Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
GUIDE
Who pays when a flight is disrupted: airline vs insurer?
Who pays when a flight is disrupted is settled by a legal split rather than by an airline's goodwill: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the EU rule on compensation and assistance to passengers, obliges the operating airline to provide care, re-routing or reimbursement — and, in defined cases, fixed compensation — on flights within its scope. [1] The UK Civil Aviation Authority tells passengers that they have important legal rights when the flight they are booked on is delayed or cancelled. [2]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- The operating airline's share is set by distance and by the length of the expected delay: care from two, three or four hours depending on the route, and the reimbursement option once a delay reaches five hours. [1]
- Care means meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation where a night becomes necessary, transport between the airport and the hotel, and two free communications. [1]
- Fixed compensation of EUR 250, 400 or 600 is owed for cancellation and denied boarding, not as a general payment for delay. [1]
- Money paid under the regulation may be deducted from further compensation you obtain, so the same cost is not meant to be recovered twice. [1]
What must an airline provide when a flight is delayed?
Assistance starts when the operating airline reasonably expects the flight to depart late by the margin set for that route. [1]
| Expected delay | Flights covered |
|---|---|
| 2 hours or more | Flights of 1,500 km or less |
| 3 hours or more | Intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 km, and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km |
| 4 hours or more | All other flights |
Within those margins the airline must offer the refreshments, meals and communications listed under care, and the offer must come within the time limit for the distance bracket. [1] If the expected departure is at least the day after the time previously announced, hotel accommodation and transport to it are added. [1] Once the delay reaches five hours, the airline must also offer the reimbursement option set out for cancelled flights. [1]
The delay article refers to the assistance articles and not to the fixed compensation scale, which is triggered by denied boarding and cancellation. [1]
What must an airline provide when a flight is cancelled?
A passenger whose flight is cancelled is offered a choice of three things: reimbursement within seven days of the full cost of the ticket at the price it was bought, for the parts of the journey not made — and for parts already made where the flight no longer serves any purpose in relation to the original travel plan — together with a return flight to the first point of departure at the earliest opportunity where relevant; re-routing to the final destination under comparable transport conditions at the earliest opportunity; or re-routing at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to seats. [1] Care is offered as well, and hotel accommodation and transport are added where re-routing departs at least the day after the originally planned departure. [1]
Fixed compensation is owed unless the airline can show it gave notice inside one of three windows: two weeks or more before the scheduled departure; between two weeks and seven days before, with re-routing departing no more than two hours early and arriving less than four hours late; or less than seven days before, with re-routing departing no more than one hour early and arriving less than two hours late. [1] On the question of whether and when notice was given, the burden of proof rests with the operating airline. [1]
| Amount | Flights covered |
|---|---|
| EUR 250 | Flights of 1,500 km or less |
| EUR 400 | Intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 km, and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km |
| EUR 600 | All other flights |
Payment is made in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank order or cheque, or in vouchers and other services only with the passenger's signed agreement, and distances are measured by the great circle route. [1] The amount can be halved where re-routing lands within the arrival margins set for each bracket. [1]
Who pays for meals, hotels and airport transfers?
Care is offered free of charge: meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time, hotel accommodation where a stay of one or more nights or a stay additional to the one intended becomes necessary, transport between the airport and the place of accommodation, and two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or emails. [1] When a town, city or region is served by several airports and the airline sends a passenger to a different airport from the one booked, the airline bears the cost of transferring the passenger to the booked airport or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger. [1] Particular attention is due to passengers with reduced mobility and anyone accompanying them, and to unaccompanied children, who also get priority in being carried. [1]
How do you avoid claiming the same cost twice?
Because the care items are supplied free of charge, a meal, hotel night, transfer or call that the airline has already provided is not an out-of-pocket loss. [1] The regulation keeps a passenger's rights to further compensation intact, but states that compensation granted under the regulation may be deducted from that further compensation. [1] In practice that means listing each cost once, noting whether the airline met it in cash or in kind, and claiming only the remainder elsewhere. [1]
The obligations cannot be limited or waived, notably by a derogation or restrictive clause in the contract of carriage, and a passenger who was not correctly informed of their rights and accepted less than the regulation provides can still pursue the difference before the competent courts or bodies. [1] Where the airline has paid, it may itself seek compensation from third parties under applicable law. [1]
Exceptions and limits
- Extraordinary circumstances. An airline is not obliged to pay fixed compensation if it can prove the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. [1] The examples given are political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings, and strikes that affect the operation of the carrier; an air traffic management decision about a particular aircraft on a particular day can also qualify. [1]
- Care can be curtailed. Care may be limited or declined where providing it would itself cause a further delay. [1]
- Who is covered. Passengers need a confirmed reservation and must present themselves for check-in as instructed in writing, or, where no time is indicated, no later than 45 minutes before the published departure time. [1] People travelling free of charge or at a reduced fare that is not available directly or indirectly to the public are outside the regulation, but tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or other commercial programme are inside it. [1] It applies only to transport by motorised fixed-wing aircraft, and not where a package tour is cancelled for reasons other than the cancellation of the flight. [1]
- Market scope. The specific rules described here are those of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004; the UK Civil Aviation Authority directs passengers to their rights when a booked flight is delayed or cancelled. [1] [2] Flights within the United States, Canada and other markets sit under their own regimes and are outside this page.
Frequently asked questions
Does a delay always mean cash compensation?
No. The delay provisions of the regulation set care, the hotel and transport additions where a night becomes necessary, and the reimbursement option at five hours; the fixed compensation scale is invoked for denied boarding and cancellation. [1]
Do award tickets count?
Yes. Tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or another commercial programme are covered, even though free or reduced fares unavailable to the public are not. [1]
How long does a refund take after a cancellation?
Reimbursement of the ticket is due within seven days, paid in cash, by bank transfer, bank order or cheque, or in vouchers only with the passenger's signed agreement. [1]
Can the airline refuse because of bad weather?
Meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight are listed among the extraordinary circumstances that remove the obligation to pay fixed compensation for a cancellation, where the airline can prove the circumstances could not have been avoided. [1]
Can I refuse the voucher and insist on cash?
Vouchers and other services are an option only with the passenger's signed agreement; otherwise payment is in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank order or cheque. [1]
Sources
Sources checked on 18 October 2026. Individual travel insurance policies and card benefits are not covered here, and neither are the passenger rights regimes of the United States, Canada or any market outside the scope of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004.
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 on compensation and assistance to passengers, EUR-Lex, checked 18 October 2026
- UK Civil Aviation Authority, flight delays and cancellations, checked 18 October 2026