Flight Delay Compensation - Claim From The Airlines With The UK's Best Flight Delay Claims Company

No Win No Fee Flight Delay Compensation Solicitors

As the UK’s most trusted flight delay compensation solicitors, we’ve helped more than 760,000 passengers claim over £86 million in compensation from 171 different airlines, far more than any other UK company.

Our industry-leading legal team handles every claim on a no win, no fee basis, meaning you won’t pay a penny if we don’t win your claim.

Unlike many flight compensation companies, we provide full legal support throughout your claim, negotiating directly with the airline and taking legal action when necessary, with many of the claims settled within 60 days.

We don’t just enforce flight compensation law; we’ve helped shape it. Through our clients’ landmark Supreme Court cases and our legal expertise, we’ve helped establish flight compensation rights for millions of passengers.

Our combination of specialist flight compensation law experience, industry-leading success rates, and experience pursuing claims through the courts means we can support passengers throughout the entire claims process, including those whose claims have been initially turned down by the airline.

Start by adding your flight details to our free flight delay compensation calculator. You’ll get an instant answer on whether you can claim and how much compensation you could receive.

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When Can I Claim Compensation For A Delayed Flight?

You may be able to claim compensation for a delayed flight if your flight arrives at least 3 hours late and the delay was the airline’s fault.

To claim, your flight must be covered by EU261 or UK261, which protects passengers on flights from the UK or EU, and flights into the UK or EU on a UK or EU airline.

You won’t be able to claim if your flight was delayed by extraordinary circumstances, which are events outside the airline’s control, such as air traffic control restrictions or extreme weather.

Flight delay compensation under EU261 was created to compensate passengers for the disruption they experienced, not the price of the ticket.

This means you can claim if someone else paid for your flight, you booked using air miles or your employer paid for your ticket.

How Do I Know If My Flight Is Covered By EU261?

Whether your flight is covered by EU261 or UK261 will depend on where you were flying from, where you were travelling to and, for some flights, the airline you flew with.

Your flight will be covered if:

• Your flight departed from a UK or EU airport, regardless of the airline
• Your flight arrived at a UK or EU airport and was operated by a UK or EU airline.

If you were flying into the UK or EU from outside the UK or EU, the airline you flew with matters.

For example, if you flew from Orlando to Gatwick with British Airways, your flight would be covered because British Airways is a UK airline.

If you made the same journey with American Airlines, it wouldn’t be covered because American Airlines is not based in the UK or EU.

How Long Does My Flight Have To Be Delayed To Claim Compensation?

Your flight must arrive more than three hours later than its originally scheduled arrival time for you to claim flight delay compensation.

It’s your arrival time at your final destination that matters, not how late your flight departs. Your arrival time is determined by when at least one aircraft door opens, allowing passengers to leave the plane.

This means a flight that departs more than three hours late won’t qualify for compensation if the airline makes up enough time during the journey and you arrive less than three hours late.

If your flight is delayed by more than five hours, you can choose not to travel and claim a refund instead.

If you arrive more than three hours late, you could claim up to £520 per passenger, provided the delay was the airline’s fault and wasn’t caused by an extraordinary circumstance.

How Much Flight Delay Compensation Can I Claim?

You can claim compensation between £220 and £520 per passenger for flights that are delayed by more than 3 hours, provided the delay was the airline’s fault.

How much compensation you can claim depends on the distance of your flight and how many hours you are delayed before arriving at your final destination.

The amount of compensation you can claim is fixed, regardless of how much you paid for your flight.

You can claim for each passenger individually. If you were a family of four and were due £520 each, the total amount would be £2,080.

Our table below shows how much you may be able to claim depending on your particular flight.

How Do I Claim Flight Delay Compensation?

The easiest way to start your flight delay compensation claim with us is to enter your flight details into our free compensation calculator.

The calculator instantly checks whether you can claim and how much you could claim, and we can then handle the entire claim on your behalf on a no win no fee basis.

Alternatively, you can download our free flight delay compensation template letter to send directly to the airline.

We’ve successfully claimed compensation from 171 airlines, including all of the major airlines flying in and out of the UK, such as British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, TUI, Wizz Air, and Virgin Atlantic.

What Is The Time Limit To Claim Flight Delay Compensation?

In England and Wales, you have up to six years from the date of your flight to start your claim. In Scotland, you have five years.

We helped establish the six-year time limit in the landmark Dawson v Thomson Airways case, representing passenger James Dawson after the airline argued that passengers only had two years to bring a claim.

The Court of Appeal agreed with our argument that passengers in England and Wales have six years to bring a flight compensation claim. Thomson subsequently tried to appeal the decision, but permission was refused by the Supreme Court in 2014.

What Are Extraordinary Circumstances For Flight Delays?

Airlines do not have to pay compensation if the delay is due to an extraordinary circumstance.

Under EU261, extraordinary circumstances are events outside the airline’s control that it could not have avoided even if it had taken all reasonable measures.

The most common examples of extraordinary circumstances include:

• Extreme and unexpected weather conditions
• Strikes and industrial action unrelated to the airline, such as air traffic control, baggage handler or Border Force strikes
• Air traffic control decisions affecting flight schedules
• Hidden manufacturing defects with the aircraft
• Unexpected IT or software outages outside the airline’s control
• Acts of terrorism, civil unrest and other security risks
• Disruption to airspace.

However, many causes of flight delays are considered to be within the airline’s control and are not extraordinary circumstances.

The most common include staff shortages, pilot or cabin crew sickness, strikes by the airline’s own employees and technical problems with the aircraft or the airline’s systems.

Bad weather isn’t always an extraordinary circumstance either. If the weather was expected or seasonal and the airline should reasonably have planned for it, you may still be able to claim compensation. This can also apply when bad weather affected an earlier flight, but the airline had enough time to reorganise its operations and prevent your flight from being delayed.

What Am I Entitled To While My Flight Is Delayed?

If your flight is delayed, your airline must take care of you during the delay. This is known as “care and assistance” as defined in Article 9 of EU261.

Depending on how long you are delayed and the distance of your flight, your airline must provide:

• Food and refreshments appropriate to the length of your delay
• Two telephone calls, emails or other forms of communication
• Hotel accommodation if your delay means you need to stay overnight
• Transport between the airport and your hotel.

These rights start after a delay of two, three or four hours, depending on the distance of your flight.

If the airline doesn’t provide the care you’re entitled to, you can pay for reasonable expenses yourself and claim the cost back from the airline. Keep your receipts as evidence of what you spent.

The airline must provide this support regardless of the reason for the delay, including when it was caused by an extraordinary circumstance.

What Happens If I Miss My Connecting Flight Due To A Delay?

As long as your flights were booked as part of the same reservation, the airline is responsible for booking you on the next available flight to your final destination, even if it is on a different airline.

If you arrive at your final destination more than three hours later than your originally scheduled flight, you may also be able to claim compensation for your missed connection.

The airline is also responsible for providing care and assistance while you wait for your replacement flight.

However, if you booked your flights separately, the airline is not responsible for putting you on a replacement flight.

Can I Claim Compensation If My Flight Is Diverted?

You may be able to claim compensation if your flight is diverted to a different airport and you arrive at your original destination more than three hours late. You may be able to claim up to £520 depending on the length of your delay and the distance of your flight.

Whether you can claim will depend on what caused the diversion. If it was the airline’s responsibility, you could be entitled to compensation. If the diversion was caused by an extraordinary circumstance, such as extreme weather or an air traffic control restriction, compensation may not be due.

What If My Flight Is Cancelled?

If your flight is cancelled, the airline must offer you a choice between a refund or an alternative flight to get you to your destination.

You may also be entitled to compensation if you were told about the cancellation less than 14 days before you were due to travel.

Whether you can claim will depend on when you were told, the replacement flight you were offered, and what caused the cancellation.

If the cancellation was the airline’s responsibility, you could claim up to £520 per passenger. However, compensation isn’t due if the airline can show that the flight was cancelled because of an extraordinary circumstance.

While you are waiting for a replacement flight, the airline must also provide care and assistance, including food and refreshments and, when necessary, hotel accommodation and transport.

Can I Claim Compensation If I’m Denied Boarding?

If you have been denied boarding your flight through no fault of your own, you may be entitled to claim compensation of up to £520.

An airline may deny passengers boarding a flight if it has been oversold, but can also do so if a passenger does not have the correct travel documents or may cause a health and safety risk.

To claim compensation, you must have checked in and arrived at the gate on time with the correct travel documents, and the airline must not have had a reasonable reason to refuse you boarding.

What Happens If My Flight Is Overbooked?

If your flight is overbooked, the airline will usually ask for volunteers willing to give up their seat in exchange for an agreed benefit, such as money, vouchers or an alternative flight.

However, if there aren’t enough volunteers, the airline may “bump” some passengers off the flight. If you have been bumped off a flight through no fault of your own, you may be able to claim up to £520.

The airline must also offer you a refund or an alternative flight to your destination and provide care and assistance while you wait.

What Should I Do When My Flight Is Delayed?

Your airline should inform you if your flight is delayed, advise you on the length of the delay, and provide care and assistance if the delay is significant.

However, if your airline isn’t communicating as expected and your delay may be eligible for compensation, we recommend gathering the following information, as it may help if you have the right to claim compensation.

• Ask an airline representative for the reason for the delay
• Collect as much evidence as possible to prove the length of the delay, such as written documentation from the airline or
• a photo of the departure board
• Keep all of your travel documents, including your boarding pass
• Keep all receipts for expenses you incur during your delay.

How Long Does It Take To Claim For Flight Delay Compensation?

How long it takes to receive flight delay compensation depends on the airline, the circumstances of your claim, and whether the airline accepts or disputes it.

We have represented passengers against airlines since 2014 and handle thousands of flight compensation claims every year. Our years of experience dealing directly with airlines and their legal teams can help us resolve claims and reach settlements quickly, with many claims settled in less than 60 days.

We also receive instructions from passengers who have given up claiming directly and would like us to take over their claim.