If your flight arrived 3+ hours late, was cancelled at short notice, or you were bumped from an overbooked flight, the airline itself may owe you a fixed cash payment — separate from any refund or rebooking.
Flight delay compensation is a fixed cash payment from the airline — not your travel insurer — owed when a flight arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled with short notice, or a passenger is denied boarding due to overbooking. In Europe and the UK, this is governed by two closely related regulations: EU261 (EU Regulation 261/2004) and UK261 (its UK equivalent, retained after Brexit). Unlike a refund, which just returns you to where you started, compensation is meant to penalize the airline for the disruption itself — and the amount is fixed by distance, not by what you paid for your ticket.
Broadly, you're likely eligible if all of the following are true:
Not sure where your specific flight lands on these? Our free 2-minute checker takes your airports and airline and works this out for you automatically.
Both EU261 and UK261 use the same three-tier structure, based on flight distance:
| Flight distance | EU261 (EU/EEA) | UK261 (UK) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 | £220* |
| 1,500–3,500 km | €400 | £350* |
| Over 3,500 km | €600 | £520* |
*UK261 amounts shown are indicative — always confirm current figures before relying on them. Amounts can be reduced by 50% if you were rerouted and still arrived only a couple of hours later than originally scheduled. Read more on how the tiers and reductions actually work.
Which regulation applies depends on where your flight departed from, where it landed, and which country the airline is based in — not on your own nationality or where you booked the ticket. Many routes (for example, most flights between the UK and the EU) can technically fall under both, in which case whichever gives the stronger claim generally applies. Our EU261 vs UK261 guide covers what's actually changed since Brexit, and our checker works out which regime applies to your specific route automatically.
Airlines can avoid paying if they can show the disruption was caused by "extraordinary circumstances" genuinely outside their control — severe weather that actually grounds flights, air traffic control restrictions, security threats, or similar. What trips airlines up is that this exception is narrower than they often suggest: routine technical or mechanical faults, crew shortages, and rostering problems are generally not extraordinary circumstances, even though rejection letters frequently cite them. Our full breakdown of what counts (and what doesn't) covers the case law behind this in plain English.
WingRefund handles all three steps for you on a no-win-no-fee basis — you only pay a commission if the claim actually succeeds, and every claim is reviewed by a human before it's submitted or escalated.
All airlines operating flights covered by EU261 or UK261 are legally required to pay when a claim qualifies — this isn't optional or airline-specific goodwill. See our airline compensation pages for the general rules as they apply to specific major carriers.
Under EU261, it's €250 for flights up to 1,500km, €400 for 1,500–3,500km, and €600 for over 3,500km. Under UK261, the equivalent figures are roughly £220, £350, and £520. The amount is fixed by distance and doesn't depend on what you paid for your ticket.
Generally your flight needs to arrive 3 or more hours later than scheduled. Shorter delays usually aren't compensated under EU261/UK261, though you may still be owed meals, refreshments, or a hotel under separate duty-of-care rules.
Not usually — genuine severe weather is typically treated as an "extraordinary circumstance" that exempts the airline from paying. But airlines sometimes stretch this excuse, and it's worth having the specific reason checked rather than accepting a rejection at face value.
No. A refund or rebooking just returns you to where you'd have been anyway. Compensation is a separate, fixed payment on top of that, intended to penalize the airline for the disruption — you can be entitled to both at once.
It varies by country — claim windows for EU261/UK261 claims can range from about 2 to 6 years depending on jurisdiction, so a delay from a while ago may still be worth checking rather than assuming it's too late.
Free to check, 2 minutes, no documents needed. You only pay if we win your case.