Flight schedule change: your rights under UK261

Checked 15 Sep 202611 min read

Flight schedule change compensation ends at 14 days when the change counts as a cancellation. Told of that cancellation two weeks or more before departure, you get no UK261 payment, whatever the new time. With less notice, the new flight is measured against two tolerances: between 14 and 7 days, departure no more than 2 hours earlier and arrival less than 4 hours later; under 7 days, no more than 1 hour earlier and less than 2 hours later.

#When does a schedule change count as a cancellation?

More than 1 hour earlier is the clearest line. In Corendon Airlines (C-395/20, 2021), the CJEU held that a departure brought forward by more than 1 hour is treated as a cancellation under Regulation 261/2004. Corendon post-dates 31 December 2020, so it is persuasive only in UK courts: they may have regard to it but are not bound by it.

Source: Corendon Airlines, C-395/20 (2021), CJEU — eur-lex.europa.eu; European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, s.6 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

The label on the airline’s message does not settle the category. UK261 has articles for denied boarding, cancellation and delay (articles 4, 5 and 6), and schedule change, significant change or retime is not one of them. A cancellation brings in the notice windows below, while delay compensation turns on how late you reach your final destination. Take a rescheduled flight moved from 14:00 to 12:30: that earlier departure crosses the 1-hour line, and on Corendon’s reasoning it is a cancellation. A move from 14:00 to 13:00 does not cross it, and no ruling cited on this page decides how a move of 1 hour or less is classified.

A retimed flight that leaves later is the open point. None of the CJEU rulings cited here decides whether a flight moved later, say by 5 hours, is a cancellation or a delay. Treated as a delay, it earns compensation under article 6(3) only if you reach your final destination three hours or more late. Treated as a cancellation, the notice windows apply instead.

Not your situation? A flight departing an EU airport falls under EU261, which uses the same three notice windows and pays €250, €400 or €600 by distance. Routes to, from or within Canada fall under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations. Unsure which law fits? Work it out here. Flying in the US? US federal rules differ — see US DOT rules.

Ask the airline in writing whether it treats your change as a cancellation or a delay, and keep the message that shows the old and new times.

#What are you owed if the change comes 14 days or more before departure?

14 days or more of notice removes UK261 compensation for a cancellation and nothing else. Article 5(1)(c)(i) switches off the fixed payment when you are told at least two weeks before departure, but the article 8 choice between reimbursement within 7 days and re-routing stays yours, and article 5(1)(b) care does not depend on notice.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(a)-(c) (rights after a cancellation), art. 8(1) (reimbursement or re-routing), art. 9 (care) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Of the three rights in article 5(1), only compensation, in point (c), depends on notice. Losing flight schedule change compensation at 14 days or more therefore leaves article 8(1) intact: reimbursement of the full ticket cost within 7 days, re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, or re-routing at a later date at your convenience. Exactly 14 days counts as two weeks. At 13 days you are in the next window.

Care follows the cancellation, not the notice. Article 9 covers meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, plus 2 free calls or emails. A hotel, and transport between the airport and the hotel, are added once a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary.

Replying on r/Flights in July 2026 to a thread about a flight cancelled 16 days out, u/joeykins82 wrote: “The 14 day thing applies specifically to the compensation element of UK.261”. That is one commenter’s reading on a passenger forum, not a ruling, and the text of article 5(1) bears it out.

Reply to the change message in writing and name your choice: reimbursement, re-routing at the earliest opportunity, or a later date. What each option closes is set out in the refund or re-routing guide.

#What if the airline tells you 7 to 14 days before departure?

Between 14 and 7 days' notice, UK261 pays nothing only if the airline offers a replacement leaving no more than 2 hours before your original departure and arriving less than 4 hours after your original arrival. Miss either limit and £220, £350 or £520 is due, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.

Notice periods and replacement times that decide UK261 compensation

When the notice reached you	Replacement departs	Replacement arrives	UK261 £
At least two weeks (14 days or more) before scheduled departure	No condition	No condition	Not owed
Between two weeks and seven days before (13 to 7 days)	No more than 2 hours before scheduled departure	Less than 4 hours after scheduled arrival	Not owed if both limits are met; otherwise £220 / £350 / £520 by distance
Less than seven days before (6 days or fewer)	No more than 1 hour before scheduled departure	Less than 2 hours after scheduled arrival	Not owed if both limits are met; otherwise £220 / £350 / £520 by distance

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(c)(i)-(iii) and art. 5(4) (notice windows, burden of proof), art. 7(1) (amounts, as substituted by SI 2019/278) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Both limits must hold at once, and exactly 7 days' notice still sits in the middle row, because only “less than seven days” moves you to the tighter limits. With 10 days' notice, the airline owes nothing for a replacement that leaves on time and lands 3 hours 59 minutes late; at 4 hours 0 minutes late, compensation is due.

Missing a limit does not always mean the full amount. Article 7(2) lets the airline halve the payment when the replacement arrives no more than 2 hours late on flights up to 1,500 km, 3 hours on 1,500-3,500 km or 4 hours beyond, and the word is “may”, so the cut is the airline’s option. Take 10 days' notice and a replacement on a route up to 1,500 km that leaves 3 hours early and lands 3 hours early. The departure limit fails, so compensation is due, but the arrival is not late at all, and the CAA’s table for this case gives £110 rather than £220.

At exactly 2, 3 or 4 hours late the sources part. Article 7(2)'s “does not exceed” allows the half payment, while the CAA table pays the full amount from “two or more hours” late, with the same pattern at 3 and 4 hours.

Under Cancellation in the compensation calculator, enter the days of notice, the minutes the replacement left early and how late it arrived; it applies these limits and flags the disputed boundary minute.

#What if the notice comes less than 7 days before departure?

Less than 7 days' notice leaves the airline 1 hour of room on departure and under 2 hours on arrival. UK261 pays nothing only if the replacement leaves no more than 1 hour before your original departure and arrives less than 2 hours after your original arrival; otherwise £220, £350 or £520 is due.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(c)(iii), art. 5(3), art. 7(1)-(2) — legislation.gov.uk; flightright v Eurowings, C-130/18, order of 27 June 2018 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

The 3-hour delay rule does not apply here. In flightright v Eurowings (C-130/18), an order of 27 June 2018, the CJEU held that a passenger told of a cancellation less than 7 days before departure is owed compensation when the re-routing reaches the final destination more than 2 hours late, even if under 3 hours. The order predates 31 December 2020, so it binds UK courts as assimilated case law, though the Supreme Court may depart from it.

Two separate lines then apply, and they are easy to merge by mistake. Say you are told 3 days before departure and fly a replacement that leaves on time and lands 2 hours 30 minutes late. Arrival misses the under-2-hours limit, so compensation is due. On a route up to 1,500 km, the article 7(2) half payment needs arrival no more than 2 hours late, so the full £220 stands. On a 1,500-3,500 km route, 2 hours 30 minutes is within 3 hours, and the airline may pay £175 instead of £350.

Extraordinary circumstances, which the airline must prove under article 5(3), remove only this fixed payment. The refund, re-routing and care stay owed, as articles 5(3) and 6(4) release the airline from article 7 compensation alone.

Note the minute the replacement actually left and the minute you were permitted to leave the aircraft at your final destination: those two times decide both tests.

#Who has to prove when you were told about the change?

Article 5(4) of UK261 puts the burden of proof on the operating air carrier: it must show whether and when you were informed of the cancellation. In Krijgsman (C-302/16, 2017), the CJEU held that compensation is due when the notice does not actually reach you 14 days ahead, even if your travel agent was told in time.

Source: UK261 art. 5(4) — legislation.gov.uk; Krijgsman, C-302/16 (2017) and Azurair, C-146/20 (2021), CJEU — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

Krijgsman predates 31 December 2020, so it binds UK courts as assimilated case law. On its reasoning, the count runs from the day the notice reached you. Booked through an online agent and first heard about the retiming 9 days before departure? For the windows above that is 9 days' notice, even if the airline told the agent 3 weeks earlier.

Package holidays raise a related point about bookings made through an intermediary. In Azurair (C-146/20 and joined cases, 2021), the CJEU held that a booking made through a tour operator is enough for a confirmed reservation, and that the flight times on it are the ones a rebooked flight is measured against. Azurair post-dates 31 December 2020, so it is persuasive only in UK courts. What the organiser owes when it changes the package itself is on package holiday changes and cancellations.

An airline that cannot prove the date has not proved the notice, and without proven notice the 14-day and 7-day exceptions do not help it.

Screenshot the first email, text or app alert about the change with its date and time visible, then ask the airline in writing for the date and channel it relies on.

#How do you reject the new time and claim?

3 written steps turn a schedule change you refuse into a claim: reject the new time and pick a refund within 7 days or re-routing, claim £220, £350 or £520 if the notice was under 14 days and the replacement missed the limits, then escalate after 8 weeks without an answer.

Source: UK261 art. 3(1), art. 5(1)(c), art. 7(1), art. 8(1) — legislation.gov.uk; Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative Dispute Resolution — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

You are owed compensation if the flight is covered, and the change counts as a cancellation notified less than 14 days out with no replacement or one outside your window’s limits, and the airline cannot prove extraordinary circumstances. Coverage means a departure from a UK airport on any airline, an arrival in the UK from abroad on an airline licensed in the UK or an EU member state, or an arrival in an EU member state from outside the UK on a UK-licensed airline. Inbound cover falls away if you already received benefits or compensation and assistance in the country you flew from. The licence of the company operating the flight decides it, not the brand on your ticket.

Start with a written reply to the change message. Say you do not accept the new time and choose, under article 8(1), reimbursement within 7 days, re-routing at the earliest opportunity or re-routing on a later date at your convenience. Send the compensation claim as a separate message citing article 5(1)(c) and article 7, with your notice date, both sets of times and your distance band; the UK261 compensation page has a letter template.

No reply within 8 weeks, or a refusal? If your airline belongs to an approved scheme, ADR is free, takes submissions within 12 months of the airline’s final response, and decides most cases within 3 months. An accepted decision binds the airline. The ADR schemes guide shows which airline sits with AviationADR or CEDR.

AirHelp (third-party claim service) takes on claims where the notice was under 14 days, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; your own claim to the airline and ADR stay open.

Do it yourself · freeClaim with the airline, then ADR

Write to the airline and keep the reference
Refused, or no answer in 8 weeks: its ADR scheme or the CAA, free
You keep all of the compensation

Use the claim letter template →

Hand it overAirHelp takes the claim, no win no fee

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AirHelp's fee is 35% of the compensation, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails.

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General information, 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. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
The Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1370) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, s.6 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (EU text), arts. 5 and 7 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
Civil Aviation Authority, Cancellations - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Civil Aviation Authority, Alternative Dispute Resolution for air passengers - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Corendon Airlines, C-395/20 (2021), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
Azurair and Others, C-146/20 and joined cases (2021), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
Krijgsman, C-302/16 (2017), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
flightright v Eurowings, C-130/18, order of 27 June 2018, CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.

#FAQ

Am I entitled to compensation for a rescheduled flight?

14 days' notice is the line for a rescheduled flight UK261 treats as cancelled. With less, £220, £350 or £520 is due - unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances, or the replacement leaves under 2 hours early and lands under 4 hours late (7-13 days' notice), or under 1 hour early and 2 hours late (under 7 days).

Can I get a refund if my flight schedule changes?

7 days is the UK261 deadline for reimbursing the full ticket cost when the change counts as a cancellation. Article 8(1) lets you choose that refund, re-routing at the earliest opportunity, or re-routing at a later date at your convenience. The choice stays yours even with 14 days' notice or more, when compensation is not owed.

How much compensation is due for a rescheduled flight?

£220 for flights up to 1,500 km, £350 for 1,500 to 3,500 km and £520 beyond, under UK261 article 7(1). The airline may halve the amount when the replacement arrives no more than 2, 3 or 4 hours late in those bands. Nothing is due with 14 days' notice or more, or proven extraordinary circumstances.

Can I get compensation if my flight is rebooked?

7 to 13 days' notice: a rebooked flight earns UK261 compensation if it leaves more than 2 hours early or lands 4 hours or more late. Under 7 days, the limits are more than 1 hour early or 2 hours or more late. The airline must prove when you were told, and has to prove extraordinary circumstances to refuse.

What is the 14 day rule for cancelled flights?

14 days or more of notice removes UK261 compensation for a cancellation under article 5(1)(c)(i). It removes nothing else: reimbursement within 7 days or re-routing under article 8, and care under article 9, stay owed. The airline must prove when you were informed, and notice that reaches only your travel agent does not count.