# Air passenger rights glossary: 24 terms and their rules

Source: https://airtravelrights.com/glossary/

> Each of the 24 entries below is 1-3 sentences with a link to the EU261, UK261, APPR or US DOT page that

# Air passenger rights glossary

24 terms map onto EU261, UK261, Canada's APPR, the US DOT's rules and the Montreal Convention below, grouped by the question a reader actually asks, each with a link to the page that carries the full rule, the source and the exceptions. Nothing here re-argues the law: every entry runs 1 to 3 sentences, and the page it links to does the rest.

## Which laws and parties decide a flight claim?

4 regimes set air passenger rights on this site: EU261 for departures from the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland; UK261 for the UK; Canada's APPR; and the US DOT's rules. The Montreal Convention sits underneath all four, capping baggage and delay liability worldwide. Each term below names its regime and links to the page that explains it in full.

### EU261 (EC261)

EU261, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, covers any airline departing an airport in the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland, and covers an inbound flight from outside that area only when a Community carrier operates it. See the [EU261 hub](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/).

### Montreal Convention

1999 is the year the Montreal Convention set worldwide airline liability limits, revised every five years; the figures now in force took effect 28 December 2024, capping proven baggage loss at 1,519 SDR and proven delay loss at 6,303 SDR per passenger. See [Montreal Convention limits](https://airtravelrights.com/montreal-convention/).

### Operating air carrier

The operating air carrier is the airline that actually flew the aircraft, and EU261 article 3(5) puts the compensation claim on that carrier, not on the airline, agent or travel site that sold the ticket. See [which law covers your flight](https://airtravelrights.com/which-law-covers-my-flight/).

Check the operating carrier on your booking confirmation, not the marketing name on the ticket.

### Community carrier and third-country operator

A Community carrier holds an operating licence granted by an EU or EEA state under Regulation 2407/92; a third-country operator, such as a UK or US airline after Brexit, does not, and that single fact decides whether EU261 covers your inbound flight. See the [EU261 hub](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/) on carrier scope.

## When does a delay count?

3 hours late at your final destination is when UK261, EU261 and Canada's APPR each start paying delay compensation; the US sets no such threshold at all. Arrival, not departure, and the last stop on your ticket, not a connecting airport, decide the clock. The four terms below fix what counts.

### Arrival time (doors open)

Arrival time under UK261 and EU261 is the moment passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft at the final destination, not the moment wheels touch down, so a flight held on stand past the 3-hour line still qualifies. See [delay threshold rules](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-delay-threshold-rules/).

### Final destination

Final destination is the last stop on the booking, not a connecting airport: EU261 and UK261 measure both distance and delay against it, so a London-Frankfurt-Warsaw ticket that reaches Frankfurt on time but Warsaw 3 hours late still triggers compensation. See [delay threshold rules](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-delay-threshold-rules/) on final destination.

### Significant delay (US)

A significant delay under 14 CFR 260.2 is a domestic US departure or arrival 3 hours or more off schedule, or 6 hours or more on an international flight, and it triggers a refund, not compensation. See [US airline refund rules](https://airtravelrights.com/us-dot/airline-refund-rules/).

### Tarmac delay

3 hours on a domestic US flight and 4 hours on an international one is how long an airline may keep you on the tarmac before it must let you off, under 14 CFR 259.4, subject to safety and air-traffic exceptions. See the [US tarmac delay rule](https://airtravelrights.com/us-dot/tarmac-delay-rule/).

A tarmac wait pays nothing on its own; check the refund or compensation terms separately.

## Which excuses remove compensation?

2 branches, not 3, is the shape UK261's extraordinary-circumstances defence has taken since 14 December 2023, and Canada's APPR runs an entirely separate 3-category test for the same idea. Below: what each branch and category actually needs, and the notice window that runs alongside them.

### Extraordinary circumstances

Extraordinary circumstances has 2 branches under UK261 article 2(o): branch one needs an event not inherent in the airline's normal activity, beyond its actual control, and unavoidable despite all reasonable measures - three conditions inside that one branch - and branch two is an air traffic management decision reasonable measures could not have avoided. Either branch excuses only the fixed compensation, never care or re-routing. See the [UK261](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/extraordinary-circumstances/) and [EU261](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/extraordinary-circumstances/) guides.

### Within or outside the carrier's control (APPR)

APPR sorts every disruption into 3 categories - outside the carrier's control, within its control but required for safety, and within its control with no safety reason - and only the third pays cash; the Canada Transportation Act presumes a disruption within the carrier's control unless the carrier proves otherwise. See [APPR delay compensation](https://airtravelrights.com/canada-appr/flight-delay-compensation/).

### 14-day rule

14 days or more of notice before departure removes UK261 compensation for a schedule change treated as a cancellation, whatever the new time; less notice is tested against tolerances that tighten as the flight gets closer, and the airline carries the burden of proving when it told you. See [UK261 schedule change](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/flight-schedule-change/).

Ask the airline in writing exactly when it told you about the change.

## What happens when you are bumped or stranded?

Article 4 of UK261 and EU261 pays denied-boarding compensation immediately once a refusal to board is involuntary, with no extraordinary-circumstances defence anywhere in its text. The US instead pays a percentage of your fare. Care, covered below, survives every excuse an airline can raise against the other two.

### Denied boarding

Denied boarding is an airline's involuntary refusal to let a ticketed, checked-in passenger board, after it has first called for volunteers; UK261 and EU261 article 4 pay it immediately on the same fixed scale as a long delay, with no extraordinary-circumstances defence written into the article. See [denied boarding compensation](https://airtravelrights.com/denied-boarding-compensation/).

### Overbooking (bumping)

Overbooking is an airline selling more seats than the aircraft holds, and bumping is what happens when it then denies boarding to passengers who hold a valid seat; US rule 14 CFR 250 pays 200% of the one-way fare for a short substitute-flight delay and 400% for a longer one, capped at $1,075 and $2,150 since 22 January 2025. See [US bumped flight compensation](https://airtravelrights.com/us-dot/bumped-flight-compensation/).

### Right to care

Right to care under UK261 and EU261 article 9 means free meals, two calls or emails, and a hotel with transport once a delay, cancellation or denied boarding crosses an hours threshold; articles 5(3) and 6(4) exempt only the article 7 payment from extraordinary circumstances, so care stays owed regardless. See [right to care](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/right-to-care-meals-hotels/).

Care and compensation are two separate claims, so keep the receipts for both.

## Where do you complain?

8 weeks is how long a UK261 complaint can sit with an airline before you escalate it, free of charge, to AviationADR, CEDR or the CAA's PACT team. The EU runs a different route through each country's own national enforcement body, and Canada through the CTA. The terms below name each door.

### Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

Alternative dispute resolution lets a UK261 complainant escalate an unresolved claim, free of charge, to an independent scheme once the airline's own 8-week window has passed; two schemes are approved, AviationADR, a trading name of Consumer Dispute Resolution Ltd, and CEDR. See [UK261 ADR schemes](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/airline-adr-schemes/).

### CAA PACT

CAA PACT, the Passenger Advice and Complaints Team, is who you contact when your airline or airport is not signed up to either approved ADR scheme; PACT can press the airline on your behalf but cannot issue a binding decision the way AviationADR or CEDR can. See [UK261 ADR schemes](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/airline-adr-schemes/).

### CTA complaint

A CTA complaint goes to Canada's Transportation Agency once a written claim to the airline has sat unresolved for 30 days; after filing, mediation must begin by the 30th day, and without agreement an order follows within 60 days of mediation starting. See the [CTA complaint guide](https://airtravelrights.com/canada-appr/cta-complaint/).

### National Enforcement Body

A National Enforcement Body is the authority each EU state names under EU261 article 16 to enforce the Regulation for flights departing its airports, and for third-country flights arriving there; most can sanction an airline, but ordering it to pay an individual claimant is a separate power few of them hold. See [national enforcement bodies](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/national-enforcement-bodies/).

A National Enforcement Body rarely orders payment to one passenger; for a UK departure, ADR or PACT is the route that can.

## Which money and baggage terms change what you get back?

£220 to £520, or €250 to €600, is UK261 and EU261 fixed compensation - a separate question from article 8's refund-or-replacement choice on a cancellation. The terms below cover that split, the baggage report a lost bag needs, and the passenger-count line that sets an airline's payout scale in Canada.

### Voucher vs refund

Article 8 of UK261 and EU261 gives a cancelled-flight passenger a straight choice between a cash refund and a replacement flight; article 7 separately decides whether fixed compensation is owed on top, and a voucher can be offered only with the passenger's signed agreement. See [refund or voucher](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/cancelled-flight-refund-voucher/).

### Property Irregularity Report (PIR)

A Property Irregularity Report is the form the CAA's baggage-complaint process asks a UK passenger to file when checked luggage does not arrive; the US equivalent is a Mishandled Baggage Report, a legal condition of a bag-fee refund, while under the Montreal Convention the report is evidence, not the requirement. See the [property irregularity report guide](https://airtravelrights.com/property-irregularity-report/).

### Large and small carrier (APPR)

APPR treats an airline as large if it carried 2,000,000 or more passengers worldwide in each of the two preceding calendar years; any other carrier is small, and a large carrier's delay and cancellation ceiling, C$1,000, doubles a small carrier's C$500. See [large and small carrier](https://airtravelrights.com/canada-appr/large-small-carrier/).

A carrier's size can change year to year, so check the current list before you claim.

## Which claim deadlines and card-payment routes sit outside the four regimes?

2 different things hide under one heading here: how long you have to sue, and how a UK cardholder might get money back through their bank instead of the airline. Section 75 is a statute; chargeback is a payment-scheme rule a bank can decline to use. Neither covers every cardholder, and neither is the other.

### Limitation period (prescription)

6 years is the UK261 court deadline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 gives Scotland 5, but no Scottish court has yet decided whether that Act or UK261's own article 3(9) governs a UK261 claim, and EU261 sets no period at all, leaving each EU country's own national law to apply. See [claim time limits by country](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-compensation-time-limits/).

### Section 75

[Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974](https://airtravelrights.com/section-75-chargeback-flight-refund/) makes a UK credit-card issuer jointly and severally liable with the supplier where the supplier attached a cash price above £100 and not more than £30,000 to the single item - the item's price, not the sum you put on the card; it excludes debit cards entirely, since a debit payment moves funds from the cardholder's own current account rather than credit extended under a regulated agreement.

Source: Consumer Credit Act 1974 ss.75, 187(3A) - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75), checked 2026-09-20.

### Chargeback

Chargeback is a Visa or Mastercard scheme rule, not statute: it lets a UK cardholder's bank reclaim a card payment from the merchant's bank, but the bank has discretion the Financial Ombudsman Service reviews for fairness rather than a duty it must exercise; unlike section 75, chargeback covers both credit and debit cards.

Source: Financial Ombudsman Service, published consumer guidance - [financial-ombudsman.org.uk](https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/credit-borrowing-money/goods-services-bought-credit), checked 2026-09-20.

## Sources

- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, arts. 2(c), 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 16 - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261), checked 2026-09-15.
- UK261 (Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law), art. 2(o), 3(9), inserted by SI 2023/1370 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/article/2), checked 2026-09-15.
- Montreal Convention 1999, arts. 21, 22, 31, 35 - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:22001A0718(01)), checked 2026-09-15.
- Air Passenger Protection Regulations (SOR/2019-150), ss. 1, 10, 12, 19, 20 - [laws-lois.justice.gc.ca](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2019-150/), checked 2026-09-15.
- Canada Transportation Act, s. 85.04-85.07 - [laws-lois.justice.gc.ca](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-10.4/), checked 2026-09-15.
- 14 CFR Parts 250, 259, 260 - [ecfr.gov](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14), checked 2026-09-15.
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, ss. 75, 187(3A) - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75), checked 2026-09-20.
- Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, s. 6 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/52/section/6), checked 2026-09-15.
- Financial Ombudsman Service, published consumer guidance on section 75 and chargeback - [financial-ombudsman.org.uk](https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/credit-borrowing-money/goods-services-bought-credit), checked 2026-09-20.
- CAA, Alternative dispute resolution - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/travel-complaints/alternative-dispute-resolution/), checked 2026-09-15.
- European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies list (updated 27 August 2026) - [transport.ec.europa.eu](https://transport.ec.europa.eu/), checked 2026-09-20.

General information, not legal advice. Each term links to the page that carries the full rule; for your own claim, use that page and the regulator it names.