The sheet to print
Delayed flight: the sheet to keep
Seven reflexes, in the order they are needed, from the first board to lodging a complaint. Each one carries the text it rests on.
File EU 261/2004
This page is made to be printed: when printing, the whole screen around it disappears.
Law as verified onJuly 29, 2026
- 01
Count the hours from the announcement, not from take-off
A two-hour announced delay is enough on a flight of 1500 km or less. Three hours between 1500 and 3500 km, four hours beyond. The threshold is read off the distance.
Article 6(1)(a) and (i) · Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Article 6 (Delay), paragraph 1(a) and (i) · eur-lex.europa.eu - 02
Ask for care at the desk, and keep the receipts
Refreshments and meals in a reasonable relation to the wait. Hotel and transport to the hotel only if departure slips to the next day. Two calls or two e-mails in every case, under paragraph 2 of the same Article.
Article 9(1) · Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Article 9 (Right to care), paragraph 1 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 03
At five hours of delay you may walk away and be reimbursed
This is the least known threshold in the Regulation. It obliges you to nothing: it opens a door. Never buy a full-fare replacement ticket without asking the question first.
Article 6(1)(iii) · Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Article 6 (Delay), paragraph 1(iii) · eur-lex.europa.eu - 04
Work out the compensation on DISTANCE, never on hours
€250 up to 1500 km. €400 beyond 1500 km inside the Union, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 km. €600 for the others. Flat rate: one more hour changes nothing.
Article 7(1) · Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Article 7 (Right to compensation), paragraph 1 · eur-lex.europa.eu - 05
Note the ACTUAL arrival time at the airport in your booking
That time is what triggers compensation, not the departure time. If you are landed at a different airport, the delay is still counted at the airport in your original booking, and the journey between the two is on them.
Section on compensation for delay on arrival · Air passenger rights: arrival at a different airport · europa.eu - 06
The airline first, the national authority next
Complaint to the airline through its form, always first. With no reply after two months, or with a reply that does not satisfy you, complaint to the national authority of the country where it happened.
Section on claiming your rights · Air passenger rights: claiming your rights · europa.eu - 07
What cannot be claimed
A connection missed because of the queue at security checks, and a boarding time missed at the airport of transfer. A clean file contains only what is owed.
Section on compensation for delay on arrival · Air passenger rights: what opens no compensation · europa.eu
General information on the European baseline, not legal advice on your case. Independent educational site, unconnected to the institutions of the European Union. The redress links in this file point only to official bodies.
Sources checked on July 29, 2026. · https://depleindroit.odersa.org/en/fiches/le-vol-retarde-de-4-heures · Content licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What the law owes you
Every right with its amount or its deadline, the extract of the official text it rests on, and its address.
Eat, drink and phone while you wait
Refreshments and meals in a reasonable relation to the waiting time. Paragraph 2 of the same Article adds two telephone calls or two e-mails. Free of charge, and on a simple request at the desk.
The official text · Article 9(1)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261“Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge: (a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time; (b) hotel accommodation in cases […] where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary […] (c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).”
Flat-rate compensation, set by distance
€250
€250 up to 1500 km, €400 beyond 1500 km inside the Union and for other flights between 1500 and 3500 km, €600 for the rest. The amount varies neither with the ticket price nor with the number of hours lost.
The official text · Article 7(1)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261“Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to: (a) EUR 250 for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less; (b) EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres; (c) EUR 600 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b).”
Walk away from the flight from five hours of delay
When the departure delay reaches five hours, reimbursement of the ticket becomes a right. Travelling stays your choice; it is no longer an obligation.
The official text · Article 6(1)(iii)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261“(iii) when the delay is at least five hours, the assistance specified in Article 8(1)(a).”
It is the airline's job to prove its extraordinary circumstances
And to prove them with named documents: extracts from logbooks, incident reports. Those documents are owed to the relevant national enforcement body and to the passengers concerned.
The official text · Section on delay, compensation and burden of proof
Your Europe · European Union · https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm“If you arrived at your final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more, you are entitled to compensation, unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances. The airline has to prove this by providing, for example, extracts from logbooks or incident reports.”
No clause in their contract can make you waive this
Obligations towards passengers may not be limited or waived by a derogation or a restrictive clause in the contract of carriage. Having accepted the general conditions changes nothing.
The official text · Article 15(1)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261“Obligations vis-à-vis passengers pursuant to this Regulation may not be limited or waived, notably by a derogation or restrictive clause in the contract of carriage.”
A national body to go to, in every country
Every Member State designates one, and any passenger may complain to it about an infringement that happened at an airport on its territory.
The official text · Article 16(2)
Official Journal of the European Union · EUR-Lex · https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261“Without prejudice to Article 12, each passenger may complain to any body designated under paragraph 1, or to any other competent body designated by a Member State, about an alleged infringement of this Regulation at any airport situated on the territory of a Member State […]”
This site is educational and independent: it is not an official website of the European Union, and this verdict is not legal advice on your case. The amounts and thresholds quoted are copied from the official text or the official page, whose link appears under each right.
File EU 261/2004
The items in this file
Every item has its own page. The situation is played here; what you keep, what you send and what you re-read live next door.