How to Claim Compensation for a Delayed Flight in the UK

Your flight’s delayed three hours. You’re sitting on the terminal floor, eating an overpriced sandwich, watching the departure board mock you. Here’s what the airline won’t volunteer: under UK law, you may be owed £220–£520 in compensation — not vouchers, not miles, actual money. I’ve claimed four times (and been paid three), and the process is far simpler than airlines want you to believe. Here’s exactly how.

Your Rights: UK261 in Plain English

Since Brexit, the EU261 regulation was retained in UK law as “UK261”. It applies to:

• Flights departing from the UK (any airline)
• Flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU airline

You’re entitled to compensation if: you arrive 3+ hours late, and the cause was the airline’s responsibility (technical faults, crew issues, operational problems). You’re not entitled if: the delay was caused by “extraordinary circumstances” — severe weather, air traffic control strikes, security threats, medical emergencies.

How Much Can You Claim?

Fixed amounts based on flight distance (per passenger — including children):

• Up to 1,500km (e.g. London–Paris, London–Edinburgh): £220
• 1,500–3,500km (e.g. London–Athens, London–Canaries): £350
• Over 3,500km (e.g. London–New York): £520

Note: it’s arrival delay that counts, not departure. A flight that leaves 4 hours late but makes up time to arrive 2h50 late owes nothing; one arriving 3h01 late owes the full amount. The threshold is brutal and binary.

Your Care Rights (Separate From Compensation)

Regardless of the cause, for delays over 2 hours (short-haul) the airline must provide:

• Meals and refreshments (or vouchers)
• Two phone calls/emails
• Hotel accommodation and transfers if overnight

If they don’t provide vouchers, keep receipts for reasonable expenses (meals, hotel, transport) — you can claim these back separately. Don’t go wild; “reasonable” is the test, and airlines will challenge a £200 dinner.

How to Claim: Step by Step

1. At the airport: note the actual arrival time, keep your boarding pass, photograph the departure board, and ask staff for the reason for the delay in writing if possible. Keep all receipts.
2. Claim direct with the airline first. Use their website’s disruption/claims form. State: flight number, date, booking reference, scheduled vs actual arrival, and the amount claimed under UK261. Be polite, factual, and brief.
3. Give them 6–8 weeks. Airlines often pay valid claims at this stage — it’s cheaper than fighting.
4. If rejected or ignored: escalate to the airline’s approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme (check the CAA’s guidance for which scheme covers your airline) — free, binding on the airline.
5. If the airline isn’t in ADR: complain to the CAA’s PACT team, or use Money Claims Online (small claims court) — the £35 fee is recoverable, and airlines often settle when served.
6. Claim companies: firms like Bott & Co or AirHelp will claim for you for ~25–35% of the payout. Convenient but expensive — try direct first; use them only if you can’t face the admin.

Common Airline Excuses (and Responses)

• “Extraordinary circumstances / weather”: ask for specifics. A technical fault is not extraordinary (established in case law). If they cite weather, check whether other airlines operated normally.
• “We offered vouchers”: vouchers don’t extinguish your cash compensation right. Don’t accept vouchers as settlement unless you want them.
• Silence: the most common tactic. Escalate to ADR after 8 weeks — don’t let it drift.
• “You booked via a third party”: irrelevant. Your rights are against the operating airline.

You have 6 years to claim in England and Wales (5 in Scotland) — so check old disruptions too. I claimed for a delay I’d forgotten about from two years prior.

Cancelled Flights: Related Rights

Cancellation rules are similar but with re-routing and refund options — our Heathrow cancellation rights guide covers them in detail.

Delayed Baggage: The Parallel Claim

Delays often come with baggage delays — a separate claim process:

• Report immediately at the airport’s baggage desk and get a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) — without this reference, claiming is nearly impossible.
• Buy essentials and keep receipts: toiletries, basic clothing, chargers. Airlines must reimburse reasonable interim expenses (the Montreal Convention covers this).
• “Reasonable” is the test: a £30 essentials shop is fine; a £400 designer outfit is not.
• Claim within 21 days of receiving your bag (for delay) — don’t let it drift.
• If the bag is lost (21+ days): claim for the full contents up to ~£1,400 (Montreal Convention limit, in SDRs). Photograph your packed bag before flying — it sounds paranoid until you need it.

Connecting Flights: Missed Connection Rights

A delay on one leg causing a missed connection is covered as a single journey if booked on one ticket:

• The airline must rebook you to your final destination at no cost.
• Compensation is based on the final arrival delay at your destination, not the first flight’s delay.
• Care rights (meals, hotel) apply during the wait.
• Separate tickets = separate journeys: if you booked two tickets yourself and miss the second, the second airline owes you nothing. This is the great risk of DIY connections — leave 3+ hours between separately-ticketed flights, or accept the gamble.

Strike Delays: The Special Case

Strikes confuse everyone — the rules depend on who’s striking:

• Airline’s own staff (pilots, crew): the airline’s responsibility — compensation due. (Established in case law: wildcat and planned strikes by the airline’s own staff are not “extraordinary”.)
• Air traffic control / airport staff / security: extraordinary circumstances — no compensation, but care rights (meals, hotels) still apply.
• Third-party ground handlers: grey area — argue it’s the airline’s operational responsibility; escalate to ADR if rejected.

Airlines routinely claim all strikes are extraordinary. They’re wrong about their own staff’s strikes — challenge it. The CAA’s disruption guidance sets out the position, and our Heathrow cancellation guide covers the cancellation side. For the airport experience around all of this, see Heathrow arrival timing.

The Practical Takeaway

Delayed 3+ hours on arrival for the airline’s fault? You’re owed £220–£520 per passenger under UK261. Document everything at the airport, claim direct with the airline, escalate to ADR after 8 weeks if needed, and never accept vouchers as a substitute for cash. Airlines rely on passengers not knowing or not bothering — now you know, and bothering takes 20 minutes. Check your last 6 years of travel too; there’s money in old delays. And for the airport experience itself, our Heathrow arrival timing guide helps you plan.