UK261: flight delay compensation from and to the UK

• Every flight departing from a UK airport, on any airline.
• Flights into the UK from outside, on a UK or EU airline.
• Flights from outside the EU and the UK into the EU, on a UK airline: New York to Paris on British Airways, for example.
• Flights from the EU to the UK are covered by EU261, on any airline; on a UK or EU airline UK261 may apply too, but you are paid only once.

Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar are not UK airports for UK261: a flight from there to the UK is covered only on a UK or EU airline.

• £220 for flights up to 1,500 km.
• £350 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km.
• £520 for longer flights; the airline may pay £260 if you arrived at least 3 but less than 4 hours late.

After a cancellation, the airline may halve the amount when the new flight arrives close to the original time.

A delay of 3 hours or more at your final destination, a cancellation with less than 14 days’ notice (unless the new flight kept close to your original times), the extraordinary circumstances exception, meals and a hotel once the departure is 2, 3 or 4 hours late depending on the distance, a refund or another flight after a cancellation: all work as under EU261.

EU court rulings from before 2021 generally still apply, unless a higher UK court departs from them. Later ones do not bind UK courts, so a few newer points may be argued differently.

Most UK airlines belong to an approved dispute resolution scheme whose decision binds them. For the others, the Civil Aviation Authority’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team can help.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you have up to 6 years to go to court, in Scotland 5.

Write to the airline through its claims form with your flight number and date, your booking reference, what happened, the amount and the rule: Regulation (EC) 261/2004 as retained in UK law, Article 7.

Dueply checks UK261 flights too and prepares the letter in pounds, with no commission.