Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
GUIDE
How to claim your UK261 air passenger rights
UK passenger rights for delayed and cancelled flights are the subject of consumer guidance published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The CAA states that, as a consumer, you have important legal rights when the flight you are booked on is delayed or cancelled. [2] The checked page does not publish compensation amounts, delay steps or the list of covered flights, so those points are not stated here. [2]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- The UK Civil Aviation Authority's page on flight delays and cancellations states: "As a consumer you have important legal rights when the flight you are booked on is delayed or cancelled." [2]
- The same page has a section headed "Travel problems and rights" that lists your rights, delays, cancellations, luggage problems, travel disruptions and airline complaints as topics. [2] It does not state that the legal-rights sentence covers luggage problems or airline complaints. [2]
- The checked page does not publish pound-denominated compensation bands, the delay thresholds at which a payment starts, the flights and carriers covered, or the date the UK rules took effect; this page marks each of those as not published rather than filling them in. [2]
What the checked guidance covers
This page is limited to the United Kingdom. It describes only what the UK Civil Aviation Authority's passenger guidance on flight delays and cancellations says, and it treats every point that guidance leaves open as open. [2]
The guidance contains a short statement of position: a consumer has important legal rights when the flight they are booked on is delayed or cancelled. [2] The page sits in the authority's Air passengers section, which lists trip planning, assisted travel, health guidance, your rights, delays and cancellations. [2] Beyond that statement, the checked page lists topic links rather than setting out detailed rules. [2]
Amounts, thresholds and dates
Compensation. The checked guidance does not state how much compensation is payable for a delayed or cancelled flight, in pounds or in any other currency, and it does not describe bands that vary with distance or route. [2] No figure appears in the source and none is given here. [2]
Delay steps. The checked guidance does not say how long a delay must last before any right arises, whether that length differs for short and long flights, or how much notice of a cancellation an airline must give for the cancellation to be treated as properly handled. [2]
Care, rerouting and refunds. Nothing in the checked page sets out what an airline owes a passenger during a disruption — meals, refreshments, accommodation, transport or communications — and nothing describes a right to be rerouted on another flight or to have the fare returned. [2]
Flights, carriers and enforcement. The source names no airline, no airport and no route, and it does not say which body enforces the rules against which carriers. [2] It also gives no start date for the UK rules and no cut-off for flights handled under earlier arrangements, so this page makes no statement about the timetable of any change or about historic flights. [2]
Where the regulator sends readers
The checked page works as an index. The CAA's statement of important legal rights is specific to delayed or cancelled flights: "As a consumer you have important legal rights when the flight you are booked on is delayed or cancelled." [2] Separately, under the heading "Travel problems and rights", the same page lists your rights, delays, cancellations, luggage problems, travel disruptions and airline complaints as travel-problem topics. [2] The page does not state that the legal-rights statement extends to luggage problems, travel disruptions or airline complaints. [2] The Air passengers section also lists ATOL protection for holidays and assisted travel for passengers who need accessibility help. [2]
The checked page does not provide the detailed rules needed to assess a specific flight. [2] Anyone assessing a specific flight has to go past this page. [2]
Limits and exceptions
- Luggage problems and airline complaints are among the listed travel-problem topics, but the checked page does not describe rules for them or link them to the delay/cancellation legal-rights statement. [2]
Sources
Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. Coverage is the United Kingdom only: the EU scheme is not covered here, no other country's rules are covered, no airline's conditions of carriage are covered, and no frequent flyer or hotel programme is covered.
- UK Civil Aviation Authority, Flight delays and cancellations, checked 18 October 2026