Guide · Cancelled flights

Flight cancelled.
What are you owed?

A cancelled flight can put fixed compensation in your pocket: set amounts written into law, not goodwill vouchers. Whether you're owed depends on notice, route and cause, all checkable.

1.Two separate rights, stacking

First: a refund or rerouting, your choice, always. Second, and separately: fixed compensation, unless they warned you at least 14 days before departure or the cause was genuinely extraordinary:

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (UK261 flight compensation, retained) · art.5 · Cancellation

", as well as, in event of re-routing when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c);"…

In plain English: If your flight is cancelled, the airline must offer you assistance and potentially compensation. You are entitled to compensation unless you were given sufficient notice of the cancellation or re-routing options that minimise the delay.

§ Read the full text on legislation.gov.uk →

2.The amounts, set by law

The band depends on flight distance, which is arithmetic, not opinion: our checker computes it from the route.

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (UK261 flight compensation, retained) · art.7 · Right to compensation

"Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to— (a)£220 for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less; (b)£350 for all flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres; (c)£520 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b).In determining the distance,"…

In plain English: If your flight is cancelled, significantly delayed, or you are denied boarding, you may be entitled to financial compensation from the airline. The amount you receive depends on the flight distance and how late you arrive at your final destination.

§ Read the full text on legislation.gov.uk →

3."Extraordinary circumstances" is narrower than airlines pretend

Genuine storms and air-traffic shutdowns qualify. The airline's own crew shortages, most technical faults, and their own strike generally don't. The airline saying the words is not the same as the law agreeing.

4.What to do

Keep the cancellation notice and note when you received it: the 14-day question decides a lot.
Claim in writing to the airline, naming UK261 and the amount for your route.
Fobbed off with vouchers? You're entitled to money, not credit.
Refused with a vague 'extraordinary' excuse? Ask them to specify the exact circumstance in writing. It often dissolves.

Want to know where you stand?

Tell us what happened in your own words. We check it against the law above, free, and give you a straight answer either way. If the law is on your side, your formal letter, citing the exact provisions, is £2.99.

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