# UK261 delay compensation: £220, £350 or £520

Source: https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/flight-delay-compensation/

> UK261 owes £220-£520 per passenger for a 3-hour delay. Claim direct with the letter template, escalate free via ADR: 6 years to claim in England and Wales.

# Flight delay and cancellation compensation in the UK (UK261)

£220, £350 or £520 per passenger: that is flight delay compensation in the UK when your flight arrives three hours or more late or is cancelled at short notice. Below: the amount table, the eligibility test, a claim letter and what to do if the airline refuses to pay.

## How much compensation do you get for a delayed flight from the UK?

Three distance bands set flight delay compensation in the UK: £220 for flights up to 1,500 km, £350 for 1,500-3,500 km and £520 for anything longer. The amount is per passenger, owed once the delay at your final destination reaches three hours or the flight is cancelled without enough notice.

| Distance | Compensation |
|:--|:--|
| Up to 1,500 km | £220 |
| 1,500-3,500 km | £350 |
| Over 3,500 km | £520 |

Source: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, art. 7(1) (as substituted by SI 2019/278) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

The band follows the flight distance to your final destination, not the ticket price or the airline, so a low-cost carrier owes the same £220 / £350 / £520 as a full-service one. Long-haul delays have one exception, covered in the 50% section. The [flight delay compensation calculator](https://airtravelrights.com/compensation-calculator/) picks the band for you.

You are owed compensation when three things line up. The flight left a UK airport on any airline, flew into the UK on a UK or EU airline, or flew into the EU on a UK airline, unless you already received benefits or compensation and assistance under the other country's rules. The delay at arrival reached three hours, or the cancellation came with under 14 days' notice and no replacement inside the windows below. And the cause was not an extraordinary circumstance, which the airline must prove, not you.

Not your situation? A flight departing an EU airport falls under [EU261](https://airtravelrights.com/eu261/), in euros; routes to, from or within Canada fall under the [Air Passenger Protection Regulations](https://airtravelrights.com/canada-appr/). Unsure which law fits? [Work it out here](https://airtravelrights.com/which-law-covers-my-flight/). Flying in the US? US federal rules differ - see [US DOT rules](https://airtravelrights.com/us-dot/).

Match your route's distance against the table above, then see the [UK261 hub](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/) for refunds, care and schedule-change rules this page skips.

## Does your delay qualify: 3 hours at arrival, measured when the doors open?

3 hours is measured at your final destination, not at departure. Arrival is the time passengers are permitted to leave the aircraft, which in practice means a door opening, not wheels touching the runway. A flight whose doors open 2 hours 59 minutes late earns nothing under UK261; from 3 hours 0 minutes, compensation is due.

Source: UK261 art. 2(n) (arrival time) and art. 6(3)-(4) (inserted by SI 2023/1370) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Article 2(n) follows the CJEU's ruling in Germanwings (C-452/13, 2014), which fixed arrival time under EU261 at the moment at least one aircraft door opens, not touchdown or on-block time. Touching down early means nothing if the doors stay shut. A flight that taxis for 20 minutes after landing can cross the three-hour line even though its wheels touched down under it. A diverted flight is counted the same way, at the airport you booked (see [UK261 diverted flight compensation](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/diverted-flight-compensation/)). The threshold has the same history: the CJEU set it in Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), and SI 2023/1370, in force since 14 December 2023, wrote both rules into UK261 itself.

Write down the time the doors opened, not the scheduled or touchdown time, before you pick a band. An arrival delay of 3 hours is UK261's line; the [delay-threshold comparison](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-delay-threshold-rules/) sets it against EU261, the Canadian and the US rules.

## What are you owed when a UK flight is cancelled?

14 days' notice is the line. With 2 weeks or more of warning, UK261 compensation is not owed, but you still choose between reimbursement within 7 days and re-routing, and while you wait for a replacement flight the airline owes care: meals, two free calls or emails, and a hotel if you need to stay overnight.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(c) and art. 5(4) (notice and burden of proof), arts. 8 and 9 (reimbursement, re-routing and care) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Between two weeks and seven days' notice, the airline owes nothing if it offers a replacement leaving no more than 2 hours before and landing less than 4 hours after your original times. Inside seven days, the tolerance tightens to 1 hour early and 2 hours late. Miss either window and compensation is due, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. The burden of proof on notice sits with the airline: it has to show when it told you.

UK261 treats reimbursement and re-routing as alternatives, not a package. Accepting a refund for the cancelled leg ends further rebooking help and the right to care for that flight. The fixed compensation stays untouched either way, because it depends on the cancellation itself, not on which option you picked.

Put your choice of reimbursement or [re-routing](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/cancelled-flight-refund-voucher/) in writing before you book anything yourself. Keep the airline's cancellation message too: it is your record of how much notice you got.

## When can the airline pay only 50%?

50% is the largest cut UK261 allows, and it applies in two cases. After a cancellation or denied boarding, a replacement flight arriving no more than 2, 3 or 4 hours late, by distance band, can be paid at half. On flights over 3,500 km, the CAA puts a plain 3-to-4-hour delay at £260, not £520.

Source: UK261 art. 7(2) - legislation.gov.uk; Civil Aviation Authority, Delays - caa.co.uk; Sturgeon (C-402/07, 2009), para 63 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

The first case is the one article 7(2) spells out: a passenger moved to a different flight under article 8. If that flight arrives within 2 hours of the original schedule on routes up to 1,500 km, 3 hours on 1,500-3,500 km routes or 4 hours on longer ones, the airline may pay £110, £175 or £260.

The second case is a delay on your own aircraft, in the longest band only. Article 7(2) was written for re-routed passengers, but the CJEU in Sturgeon applied the same reduction to delays, and SI 2023/1370 left article 7(2) unchanged. The CAA's delays page therefore gives £260 per person when a flight over 3,500 km, such as London to New York, arrives three to four hours late, and £520 from four hours. Article 7(2) says "may": the cut is the airline's option, not automatic.

Short and medium routes have no delay step. A delay of three hours or more on a flight up to 3,500 km pays the full £220 or £350.

Before you accept a halved offer, check whether you flew a replacement or your own delayed aircraft. Half for your own aircraft on a route up to 3,500 km is wrong; reply citing article 7(1).

## Which delays and cancellations does the airline not have to pay for?

Extraordinary circumstances is the legal term, defined in 2 limbs of article 2(o). Either the cause is not inherent in the airline's normal activity, is beyond its actual control and could not be avoided with all reasonable measures, or it arose from an unavoidable air traffic management decision. An unforeseen technical fault on the aircraft does not qualify.

Source: UK261 art. 2(o) (definition), art. 5(3) and art. 6(4) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Technical faults are the clearest example. In Jet2.com Ltd v Huzar [2014] EWCA Civ 791, the Court of Appeal held that an unforeseeable wiring defect in a fuel valve circuit was inherent in the airline's normal activity, so not extraordinary, even though maintenance could not have prevented it. The decision binds lower courts in England and Wales. In passing, the court named freak weather, strikes, terrorism and air traffic control problems as events outside normal activity. Naming the event is not enough: the airline must still show that all reasonable measures could not have avoided the disruption.

Care is owed even when compensation is not. Articles 5(3) and 6(4) remove only the fixed article 7 payment, so meals, two free calls or emails and a hotel where needed stay due.

Ask the airline in writing for the specific cause and the reasonable measures it took before you accept a rejection on these grounds. Common rejection reasons are covered in the [extraordinary circumstances guide](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/extraordinary-circumstances/).

## How do you claim from the airline yourself, with a letter template?

3 details go in every claim: your flight number and date, the arrival delay or the cancellation notice you received, and the amount from the table for your distance band. Send it to the airline's own claim form or customer relations address first, because UK261 makes the operating airline responsible for paying, not the CAA.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(c), art. 6(3) and art. 7 - legislation.gov.uk; Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative Dispute Resolution - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Claiming flight delay compensation in the UK needs no solicitor or claims firm. If the airline has an online claim form, use it; if not, email the template below so you keep a timestamped copy. Attach your booking confirmation, boarding pass or e-ticket and any disruption message from the airline; screenshots are enough. State the band and amount yourself rather than leaving the airline to work it out. Claiming for others on the same booking? Name every passenger, because compensation is owed per passenger.

> Subject: Compensation claim - flight [number], [date]
>
> Under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, article [6(3) for a delay / 5(1)(c) for a cancellation] and article 7, I am claiming compensation for flight [number] on [date], [departure airport] to [destination airport], which [arrived [X]h[Y]m late / was cancelled with [X] days' notice].
>
> By distance, that is £[220 / 350 / 520, or 260 for a 3-4 hour delay over 3,500 km] per passenger x [number] passengers = £[total]. Please confirm receipt and tell me when you will pay.
>
> [Name, booking reference, contact details]

Set a reminder for eight weeks after you send this: that is when silence lets you escalate to ADR, covered next.

## What if the airline rejects or ignores your claim?

8 weeks of silence, or a rejection you disagree with, is when you can escalate to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme instead of the airline's own complaints team. The UK has two CAA-approved schemes, AviationADR and CEDR, and which one applies depends entirely on your airline - some, including Jet2 and Loganair, belong to neither.

Source: Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative Dispute Resolution for air passengers - caa.co.uk; CEDR, Aviation - cedr-assist.com, checked 2026-09-15.

[AviationADR](https://airtravelrights.com/airline-refused-compensation/) covers easyJet, Ryanair, TUI Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Wizz Air (as the CAA lists it); CEDR covers British Airways and BA CityFlyer. Both are free. Submit within 12 months of the airline's final response or last written communication; the incident must fall within the last six years (five if you live in Scotland). Most decisions arrive within three months. An accepted decision binds the airline but not you, and court stays open if you reject it. A CEDR award must be paid within 20 working days of your acceptance, unless the decision says otherwise. Since 6 April 2026 the ADR provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 have replaced the ADR Regulations 2015; the CAA says passengers can keep using both schemes.

For Jet2, Loganair or any other airline outside ADR, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) can take up a valid complaint but cannot impose a solution; after that, court is the route to an enforceable outcome.

Check your airline's scheme before you submit: each scheme handles only its own member airlines. Carriers not named above are in the [ADR scheme guide](https://airtravelrights.com/uk261/airline-adr-schemes/); how long airlines take to pay once they accept is in the [payout-times data](https://airtravelrights.com/data/airline-compensation-payout-times/).

> Rather not run ADR or court yourself? [AirHelp (third-party claim service)](https://airtravelrights.com/partner/airhelp?ref=atr-mn-uk261-delay-m) takes on rejected or ignored claims, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; the free ADR route stays open.

## How long do you have to claim in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

6 years is the time limit in England and Wales, counted from the date of the flight: article 3(9) of UK261 applies section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. Northern Ireland's statute also gives 6 years. In Scotland, the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 sets 5 years, and how it fits a UK261 claim is untested.

Source: UK261 art. 3(9); Limitation Act 1980 s.9; Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

The Civil Aviation Authority is the designated enforcement body under article 16 of UK261, but it cannot impose payment in your case; a court or an accepted ADR decision can. In Dawson v Thomson Airways Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 845, the Court of Appeal held that an EU261 delay claim falls outside the Montreal Convention's 2-year time bar and runs on section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980 in England and Wales. Article 3(9), in force since 14 December 2023, writes that rule into UK261. In Northern Ireland, article 4 of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and article 3(9) both lead to 6 years.

Scotland is the open point. The 1973 Act extinguishes an obligation after five continuous years with no claim made or acknowledged, but no Scottish court has yet decided whether that rule or article 3(9) governs a UK261 claim.

Work out which nation's courts your claim belongs in before relying on the 6-year time limit, and file inside five years if Scotland is possible. For every regime side by side, see [flight compensation time limits](https://airtravelrights.com/flight-compensation-time-limits/).

> Still unpaid after ADR or a final refusal? [AirHelp (third-party claim service)](https://airtravelrights.com/partner/airhelp?ref=atr-mn-uk261-delay-b) handles claims no win no fee and keeps a fee from any payout; the airline's own claim form and ADR stay open.

General information on flight delay compensation 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. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/contents), checked 2026-09-15.
- The Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1370) - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/1370/made), checked 2026-09-15.
- The Civil Aviation (Denied Boarding, Compensation and Assistance) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/975), reg. 5 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/975/regulation/5), checked 2026-09-15.
- Limitation Act 1980, s.9 (England and Wales) - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/9), checked 2026-09-15.
- Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, art. 4 - [legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1989/1339/article/4), checked 2026-09-15.
- 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.
- Civil Aviation Authority, Delays - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/flight-delays-and-cancellations/delays/), checked 2026-09-15.
- Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative Dispute Resolution for air passengers - [caa.co.uk](https://www.caa.co.uk/air-passengers/travel-problems-and-rights/travel-complaints/alternative-dispute-resolution/), checked 2026-09-15.
- CEDR, Aviation - [cedr-assist.com](https://www.cedr-assist.com/consumer/aviation/overview/), checked 2026-09-15.
- Jet2.com Ltd v Huzar [2014] EWCA Civ 791, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - [caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2014/791).
- Dawson v Thomson Airways Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 845, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - [caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2014/845).
- Sturgeon, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009), CJEU - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62007CJ0402).
- Germanwings, C-452/13 (2014), CJEU - [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62013CJ0452).