# Claiming EU261 in Hungary: five years from when it falls due Source: https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/claim-in-hungary/ > Hungary''s Civil Code sets 5 years from when the claim falls due (Ptk. 6:22), a text unchanged in the version in force from 27 September 2026. # How long you have to claim compensation for a flight in Hungary Five years is the figure Hungary's Civil Code gives, and it reaches a flight compensation claim only because [Regulation 261/2004](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/) has no deadline of its own: in Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) the Court of Justice left limitation to national rules. Article 6:22 was read in the text in force until 26 September 2026 and again in the consolidated text that takes effect on 27 September 2026, and its wording is the same in both. Below: the period, its start date, which flights it governs, and who in Hungary handles a complaint. ## How long do you have to bring an EU261 claim in Hungary? 5 years is the general Hungarian limitation period for an EU261 claim, under article 6:22(1) of the Civil Code: "ha e törvény eltérően nem rendelkezik, a követelések öt év alatt évülnek el" (unless this Act provides otherwise, claims become time-barred after five years). Source: Polgári Törvénykönyv (Civil Code, 2013. évi V. törvény) art. 6:22(1), version in force from 27 September 2026 - njt.jog.gov.hu, checked 2026-09-23. Article 6:22(1) sets the default rule for claims generally, and no carriage-specific Hungarian provision was checked for this page, so five years is reported as the general figure rather than a confirmed air-carriage one. Finland shows why that matters: its general three years sits beside [a two-year Finnish air carriage rule](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/claim-in-finland/). Whether Hungarian law holds a rule of that kind for air transport has not been checked, so five years cannot be called the only candidate. The figure was read twice on the official legislation database: in the version stated as "Hatályos: 2026. 03. 01. – 2026. 09. 26." and in the consolidated version stated as "Hatályos: 2026. 09. 27. – 2026. 09. 30.". All four paragraphs of article 6:22 read word for word the same in both. The act behind the new version, Act XXXIV of 2026, rewrites article 6:88(4) on who may sue over a void contract and leaves 6:22 untouched. Treat five years as the figure to work from, counted from the day your claim fell due. ## Where do the five years come from, and when do they start? Falling due is what starts Hungary's five years, not your own knowledge of the claim: article 6:22(2) states "az elévülés akkor kezdődik, amikor a követelés esedékessé válik" (limitation begins when the claim falls due). That is a different rule from Czechia's or Austria's knowledge-based start. Source: Polgári Törvénykönyv art. 6:22(2)-(4), version in force from 27 September 2026 - njt.jog.gov.hu, checked 2026-09-23. Article 6:22(2) ties the start of the five years to when the claim "falls due", a due-date test rather than a test of when you found out about the disruption. No source read for this page fixes the date an EU261 claim falls due under Hungarian law, so this page gives the statute's own wording rather than a calendar date. The cautious course is to count from the day of the disrupted flight itself. Two further protections sit in the same article. Article 6:22(3) requires any agreement changing the limitation period to be made in writing. Article 6:22(4) goes further: an agreement excluding limitation altogether is void. No Hungarian ruling applying either paragraph to an airline's conditions of carriage was read for this page, so neither is stated here as a verdict on any airline's terms. Keep your boarding pass and any airline correspondence dated, since the due-date start makes a documented timeline your best evidence of when the clock began. ## Which flights does Hungary's deadline govern? 1 airport departure is enough: any airline flying you out of a Hungarian airport falls under EU261, whatever its nationality, under article 3(1)(a). A flight arriving in Hungary from outside the EU is covered only when a Community carrier operated it, 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 2026-09-22. The obligation sits with the operating air carrier, the airline that actually flew the aircraft, under article 3(5), not with whoever sold you the ticket. A Budapest to Istanbul flight on a Turkish airline is covered purely because it left Hungary. The same airline's Istanbul to Budapest flight is not, since an arrival counts only on a Community carrier, and even a Community carrier's arrival drops out if you already received benefits or compensation and assistance in the country you left. Complaints follow the departure airport too. Article 16(1) makes the Hungarian body responsible for flights from Hungarian airports and for third-country arrivals into them, while article 16(2) lets a passenger complain to any designated body about an infringement at a Member State airport. Hungary's own five-year period is what matters once either branch applies; Regulation 261/2004 itself sets no separate deadline for one branch over the other. Check your boarding pass or e-ticket for the operating carrier before you rely on either branch. ## Who handles a complaint in Hungary? 2 bodies split the work in Hungary, per the Commission's own list: the Budapest Government Office's Consumer Protection Department for passenger complaints, and the Ministry of Construction and Transport, through the Civil Aviation Authority of Hungary, for general enforcement, without individual claims. Source: European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies list (updated 27 August 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15. The Commission's list names two Hungarian bodies with different jobs. The Government Office of the Capital City Budapest's Consumer Protection Department is the one listed for passenger complaints, the body a delayed or cancelled-flight passenger would approach. The Ministry of Construction and Transport, through the CAA of Hungary, is named for general enforcement, without handling individual claims. Whether the Budapest office can order an airline to pay an individual passenger is a separate question, covered on the [national enforcement bodies](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/national-enforcement-bodies/) page and not answered here. Approach the Budapest Government Office's Consumer Protection Department for an individual complaint, and treat the Ministry or CAA route as the general-enforcement channel, not your own claim's venue. ## What to do before the deadline runs out 5 years is worth writing into your calendar from when your claim fell due. Because that start date is a due-date test, not a knowledge test, the safest practical anchor is the day of the disrupted flight, until a source fixes the date. The clock does not pause while you wait for a reply. Write to the airline first, in writing, stating the flight, the date and the compensation you are claiming under Regulation 261/2004. If it refuses or does not reply, bring the court claim or the Budapest Government Office complaint well inside five years of your flight; the low-value court routes are compared on [small claims in Europe](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/small-claims-europe/). Keep copies of everything you send and receive. The due-date start means the five years run whether or not the airline answers, so a dated record of your letter and any reply is what shows a court or the Budapest office that you acted in time. General information about EU261 claims in Hungary, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the Budapest Government Office's Consumer Protection Department or a lawyer in Hungary. For every regime and country side by side, see [flight compensation time limits](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-compensation-time-limits/); the same due-date start, contrasted against a knowledge-based one, also runs on [claiming in Czechia](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/claim-in-czechia/). ## 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. - Polgári Törvénykönyv (Civil Code, 2013. évi V. törvény), art. 6:22, consolidated version in force from 27 September 2026 - [njt.jog.gov.hu](https://njt.jog.gov.hu/jogszabaly/2013-5-00-00.49), checked 2026-09-23. - 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.