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If you arrived 3 hours or more late, your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days' notice or you were denied boarding, you are owed €250 (up to 1,500 km), €400 (1,500 to 3,500 km, or flights within the EU over 1,500 km) or €600 (over 3,500 km) per passenger, unless there were extraordinary circumstances.
ARTICLE 7 EC 261/2004
Exact amounts according to flight distance and type of delay established by EU 261/2004 Regulation
Up to 1,500 km
Short domestic and regional flights
Madrid-Barcelona, Paris-Amsterdam, London-Dublin
3+ hours delay
1,500 - 3,500 km (EU)
Medium flights within the EU
Madrid-London, Rome-Berlin, Barcelona-Warsaw
3+ hours delay
International up to 1,500 km
Short international flights
Madrid-Marrakech, London-Oslo
3+ hours delay
More than 3,500 km
Long intercontinental flights
Madrid-New York, Paris-Tokyo, Barcelona-Buenos Aires
4+ hours delay
Important about delays:
Compensation is calculated based on the ARRIVAL time at the final destination, not the departure time. If your flight leaves 2 hours late but arrives only 30 minutes late, you are not entitled to compensation for delay.
ARTICLE 3 EC 261/2004
Specific conditions for being entitled to compensation and assistance
FULL LEGAL TEXT
Legal analysis of the fundamental articles that define your rights as an air passenger in the European Union.
Regulation EC 261/2004 applies to passengers departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member State, as well as to passengers departing from an airport located in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member State, provided the operating carrier is a Community carrier. The regulation only applies if the passenger has a confirmed booking and checks in on time, except in cases of cancellation.
When an operating air carrier reasonably expects to deny boarding on a flight, it shall first call for volunteers to surrender their reservations in exchange for benefits under conditions to be agreed between the passenger concerned and the operating air carrier. If the number of volunteers is insufficient, the carrier may then deny boarding to passengers against their will, but must compensate them under Article 7 and inform them of their rights.
In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Articles 8 and 9; and compensation from the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 7, unless they are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or between two weeks and seven days with an alternative flight departing no more than two hours earlier and arriving less than four hours late; or within seven days with an alternative flight departing no more than one hour earlier and arriving less than two hours late. The carrier must demonstrate extraordinary circumstances to be exempt from paying compensation.
When an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond the scheduled time of departure for two hours or more on journeys up to 1,500 km; three hours or more on intra-Community journeys of more than 1,500 km and on all other journeys between 1,500 and 3,500 km; or four hours or more on journeys not covered above, passengers shall be offered assistance in accordance with Articles 9(1)(a) and 9(2). When the delay exceeds five hours, passengers shall also be offered a refund under Article 8(1)(a).
Passengers shall receive compensation amounting to: EUR 250 for all flights of 1,500 kilometres or less; EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres; EUR 600 for all flights not covered above. The distance shall be calculated on the basis of the last destination at which the denial of boarding or cancellation will delay the passenger's arrival. The carrier may reduce compensation by 50% when offering alternative transport and the arrival delay does not exceed the applicable threshold.
Passengers affected by delays, cancellations or denied boarding shall be offered, free of charge: meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time; hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary; transport between the airport and the hotel; and two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails. These rights apply regardless of whether the delay or cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances.
The operating air carrier shall ensure that at check-in a clearly legible notice containing the following text is displayed in a manner clearly visible to passengers: information about their right to request the text on their rights in case of denied boarding, cancellation, or delay of at least two hours. Air carriers that deny boarding or cancel a flight must provide each affected passenger with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance. This article ensures transparency and effective knowledge of rights.
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
The rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union that have expanded and defined the rights of European air passengers.
Joined Cases C-402/07 and C-432/07
“Passengers of delayed flights may be treated like passengers of cancelled flights for the purposes of applying the right to compensation where, due to a delay, they suffer a loss of time of three hours or more compared to the scheduled arrival time at their final destination.”
Impact on passengers
This is the most important ruling on air passenger rights. Before Sturgeon, only cancelled flights triggered compensation. Since 2009, delays of 3+ hours at the final destination generate the same right as cancellations, exponentially increasing the number of passengers entitled to compensation.
Case C-549/07
“A technical problem that came to light during maintenance does not, in itself, constitute an extraordinary circumstance within the meaning of Regulation EC 261/2004, unless the carrier can show it stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier and are beyond the carrier's actual control.”
Impact on passengers
This ruling defined extraordinary circumstances restrictively. Technical problems are generally inherent in the normal exercise of airline operations and do not exempt the carrier from compensating passengers. Only genuinely external circumstances constitute grounds for exemption.
Case C-257/14
“Technical faults of an aircraft, even unexpected ones, do not constitute extraordinary circumstances within the meaning of Regulation EC 261/2004. The maintenance of an aircraft is inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier.”
Impact on passengers
Van der Lans confirmed and reinforced the Wallentin-Hermann doctrine applying it specifically to unexpected technical faults. Airlines cannot invoke technical faults as extraordinary circumstances, unless they are the direct consequence of genuinely external causes such as bird strikes or acts of sabotage.
Joined Cases C-581/10 and C-629/10
“Regulation EC 261/2004, as interpreted by the Court in the Sturgeon judgment, is valid in light of the principle of equal treatment. Passengers of delayed flights who suffer a loss of time of three or more hours are entitled to the same compensation as those on cancelled flights.”
Impact on passengers
Nelson definitively confirmed the validity of Regulation EC 261/2004 and the Sturgeon interpretation in the face of airline challenges, closing the debate on whether 3+ hour delays generate compensation and providing legal certainty for both passengers and operators.
ARTICLE 5(3) EC 261/2004
Airlines may be exempt from paying compensation if the delay or cancellation is due to extraordinary circumstances beyond their control.
In these cases, the airline does NOT have to pay compensation, but MUST provide assistance:
In these cases, the airline MUST pay compensation + assistance:
The airline must prove that the cancellation or delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances. It's not enough to simply claim "bad weather" or "technical problem".
They must provide specific evidence: official weather reports, documentation from airport authorities, detailed technical reports, etc.
SPECIAL CASES
Charter flights are fully covered by Regulation EC 261/2004 provided they meet the scope requirements of Article 3. If your charter flight departs from an EU airport or is operated by a European airline to the EU, you have exactly the same rights as on a scheduled flight. When the flight forms part of a package holiday, Regulation EC 261 applies directly against the operating airline, independently of any additional rights you may have against the package organiser under Directive (EU) 2015/2302.
When a delay on the first flight causes you to miss a connection booked under the same reservation, the delay at the final destination determines your entitlement to compensation. If the cumulative delay at the final destination is 3+ hours, you are entitled to compensation calculated on the total distance of the itinerary, not just the delayed leg. On code-share flights, the actual operating carrier, not the marketing carrier, is responsible for EC 261 compensation.
Overbooking is a legal practice but generates clear rights for the passenger when it results in denied boarding. The airline must first seek volunteers willing to give up their seat in exchange for freely negotiated benefits. If you are involuntarily denied boarding, you are entitled to the fixed compensation under Article 7 (EUR 250-600), plus Article 8 (refund or re-routing) and Article 9 (care and assistance).
ARTICLE 9 EC 261/2004
Assistance that the airline must provide you regardless of the circumstances
LIMITATION PERIODS
Regulation EC 261/2004 does not set a uniform limitation period: each Member State applies its own civil or commercial limitation rules. The period runs from the date of the flight or the incident.
Regulation (EC) 261/2004 has been revised for the first time in more than twenty years. The European Parliament and the Council reached political agreement on 15 June 2026, Parliament adopted the text on 7 July and the Council gave it final clearance on 13 July 2026. The first thing worth clarifying is what does NOT change, because a good deal of wrong information was published: the three-hour threshold for compensation is kept — the proposal to raise it to four or six hours was dropped — and the amounts stay at €250, €400 and €600 by distance. Among the new provisions, the text gives a legal definition of an extraordinary circumstance, requires the airline to tell you about your right to compensation within 96 hours of the disruption, and requires it to acknowledge your claim and answer it within a set period. None of this applies yet: the revised regulation takes effect twelve months and twenty days after it is published in the Official Journal of the EU. Until then the 2004 text governs, read with the case law of the Court of Justice, starting with Sturgeon.
COMPARATIVE LAW
WHY TRUST AVÍFLY
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Legally precise answers to the 15 most frequently asked questions about EU air passenger rights legislation.
The regulation covers: (1) Any flight departing from an EU airport, regardless of the airline; (2) Flights to the EU operated by airlines licensed in an EU Member State. It also applies in Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and, with some nuance, the United Kingdom after Brexit. The passenger must have a confirmed booking and check in on time.
You are entitled to compensation when your flight arrives at the final destination 3 or more hours late (4 or more hours for intercontinental flights over 3,500 km). The delay is measured at the final destination (the time the aircraft doors open), not at departure. The Sturgeon ruling of the CJEU in 2009 equated 3+ hour delays with cancellations for compensation purposes.
Article 7 of the Regulation sets fixed amounts: EUR 250 for flights up to 1,500 km; EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights over 1,500 km and international flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km; EUR 600 for flights over 3,500 km. If the airline offers alternative transport and you arrive with less delay than the applicable threshold, the compensation can be reduced by 50%.
Extraordinary circumstances are events outside the normal control of the airline: extreme weather (severe storms, hurricanes), air traffic control strikes, acts of terrorism or sabotage, security restrictions imposed by authorities, and bird strikes. If they apply, the airline is exempt from paying monetary compensation but must still provide care and assistance. Technical problems with the aircraft are NOT extraordinary circumstances according to the CJEU (Wallentin-Hermann 2008, Van der Lans 2015).
Article 8 gives you three options: (1) Full refund of the ticket within 7 days plus a return flight to your departure point if the journey no longer makes sense; (2) Alternative transport to the final destination as soon as possible under comparable conditions; (3) Rescheduling at a later date convenient to you. In addition, if the cancellation is notified less than 14 days in advance and no extraordinary circumstances apply, you are entitled to compensation under Article 7.
Regulation EC 261 does not set a uniform deadline. Each State applies its own: Spain 5 years (art. 1964 CC); France 5 years (L.141-2 CAC); Germany 3 years (§195 BGB); United Kingdom 6 years (Limitation Act 1980); Italy 2 years (art. 949 CN); Netherlands 2 years (art. 8:1707 BW). The period runs from the date of the flight.
Yes. Article 3(1)(b) covers flights from third countries to the EU if operated by Community carriers. So a New York-Madrid flight with Iberia is covered, but the same flight with United Airlines is not. If the flight departs from the EU (e.g. Madrid-New York), the regulation applies regardless of the airline.
Yes, under certain conditions. The CJEU has recognised that EC 261/2004 and the Montreal Convention are compatible and complementary regimes. EC 261 provides fixed automatic compensation for standardised harm. The Montreal Convention allows claims for individual proven damages beyond those limits. You can pursue both simultaneously as long as there is no double recovery for the same loss.
Article 9 obliges the airline to provide, free of charge: meals and refreshments proportionate to the waiting time; hotel accommodation if an overnight stay is required; transport between the airport and the hotel; and two communications (calls, emails or messages). This applies regardless of whether the delay or cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances. If the airline refuses, make the reasonable expenditure yourself and keep all receipts to claim later.
If the flights form part of the same booking, the delay is measured at the final destination. If you arrive at the final destination 3+ hours late compared to the originally scheduled arrival, you are entitled to compensation calculated on the total distance of the itinerary, not just the delayed leg. If the flights are independent bookings purchased separately, the regulation applies leg by leg and the risk of missing the connection is yours.
Yes. Charter flights are fully covered by EC 261/2004 if they meet the Article 3 scope criteria. The commercial nature of the flight (charter vs. scheduled) is irrelevant; what matters is the departure airport and the operating carrier's licence. Moreover, if the flight forms part of a package holiday, you may have additional rights against the organiser under Directive (EU) 2015/2302.
Yes, Article 7(2) allows the airline to reduce compensation by 50% if it offers alternative transport and the delay at the final destination does not exceed 2 hours (flights up to 1,500 km), 3 hours (flights up to 3,500 km) or 4 hours (intercontinental flights). If the delay exceeds those thresholds, the reduction does not apply and you must receive the full compensation.
The compensation under Article 7 must be paid in cash, electronic bank transfer or cheque. The airline may offer travel vouchers or other benefits instead of monetary compensation, but only if the passenger expressly agrees. If you prefer cash, you have the right to demand it and the airline cannot force you to accept a voucher.
Follow these steps: (1) Request a written statement from the airline explaining the reason for the delay or cancellation; (2) Demand the assistance vouchers (meals, hotel) to which you are entitled; (3) Photograph the flight information boards showing the delay; (4) Keep all expense receipts; (5) Note the names of the agents you deal with; (6) File your compensation claim from home with AviFly.
Yes, as long as the claim has not expired. In Spain you have 5 years from the date of the flight. If you have a delayed or cancelled flight from up to 5 years ago, AviFly can manage your claim. We only need the flight number, the date, and your booking confirmation. Our service is completely risk-free: we only charge 15% + VAT if we recover your compensation. For court cases, the commission is 30% + VAT.
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