UK261 £Cancelling your own flight in the UK: what you get back, and how to reclaim Air Passenger Duty

Checked 15 Sep 2026·11 min read

Cancel a flight yourself and the airline owes you nothing under UK261, because the Regulation covers only denied boarding, cancellation by the airline and delay. What you can recover comes from the airline’s own terms: a 24-hour window after booking, a cancellation for a fee, or the government tax on the ticket.

#UK261 £Can you cancel a flight and get a refund in the UK?

Mostly no. UK261 article 1(1) covers 3 situations: denied boarding, cancellation by the airline and delay. A passenger who chooses not to fly on a flight that operates is in none of them. Ryanair and easyJet terms call fares non-refundable, and British Airways ties refunds to the fare you bought.

Source: UK261 art. 1(1), art. 4, art. 5(1)(a), art. 6(1) and art. 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.

The refund in article 8(1)(a), the full ticket cost within 7 days, is reached only through the carrier-side articles: volunteers and involuntary denied boarding (article 4), cancellation (article 5(1)(a)) and a delay of at least 5 hours (article 6(1)(iii)). Your own change of mind sits outside all of them.

What you get therefore depends on contract terms, which are not law. Ryanair’s terms say all amounts you pay are non-refundable except in listed cases, and its Help Centre says that if the flight operated and you did not travel, you are not entitled to a refund. Ryanair offers no refund or travel credit for illness either. Bereavement is the exception: if an immediate family member who is not travelling dies within 10 days before the flight, Ryanair gives Travel Credit, claimed before departure with the death certificate.

easyJet says that if you cancel, miss or do not take your flight you will not receive a refund, except as its terms state; for serious illness or bereavement it may give a refund or flight voucher at its discretion. British Airways says some discounted fares are partly or completely non-refundable. If events beyond your control stop you travelling on a non-refundable fare, BA gives a credit for the non-refundable part of a completely unused ticket, with prompt notice and evidence, and may take a reasonable administration fee from it. Its conditions also tell you to consider insurance for the times you might have to cancel; see how insurance and card cover sit beside airline duties.

Read the fare conditions in your booking before you cancel, and cancel online inside any free window.

#Is there a 14-day cooling-off period for flights?

No. The 14-day cancellation right for distance contracts does not cover flights: regulation 27(2)(c) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/3134) excludes contracts for passenger transport services. For other services bought online, regulation 30(2) ends the period 14 days after the day the contract is made; a flight booked yesterday has no such period.

Source: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regs 27(2)(c), 30(2) and 7(3) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.

The exclusion sits in regulation 27(2)(c), which carves passenger transport services out of Part 3, the part that holds the cancellation right. It is not in regulation 6, the list of whole-instrument exclusions, and not in regulation 28(1)(h), which covers transport of goods rather than passengers. Regulation 7(3) also disapplies most of the pre-contract information rules for passenger transport, so the 2013 Regulations are not your tool for cancelling a flight.

What exists instead is a 24-hour cancellation window that some airlines choose to give. easyJet gives a full refund minus its Cancellation Fee, £49 online or £55 through its Customer Services Team, if you cancel the whole booking within 24 hours of making it, unless the first flight leaves in under 2 hours. British Airways lets you cancel and claim a full refund without penalty up to 24 hours after booking, but its wording is aimed at a mistake in a booking made directly with BA, and it excludes travel within 24 hours.

If you have decided to cancel and booked with either airline in the last 24 hours, do it now in Manage Booking.

#Can you get Air Passenger Duty back if you don’t fly?

APD falls due only when the aircraft first takes off on your flight (Finance Act 1994 s.28), and HMRC says you may get back what you paid for it by asking your airline. For an economy seat on flights from 1 April 2026 the duty is £8 domestic or £15 in Band A; other classes pay £16 or £32.

Source: Finance Act 1994 s.28 — legislation.gov.uk; HMRC, Rates and allowances for Air Passenger Duty and Air Passenger Duty — gov.uk; CAA, CAP 1815 — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-10-05.

Air Passenger Duty per passenger, flights from 1 April 2026

Source: HMRC, Rates and allowances for Air Passenger Duty, flights starting from UK airports excluding Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands region — gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.

HMRC’s reduced rate covers “the lowest class of travel available on the plane for seat pitches less than 1.016 metres (40 inches)”, in practice an ordinary economy seat; the standard rate covers any other class or a wider pitch. Bands B and C, beyond 2,000 miles, and a higher rate for planes of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers are on the HMRC page.

HMRC’s wording is permissive: you may be able to get a refund of what you paid to cover APD, you should contact your airline, and you may have to pay an administration fee. HMRC does not say airlines must refund it and offers no HMRC claim route. The CAA’s view in CAP 1815 (June 2019) is that a fair approach is for airlines to pass unpaid taxes back, free or for a nominal fee “proportionate to the amount that the passenger would typically receive”. That is a fairness view, not a statute.

Ask the airline in writing and quote the booking reference, the flight date and the words “refund of unused Air Passenger Duty”, and ask what admin fee applies.

#What do Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways and Wizz Air give back?

Ryanair returns government taxes for a £20 fee if you claim within 1 month after the flight; easyJet returns Government Tax within 6 calendar months, naming no fee; British Airways returns taxes, fees and charges less a £15 online service charge and may refuse claims after ticket validity ends; Wizz Air UK describes no separate tax refund.

Source: Ryanair UK terms art. 4.2.1, 10.1 and table of fees; easyJet terms s.5; British Airways General Conditions of Carriage 3b1, 4b4, 10e1 and service-fee data; Wizz Air UK Ltd General Conditions of Carriage 5.3, 6.4 and Help Centre — airline websites, checked 2026-10-05.

If you cancel yourself: four airlines compared

What comes back on one economy seat: an illustration, not an entitlement

Source: HMRC reduced rates from 1 April 2026; Ryanair UK terms art. 4.2.1; easyJet terms s.5; British Airways service-fee data — gov.uk and airline websites, checked 2026-10-05.

Each figure is the duty minus the cheapest online fee, with APD as the only tax claimed.

Check the price breakdown in your booking before you claim. Ryanair’s higher fares generally include government taxes and its lower fares do not, so a fare with no tax line leaves nothing to claim. BA refunds any taxes, fees and charges you paid, less the service charge, so a breakdown showing more than APD returns more than the table shows. Ryanair’s route is the myRyanair request “gov-tax”; on a flight you skip on 10 March, its window closes in April and easyJet’s in September.

Wizz Air UK’s conditions say Wizz pays the taxes on your booking and they are non-refundable. Its Help Centre allows a cancellation for a fee up to 3 hours before departure and puts any balance in your WIZZ Account as credits valid for 1 year; ask Wizz Air’s Contact Centre if you want cash. For British Airways, ask through Manage My Booking or its contact centre.

Claim soon after the flight date you skip, not the day before the deadline.

#Is changing the flight cheaper than cancelling it?

Changing keeps the ticket in use; cancelling returns only taxes, if any. Ryanair’s Flight Change Fee is £45 online or £60 through an agent or at the airport, per person per one-way flight. easyJet charges £30 online more than 60 days before departure and £49 at 60 days or less. Neither refunds a cheaper fare difference.

Source: Ryanair UK terms, regulation 13.1, 13.3 and table of fees; easyJet terms s.6 and Fees and Charges — airline websites, checked 2026-10-05.

Ryanair lets you change dates and times up to 2.5 hours before the scheduled departure of the original or new flight, whichever is earlier, and Flexi Plus removes the fee but not the fare difference. easyJet requires changes at least 2 hours before departure; through its Customer Services Team the fees are £35 and £54, and a Flex Pass at £14 per passenger per flight allows one change without the fee.

A Ryanair tax claim on a Band A economy seat returns nothing, while changing the same one-way flight online costs £45 plus any fare difference, and you still fly. Changing wins when you can travel on another date; cancelling and reclaiming the tax pays only where the tax line on your ticket is bigger than the airline’s fee.

Compare the change fee with the tax line on your ticket before you pick.

#What if the airline cancels instead of you?

If the airline cancels, UK261 article 8(1) gives you a choice: the full ticket cost back within 7 days, or re-routing. A refund is the ticket money. Compensation of £220, £350 or £520 is a separate payment, which can be owed on a cancellation with under 14 days' notice unless extraordinary circumstances apply.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(c), art. 5(3), art. 7(1), art. 7(3), art. 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Ryanair’s refund equals the fare plus associated taxes, fees and charges; on a direct booking it reaches your Ryanair Wallet within 24 hours, and moving it to your card takes up to 5 working days. easyJet offers a voucher valid for 12 months or a refund, and says it is processing refund requests within 7 days. Wizz Air’s Help Centre puts the money in your WIZZ Account as credits unless you choose a refund to the original payment method at least 3 hours before the original departure time. British Airways gives a full refund through Manage My Booking but states no number of days for UK bookings; UK261 requires 7.

A voucher counts as payment only with your signed agreement, under article 7(3). Airline-specific steps are on the Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways and Wizz Air refund pages. If the airline will not pay, Section 75 and chargeback cover card routes.

Not your situation? If the airline cancelled, read refund, re-routing or voucher after a cancelled flight. Flights leaving an EU airport fall under EU261, and which law covers my flight sorts out the rest.

Send your refund request in writing and keep the airline’s cancellation message.

General information on cancelling your own flight in the UK, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the CAA, Citizens Advice or a solicitor.

#Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
• Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, regs 7, 27, 30 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
• Finance Act 1994, section 28 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
• HMRC, Air Passenger Duty — gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
• HMRC, Rates and allowances for Air Passenger Duty — gov.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
• Civil Aviation Authority, CAP 1815 Review of airline contract terms (June 2019) — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-10-05.
• Ryanair, UK terms and conditions — ryanair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
• Ryanair Help Centre, Refund Policy and Government Tax refunds — help.ryanair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
• easyJet, terms and conditions and fees and charges — easyjet.com, checked 2026-10-05.
• British Airways, General Conditions of Carriage and Customer Commitment — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-05.
• British Airways, service fees — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-05.
• Wizz Air UK Ltd, General Conditions of Carriage — wizzair.com, checked 2026-10-05.
• Wizz Air Help Centre, Cancel your flight — wizzair.com, checked 2026-10-05.

#FAQ

Can I cancel my flight and get a full refund?

Usually not. UK261 gives you no refund for cancelling a flight that operates, and Ryanair and easyJet terms call fares non-refundable. What can come back is the government tax on the ticket, and easyJet and British Airways allow a paid or free cancellation within 24 hours of booking.

Is there a cooling-off period for flights in the UK?

No. The 14-day cancellation period in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 does not cover flights, because regulation 27(2)(c) excludes passenger transport services. Any window comes from the airline’s own terms: British Airways allows a free cancellation up to 24 hours after a direct booking, and easyJet a paid one within 24 hours.

How long do I have to claim back taxes on an unused flight?

1 month after the flight with Ryanair, six calendar months after the scheduled departure with easyJet, and the end of the ticket validity period with British Airways, which may refuse later claims. Wizz Air UK conditions describe no separate tax refund. These are airline contract terms, not law.