UK261 £Strikes and flight compensation: airline staff, air traffic control and airports

Checked 15 Sep 2026·12 min read

Strike flight compensation turns on whose staff walked out. An airline staff strike, including a pilot strike or a cabin crew strike by the airline’s own staff, does not remove UK261 compensation of £220, £350 or £520. An air traffic control strike or an airport strike can remove it, but only if the airline meets the legal test for extraordinary circumstances.

Strike compensation by who walked out

Source: UK261 art. 2(o), art. 5(3), art. 6(4) and European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 s.6 — legislation.gov.uk; Court of Appeal judgments — caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk; CJEU judgments — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

Every row decides the fixed payment only. A “due” outcome still needs a delay of 3 hours or more at arrival, or a cancellation that misses the notice rules below. No row touches care, re-routing or refund.

Not your situation? A flight departing an EU airport falls under EU261, in euros. Flights to, from and within Canada fall under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which class a labour disruption within the carrier as outside its control, with no compensation. Unsure which law applies? Work it out here. Flying in the US? US federal rules differ — see US DOT rules.

#UK261 £Does a strike by the airline’s own staff entitle you to compensation?

£220, £350 or £520 stays due when a strike by the airline’s own staff causes a qualifying delay or cancellation, because that strike is not an extraordinary circumstance. The Court of Appeal held so in 2022 for strikes over pay and conditions; the CJEU reached the same answer in 2018 for a wildcat strike by the carrier’s own crew.

Source: UK261 art. 5(3), art. 6(3)-(4), art. 7(1)-(2) — legislation.gov.uk; The Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC [2022] EWCA Civ 76 — caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk; Krüsemann (C-195/17) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.

In The Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC [2022] EWCA Civ 76, the Court of Appeal held that cancellations caused by the 2018 strikes of Ryanair’s own staff over pay and conditions were not extraordinary circumstances. Union involvement did not change that, and neither did the merits of the demands. The court upheld the CAA’s enforcement order, and its decision binds lower courts in England and Wales, though not Scottish courts.

The Krüsemann wildcat strike ruling (C-195/17, 2018) predates 31 December 2020, so it binds UK courts under section 6 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, although the UK Supreme Court may depart from it. In Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20, 2021), the Grand Chamber held that a lawful strike by the carrier’s own pilots is internal to its activity. Such a strike is not extraordinary. Eurowings (C-613/20, 2021) said the same of a solidarity strike by a subsidiary’s staff backing the parent company’s staff. Both came after 31 December 2020: UK courts may have regard to them but are not bound.

The amount follows distance: £220 up to 1,500 km, £350 for 1,500-3,500 km and £520 beyond. Long-haul arrivals between three and four hours late, where the CAA gives £260, are explained in the UK261 delay compensation guide.

Ask the airline in writing whose staff went on strike. If they were its own, cite The Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC [2022] EWCA Civ 76 in your claim.

#Does an air traffic control strike entitle you to compensation?

2 limbs define extraordinary circumstances in article 2(o) of UK261. The second covers disruption arising from an air traffic management decision that all reasonable measures could not have avoided, and an air traffic control strike fits it where such a decision hit your flight. Care, re-routing and refund stay owed.

Source: UK261 art. 2(o) (definition written in by SI 2023/1370), art. 5(3), art. 6(4) — legislation.gov.uk; Blanche v EasyJet Airline Company Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 69 — caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Blanche v EasyJet Airline Company Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 69 is the Court of Appeal ruling on air traffic management decisions. It dates from 2019, before this limb was written into article 2(o). Applying Recital 15, the court held that an air traffic management decision causing a long delay to a particular aircraft on a particular day is deemed an extraordinary circumstance, whatever its underlying cause and even if it hit many flights. The decision there suspended departures during thunderstorms. It binds lower courts in England and Wales.

Blanche did not involve a strike, and no ruling on this page applies it to one. Because the holding covers a decision whatever lay behind it, an airline answering an air traffic control strike claim can point to it. The airline still has to prove the causal link to your flight and show that all reasonable measures could not have avoided the disruption.

Where no air traffic management decision lies behind your cancellation, the airline has to meet the first limb instead: an event not inherent in its normal activity, beyond its actual control and unavoidable with all reasonable measures.

Ask the airline to name the air traffic management decision that affected your flight, with its date and time, and the measures it took.

#What about airport, security or ground-handling strikes?

3 conditions in the first limb of article 2(o) decide an airport strike, a security strike or a ground-handling strike case by case. The disruption must not be inherent in the airline’s normal activity, must be beyond its actual control and must be unavoidable with all reasonable measures. No ruling on this page decides these strikes.

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

None of the strike judgments above concerned airport, security or ground-handling staff. The Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC, Krüsemann and Airhelp v SAS dealt with the carrier’s own staff; Eurowings dealt with a subsidiary’s staff supporting its parent’s. Blanche concerned an air traffic management decision, not a walkout. Reading any of them as a rule for airport strikes stretches it past what the court decided.

An airline relying on the exemption has to meet all three conditions, not one, and the third asks what it actually did once the strike was known. The same case-by-case test applies to a strike by staff who work neither for the airline nor for air traffic control. If the airline instead points to an air traffic management decision, the second limb and Blanche govern that argument.

Ask the airline which service stopped, who ran it and what the airline did to keep your flight operating. Other refusal reasons are covered in the extraordinary circumstances guide.

#What does the airline owe you whatever the strike?

5 hours or more of delay gives you a right to reimbursement, and a cancellation gives you the choice of a refund within 7 days or re-routing, whoever went on strike. Extraordinary circumstances remove only the fixed article 7 payment, so meals, two free calls or emails, and a hotel when an overnight stay becomes necessary remain the airline’s duty.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1), art. 5(3), art. 6(1), art. 6(4), art. 8(1), art. 9 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Care on a delay starts by distance: from 2 hours on flights up to 1,500 km, 3 hours on 1,500-3,500 km flights and 4 hours on longer ones. A hotel and the transport to it are added when the expected departure is the next day. At 5 hours you can take reimbursement under article 8(1)(a) instead of travelling.

A cancellation brings the article 8(1) choice: reimbursement within 7 days, re-routing at the earliest opportunity, or re-routing at a later date that suits you. Meals and two calls or emails follow from the cancellation itself. A hotel is added when the replacement leaves at least the day after your original flight.

Articles 5(3) and 6(4) release the airline only from compensation under article 7, and SI 2023/1370, in force since 14 December 2023, did not widen that release. An air traffic control strike that ends a compensation claim leaves the refund or re-routing choice, and the care, untouched.

Ask the airline’s desk for meals and a hotel before you pay yourself, and keep every receipt if it provides nothing. The right to care guide covers what counts.

#What if the airline announced the strike cancellation 14 days ahead?

14 days' notice or more removes UK261 compensation for a strike cancellation, even when the airline’s own staff are the strikers. With 2 weeks or more of warning, no fixed payment is owed. With less, compensation is due unless the airline offered a replacement inside the article 5 time windows or proves extraordinary circumstances.

Source: UK261 art. 5(1)(c), art. 5(4), art. 6(3), art. 7(2) — legislation.gov.uk; Civil Aviation Authority, Cancellations — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.

Between 2 weeks and 7 days before departure, the airline owes no compensation if it offers re-routing that lets you depart no more than 2 hours before the scheduled time and reach your final destination less than 4 hours after the scheduled arrival. Inside 7 days, the tolerance tightens to 1 hour early and 2 hours late. The clock runs from when the airline informed you of the cancellation, not from a union’s strike notice, and the burden of proof sits with the airline. Notice never removes the article 8 choice of refund or re-routing.

A strike that delays your flight falls under article 6 instead, where notice plays no part: 3 hours or more at arrival earns compensation under article 6(3), unless extraordinary circumstances apply under article 6(4).

When compensation is due after re-routing, article 7(2) lets the airline halve it if the replacement arrives no more than 2, 3 or 4 hours late, by distance band. The CAA’s cancellation table applies that cut only below those marks; article 7(2) also allows it at exactly 2, 3 or 4 hours.

Count the days between the airline’s cancellation message and your departure, and keep the message. Replacement flights that move your times are covered in the schedule change guide.

#How do you claim for a strike-hit flight yourself?

8 weeks without an answer from the airline lets you take the claim to an ADR scheme. Send the claim to the operating airline first, with the flight number, the date, and the delay at arrival or the notice you received, and name UK261 when the scope rules below cover your flight.

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

UK261 covers a flight departing a UK airport on any airline. From abroad, it covers a flight into the UK on a UK or EU-licensed airline and a flight into an EU member state on a UK airline. Neither applies if you received benefits or compensation and assistance in the country you flew from. A journey booked as a single unit counts as departing from the first leg’s departure point. Inbound, the operating airline’s licence decides, not the brand: Ryanair DAC holds an Irish licence, Ryanair UK Limited a UK one.

A passenger report on the MoneySavingExpert forum (June 2026) about a Lufthansa strike cancellation on an Amritsar-Delhi-Munich-London booking reads: “They cancelled the flight due to the cockpit strike. We were booked on an alternative carrier the next day. I submitted a compensation claim but it was rejected”. The rejection the poster quoted applied the EU version of the regulation to a journey from India to the United Kingdom. It did not turn on the strike.

After 8 weeks of silence or a disputed rejection, take the claim to the airline’s ADR scheme. The CAA approves two providers, AviationADR and CEDR, and its list sends Lufthansa to Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr in Germany. ADR is free: submit within 12 months of the airline’s final response, for an incident in the last six years (five if you live in Scotland). Most decisions arrive within three months, and an accepted decision binds the airline.

Claim refused after a strike by the airline’s own staff? AirHelp (third-party claim service) takes on rejected or ignored claims, no win no fee, and keeps a fee from any payout; the airline’s own claim form 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

• They deal with the airline for you
• AirHelp's fee is 35% of the compensation, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails.

Start with AirHelp →Third-party claim service

Put the eight-week date in your calendar the day you send the claim.

General information on strike flight compensation under UK261, 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 - 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.
• The Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC [2022] EWCA Civ 76, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
• Blanche v EasyJet Airline Company Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 69, Court of Appeal (Civil Division) - caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
• Krüsemann, C-195/17 (2018), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Airhelp v SAS, C-28/20 (2021), CJEU Grand Chamber - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Eurowings, C-613/20 (2021), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Civil Aviation Authority, Delays - caa.co.uk, 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.
• Civil Aviation Authority, Airline licence holders - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
• European Commission, EU air carriers holding an active operating licence (ACOL data 19/05/2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
• Air Passenger Protection Regulations (SOR/2019-150), s.10 - laws-lois.justice.gc.ca, checked 2026-09-15.

#FAQ

Do I get compensation for a flight cancelled due to a strike?

£220, £350 or £520 (UK261) if the airline's own staff went on strike and the cancellation missed the article 5 notice rules. In The Civil Aviation Authority v Ryanair DAC [2022] EWCA Civ 76, the Court of Appeal held own-staff strikes over pay and conditions were not extraordinary. Air traffic control and airport strikes are decided case by case.