What to do if your KLM flight was delayed, cancelled, or you were denied boarding — which regulation applies, how much you could be owed, and how to claim.
KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) is registered in the Netherlands, an EU/EEA member state, so EU261 applies to KLM flights departing an EU/EEA airport — as it does for any airline — and, because KLM is itself an EU/EEA-based carrier, also to KLM flights arriving at an EU/EEA airport from outside the EU/EEA. UK261 applies on the same basis to KLM flights departing the UK, and it also covers KLM flights arriving into the UK, since EU/EEA carriers qualify under UK261's own arrival-side rule. KLM operates both a short-haul European network and a long-haul intercontinental network (as part of the Air France-KLM Group), so the compensation tier that applies to your flight depends on the distance of the specific route.
Where either regulation applies, compensation is fixed by flight distance, regardless of what you paid for the ticket:
| Flight distance | EU261 | UK261 |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 | £220* |
| 1,500–3,500 km | €400 | £350* |
| Over 3,500 km | €600 | £520* |
*UK261 amounts are indicative — confirm current figures with the CAA before relying on them. Either amount can be reduced by 50% if you were rerouted and still arrived within 2–4 hours of your original arrival time (the exact window depends on distance). Compensation is generally due for a delay of 3+ hours on arrival, a cancellation announced less than 14 days before departure, or denied boarding — unless the airline can show genuine extraordinary circumstances.
You can submit a claim directly and for free through KLM’s own online compensation or customer-relations form, describing your flight and what happened. That works fine for straightforward cases the airline accepts without dispute. If KLM rejects the claim, cites extraordinary circumstances you think don’t hold up, or simply doesn’t respond, WingRefund can review the case, challenge the stated reason against how it’s actually been treated in EU/UK case law, and escalate to the relevant national enforcement body or court on a no-win-no-fee basis — you only pay an agreed percentage of the compensation, and only if the claim succeeds.
Check your compensation estimate in about 2 minutes — free, no obligation — or start your claim now and let WingRefund deal with KLM directly.
It depends on where the flight departed and, in some cases, on the nationality of the operating carrier. As a general rule, any flight departing an EU/EEA airport is covered by EU261 and any flight departing a UK airport is covered by UK261, regardless of the airline. Whether the arrival-side rule also applies to a specific KLM flight depends on the operating carrier's registration — see the section above for how that applies to KLM.
Under EU261, it's €250 for flights up to 1,500km, €400 for 1,500–3,500km, and €600 for flights over 3,500km, generally for a delay of 3+ hours on arrival, a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice, or denied boarding. UK261 uses the same distance bands, paid in pounds sterling (confirm current CAA-published figures before relying on an exact amount).
An airline can only refuse compensation for genuine “extraordinary circumstances” — things like severe weather, security threats, or third-party strikes. Technical or mechanical faults, and an airline's own crew or staffing issues, generally do not meet that bar under established case law, even though airlines (not specifically KLM) sometimes cite them anyway. If KLM rejects your claim on that basis, it's worth having the reason checked rather than accepted at face value.