# Claiming EU261 in Finland: unresolved, act within two years Source: https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/claim-in-finland/ > Finland sets 3 years generally and 2 years for air carriage, with no ruling on which governs EU261; the Consumer Disputes Board takes private complaints. # How long you have to claim compensation for a flight in Finland [Regulation 261/2004](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/) sets no deadline of its own for a compensation claim: Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) sends that question to each country's own law. Finland is one of the unresolved cases in the EU: two domestic statutes compete for the same claim, and no Finnish ruling on which one governs was read for this page. This page names both, states the period that is safe to act on, and says who in Finland handles a complaint. ## How long do you have to bring an EU261 claim in Finland? 2 years is the safest deadline to act on for an EU261 claim in Finland, because Finnish law does not settle on a single period. Two statutes compete: 3 years under the general limitation act, and 2 years under the air carriage act. No Finnish ruling picking one was read. Source: Laki velan vanhentumisesta (728/2003) sec. 4; Ilmakuljetuslaki (387/1986) sec. 29 - finlex.fi, checked 2026-09-22. Two Finnish statutes name a period, and they disagree. The Act on the Limitation of Debts sets a general three years, running from the point specified in its own sections 5 to 7, with a 10-year long-stop from the breach. The Air Carriage Act, covering carriage of passengers, baggage or cargo by air, sets two years, running from the aircraft's arrival at its destination, and states plainly that the right of action is lost if no court action is brought within that time. The word it uses, kanne, means a lawsuit: a letter to the airline does not meet it. Neither statute says which of the two governs an EU261 compensation claim specifically, and no Finnish ruling on the point was read for this page. Acting on the shorter period protects a claim whichever one eventually turns out to apply; acting on the longer one risks losing the claim entirely if the shorter period is the one a court picks. File inside two years of your flight's arrival, and treat any later date as unsafe. ## Which of the two Finnish laws applies, and why is it unsettled? 1 rule decides which statute wins when two compete: section 2 of the general limitation act says a special provision in another Act prevails, but only for the liability ground that Act covers. Whether an EU261 claim is that kind of ground is exactly what is unresolved. Source: Laki velan vanhentumisesta (728/2003) sec. 2 - finlex.fi, checked 2026-09-22. Section 2 states that if another Act sets a special limitation period diverging from this one, that period is followed instead, but only for the liability ground the other Act actually covers. The Air Carriage Act's two-year period would apply on that logic only if an EU261 flat-rate compensation claim counts as a claim from carriage of passengers by air, in the sense that Act's own scope article uses. No Korkein oikeus (Supreme Court) ruling, hovioikeus (Court of Appeal) ruling or Consumer Disputes Board statement on that question was read for this page. [Claiming in Croatia](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/claim-in-croatia/) has the same shape: a general civil-law period sits beside a transport-specific one, and no ruling found says which wins for EU261. Where that is true, this page states both periods and names the shorter one as the safe action, rather than picking a side without a ruling behind it. Read the two-year Air Carriage Act period as the one to protect, until a Finnish court says otherwise. ## Which flights does Finland's deadline govern? Article 3(1)(a) of EU261 covers every flight leaving a Finnish airport, on any airline. An arrival into Finland from outside the EU counts only when a Community carrier operates it, and not where you already received benefits or compensation and assistance in the departure country, under article 3(1)(b). Source: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 arts. 3(1)(a)-(b), 3(5), 16(1)-(2) - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15. Two details decide the branch. The first is who flew the aircraft: article 3(5) puts the obligation on the operating air carrier, so a codeshare number sold by one airline and flown by another points at the second. The second is where the trip started. Helsinki to Bangkok on a Thai-licensed airline is inside EU261 because it left Finland; Bangkok to Helsinki on that same airline is outside it, because a non-Community carrier's arrival is never covered. Enforcement follows the departure airport as well. Article 16(1) makes each state's body responsible for flights from its own airports and for third-country arrivals into them, and the Irish Aviation Authority's published practice is to send a passenger to the body of the state the disrupted flight was due to depart from. A Rome to Helsinki delay is an Italian enforcement matter, even though you land in Finland. The two Finnish periods on this page are the ones a Finnish court works with. Which country's court hears a given claim is a separate question this page does not decide. Look up the operating carrier printed on your booking, not the airline that sold the ticket, before relying on either branch. ## Who handles a complaint in Finland? 2 bodies split the work in Finland, per the Commission's own list: the Consumer Disputes Board (Kuluttajariitalautakunta) for private consumers' complaints, and Traficom for non-consumers, with no individual-case handling. Neither body's own procedure, cost or timing was read for this page. Source: European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies list (updated 27 August 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15. The Commission's list, set out country by country on our [national enforcement bodies](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/national-enforcement-bodies/) page, gives the Consumer Disputes Board private consumers' complaints and gives Traficom complaints from non-consumers, without handling individual cases. It also names the Consumer Ombudsman and the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, but at the collective level only, not for one passenger's claim. Neither one's own procedure, fee, waiting period or power to bind the airline was read for this page, so none is stated here. What the text of section 29 does settle is the relationship with your court deadline: it asks for a lawsuit within two years, and a complaint to a board is not a lawsuit. Write to the airline first, then decide on the Consumer Disputes Board, keeping the two-year court date in view the whole time. ## What to do before the deadline runs out 2 years is worth writing into your calendar on your landing day. It is the shorter of the two candidate periods, the one that protects a claim whichever statute eventually wins. Waiting to see whether a court favours the three-year figure risks a claim a judge could still call time-barred. Plan as if the two years keep running while you correspond: section 29 counts from arrival and names a court action as the only thing that saves the claim. Put the flight number, the date and the Regulation 261/2004 compensation you are asking for in a letter to the airline. If the answer is no, or nothing arrives, issue the court claim in Finland before the second anniversary of your arrival; how low-value claims reach a court across Europe is set out on [small claims in Europe](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/small-claims-europe/). Past that date, the three-year figure is still arguable, but no ruling read for this page says it will hold. General information about EU261 claims in Finland, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the Consumer Disputes Board or a lawyer in Finland. For every regime and country side by side, see [flight compensation time limits](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-compensation-time-limits/). ## Sources - Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, arts. 3, 16 - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261), checked 2026-09-22. - Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 (2012), operative part - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62011CJ0139), checked 2026-09-22. - Laki velan vanhentumisesta (728/2003) - [finlex.fi](https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/2003/728), checked 2026-09-22. - Ilmakuljetuslaki (387/1986) - [finlex.fi](https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/1986/387), checked 2026-09-22. - European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies list (updated 27 August 2026) - [transport.ec.europa.eu](https://transport.ec.europa.eu/document/download/d7b5dd33-4083-4faa-8132-b6dc8b3a1c07_en), checked 2026-09-15. - Irish Aviation Authority, air passenger rights (complaints go to the body of the departure state) - [iaa.ie](https://www.iaa.ie/consumer-protection/air-passenger-rights), checked 2026-09-15.