK261 covers it instead. Check the operating carrier named on your booking, because the Wizz Air brand alone does not settle it.

Source: EU261 arts. 2(c), 3(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 2(c), 2(m), 3(1) — legislation.gov.uk; EC licence list (data at 19 May 2026); CAA licence holders, checked 2026-09-15.

Which rules apply to your Wizz Air 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. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland also apply EU261 to departures, so read those as EU rows; flights into them are not mapped. UK261’s arrival rule for Wizz Air UK Limited reaches only those 27 member states. No list ties routes to companies.

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 Wizz Air directly?

4 Wizz Air help-centre pages showed up in Google UK results on 14 September 2026, one of them titled “Claim processing time and status”. The status page tracks what you already sent, so keep your own dated copy of the claim, with UK261 article 7(1) and the band written into it.

Source: UK261 arts. 2(n), 5(1)(c), 7(1), 7(3), 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15; Wizz Air help-centre page titles in Google UK results, 14 September 2026.

#Where are Wizz Air’s claim pages?

The four, as Google UK listed them: Claims and Compensation, Claim submission, EC261 Regulation and Claim processing time and status. Each passenger’s name, the flight number and date, the time you left the aircraft and the regime with its amount make the claim checkable; send it to the operating Wizz Air company named on your booking. In the submission, state the figure yourself: “UK261, article 7(1), £350 per passenger”.

With 14 days' notice or more of a cancellation, no compensation is owed, but you still choose between a Wizz refund within 7 days and re-routing.

Paid for food or a hotel because care was missing? Add those receipts to the same claim: that refund sits apart from the fixed amount, and extraordinary circumstances do not cancel it.

Screenshot the sent form; 8 weeks of silence opens AviationADR.

#What does Wizz Air owe you while you wait at the airport?

3 hours beyond scheduled departure starts Wizz Air’s UK261 duty of care on a 1,500-3,500 km flight; the line is 2 hours up to 1,500 km and 4 hours beyond 3,500 km. Care means meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the wait, plus two free calls or emails.

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

EU261 uses the same lines with one difference: a flight between two EU airports over 1,500 km reaches care at 3 hours, even beyond 3,500 km. At 5 hours or more, UK261 also lets you take reimbursement instead of flying, and a departure pushed to the next day adds a hotel and the transport to it.

A MoneySavingExpert forum post (April 2026) by a passenger on a Wizz Air flight from Istanbul to Luton on 22 March 2026 asks whether “they should provide food and drink if it was delayed more than 2 hours?” The same passenger report says boarding began about 3 hours 20 minutes after the scheduled 22:00 departure and “No food was provided on the plane”.

Our own great-circle calculation puts Istanbul Airport about 2,495 km from Luton and Sabiha Gökçen about 2,558 km; the post does not say which airport. Both sit in the 1,500-3,500 km band, so the UK261 care line was 3 hours, not 2, and an arrival 3 hours or more late puts compensation at £350 per passenger, barring extraordinary circumstances. UK261 covers that arrival whichever Wizz Air company flew, unless passengers already received benefits or compensation and assistance in Turkey.

Under UK261, extraordinary circumstances remove only article 7 compensation, never care. Keep every receipt and claim it back with the right to care guide.

#Which Wizz Air refusal reasons hold up?

2 binding rulings already answer the commonest Wizz Air refusals: an unforeseeable technical fault and a captain’s illness both failed the article 2(o) test, one in the Court of Appeal, one in the Supreme Court. Wizz Air carries the burden of proving the cause it names.

Source: UK261 arts. 2(o), 5(3), 6(4) — legislation.gov.uk; judgments — caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

The Istanbul poster was told “it was a fault with the Wizz Air flight which couldn’t take off due to a technical fault at Luton”. If the aircraft itself was defective, Jet2.com Ltd v Huzar [2014] EWCA Civ 791 applies: the Court of Appeal held that an unforeseeable technical fault is inherent in an airline’s normal activity and not extraordinary, even if maintenance could not have prevented it. A cause outside the aircraft needs its own test under article 2(o).

In Lipton and another v BA Cityflyer Ltd [2024] UKSC 24, the UK Supreme Court held a captain’s illness not extraordinary, however it arose. Both rulings bind lower courts in England and Wales.

#If Wizz Air rejects your claim

Ask in writing for the exact cause, the aircraft or crew member affected and the measures taken; for an air traffic management refusal, ask which decision delayed your flight.

Test the reason with the extraordinary circumstances guide and airline refused compensation.

#How does AviationADR handle a Wizz Air complaint?

8 weeks without a reply to your written complaint, or a final refusal, opens AviationADR, which the CAA lists as “Wizz Air” without naming a company. File within 12 months of the final response or last written communication. The service is free, and a decision you accept binds the airline.

Source: CAA ADR page (list checked 2026-09-15; the page carries no update date) — caa.co.uk; AviationADR members page — aviationadr.org.uk; EU261 art. 16, Commission NEB list (27 August 2026) — transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

Neither the CAA nor AviationADR names one of the three companies, so the membership is the brand’s, not a specific licence holder’s. AviationADR takes member complaints when the flight involves a UK airport, and lists the UK, Hungary and Germany for Wizz Air. A MoneySavingExpert forum reply (April 2026) agrees: “Wizz Air’s ADR provider is AviationADR, not CEDR”. Wizz Air’s FY26 rate, 629 complaints per million passengers, was the highest of the ten AviationADR airlines with 100 or more cases (CAA complaint rates compared).

The CAA says ADR covers incidents from the last 6 years, or 5 if you live in Scotland. Reject the decision and court stays open.

Under EU261 article 16, each country’s enforcement body covers flights from its airports and flights from outside the EU into them. The airport decides, not the licence. For a flight from Hungary, the Commission list names the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest, Consumer Protection Department; from Malta, the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority; from Germany, the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. The same list names bodies for Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

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; Wizz Air’s claims page 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 Wizz Air 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 Wizz Air?

6 years is the UK261 court deadline against Wizz Air in England and Wales: article 3(9) applies section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. Northern Ireland allows 6 years too. Scotland’s Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 sets 5 years, but no Scottish court has decided whether it governs UK261.

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

The Montreal Convention’s 2-year bar does not apply: in Dawson v Thomson Airways Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 845, the Court of Appeal held Regulation 261 delay compensation outside the Convention, leaving section 9’s 6 years.

Sue outside the UK and the court applies its own limitation law to an EU261 claim, which can be far shorter. Poland’s Kodeks cywilny article 778 bars a passenger-carriage claim 1 year after the flight. Malta’s Civil Code offers 2 years for damages under article 2153 and 5 years for a debt under article 2156(f), and no Maltese ruling says which governs an EU261 claim.

Two passengers arriving 3 hours 15 minutes late after a 2,000 km flight can claim £700 under UK261: in England and Wales, a small claims track case costing £70 to issue, with further fees possible later (CPR r.26.9; gov.uk court fees). The same £700 costs £113 to issue as a Northern Ireland small claim, and £127 under Scotland’s Simple Procedure, which takes claims of £5,000 or less.

Compare Ryanair and easyJet, also split across UK and EU licences, or single-licence LOT Polish Airlines and airBaltic. Other clocks: delay thresholds, time limits, payout times.

If a Scottish court could hear your case, diarise 5 years from the flight.

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

Wizz Air complaints in the CAA figures

6,971 Reg 261 complaints about Wizz Air reached AviationADR in the CAA's 2025/26 figures (April 2025 to March 2026), an estimated 629 per million passengers, and 53.2% of cases were upheld. These are complaints the ADR body or the CAA received, not delays.

Wizz Air: complaints, April 2025 to March 2026

CAA figure	FY26
Handled by	AviationADR
Reg 261 complaints	6,971
All complaints opened	7,436
Per million passengers (CAA estimate)	629
Uphold rate	53.2%

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 Act 1980 s.9
• EU261
• CAA: licence holders, ADR
• AviationADR members
• European Commission: licence list, enforcement bodies
• Court fees: England and Wales, Northern Ireland small claims, Sheriff Court fees, Simple Procedure
• Judgments: Huzar, Lipton, Dawson
• Poland: Kodeks cywilny art. 778, isap.sejm.gov.pl; Rzecznik Praw Pasażerów (ULC) - pasazerlotniczy.ulc.gov.pl, checked 2026-09-18.
• Malta: Civil Code (Cap. 16) arts. 2153 and 2156(f) - legislation.mt, checked 2026-09-18.

#FAQ

Which Wizz Air company flew you, and what does that change?

3 companies hold operating licences: Wizz Air UK Limited, a UK air carrier, plus Wizz Air Hungary Zrt. and Wizz Air Malta Limited, both Community carriers on the EC list dated 19 May 2026. Only the UK company loses EU261 on arrival into the EU, where UK261 covers it instead.

Who handles a Wizz Air complaint when no UK airport is involved?

The enforcement body of the airport you left. For Hungary the Commission's list names the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest, for Malta the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, for Germany the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt. AviationADR lists the UK, Hungary and Germany, but takes only flights involving a UK airport.

How long do you have to claim against Wizz Air?

Under UK261 the answer is 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Scotland's 1973 Act at 5 and no ruling either way. An EU261 claim borrows the forum's limitation law, and some are short: Poland's Kodeks cywilny article 778 gives 1 year, Malta's Civil Code is unsettled between 2 and 5.

Can Wizz Air pay you in Wizz credit instead of money?

Not unless you sign for it. Refuse the credit in the claim itself and keep Wizz Air's reply: 8 weeks of silence, or a final refusal, opens AviationADR, which the CAA lists at brand level. File within 12 months of that final response; the decision binds Wizz Air if you accept it.