If your flight reaches its final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more compared to the scheduled arrival time, you are entitled to flat-rate compensation of EUR 250, 400 or 600 depending on the flight distance.

If your flight reaches its final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more compared to the scheduled arrival time, you are entitled to flat-rate compensation of EUR 250, 400 or 600 depending on the flight distance. Unless the operating air carrier proves that the delay is due to extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

Flight delayed by 3 hours or more: am I entitled to compensation?

Check your situation, step by step

Does your flight fall within EU Regulation 261/2004?

A flight departing from an EU airport, or arriving in the EU operated by an EU (Community) carrier.

NO This regulation does not apply to your flight.

YES → let's move to the next question.

Did your flight arrive 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time?

Compare the actual arrival time at your final destination to the originally scheduled time -- not the departure time.

NO Below 3 hours, the regulation does not provide for flat-rate compensation (other rights, such as care, may apply depending on the delay).

YES → let's move to the next question.

Does the airline prove the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances it could not have avoided, even with all reasonable measures?

Recognised examples: severe weather, air traffic control strikes, security risks. A technical problem alone is usually not enough.

NO → see the result below.

YES No compensation -- the airline is exempt if it provides this proof.

RIGHT TO COMPENSATION: EUR 250, 400 or 600 depending on the flight distance.

Example. Your Paris–New York flight (EU carrier) was due to land at 2:00 pm. It lands at 6:30 pm -- a 4h30 delay. This is a flight of more than 3,500 km: you may be entitled to EUR 600, unless the airline proves the delay was caused, for instance, by an unforeseen airspace closure for security reasons.

Real route examples

Route	Distance	Average flight time	Compensation if the right is established
Paris (Orly, ORY) → Nice (NCE)	≈ 680 km	≈1h25	250 €
Paris (Orly, ORY) → Madrid (MAD)	≈ 1 050 km	≈2h05	250 €
Paris (CDG) → Bucarest (OTP)	≈ 1 870 km	2h40 à 3h00	400 €
Paris (Orly, ORY) → Alger (ALG)	≈ 1 360 km	≈2h20	250 €
Paris (CDG) → New York (JFK)	≈ 5 834 km	≈8h30	600 €

Great-circle distances, rounded, for illustration only -- only the real distance of your flight determines the exact amount.

What the EU regulation says

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, which protects air passengers in the European Union, provides for flat-rate compensation of EUR 250, 400 or 600 depending on the flight distance -- but, on a literal reading of the text, only in cases of denied boarding or cancellation. Delay, as such, only gives an explicit right to care (meals, accommodation), not to compensation.

What changed with case law

The Court of Justice of the European Union filled this gap. In its Sturgeon judgment of 19 November 2009, it ruled that passengers whose flights arrive with 3 hours' delay or more must be treated like passengers of a cancelled flight: they are therefore entitled to the same flat-rate compensation. This interpretation has since been confirmed on several occasions.

What remains uncertain

The exact boundary between a 'normal' and an 'extraordinary' technical problem is not fully mapped out by this judgment.
The case of a delay that occurred before 19 November 2009 is not addressed in this article.
The exact amount depends on the real distance of your flight.

This article does not constitute personalised legal advice: it presents the state of the law as established by the texts and judgments cited below, without assessing your individual situation.

Also available in French.

Sources cited

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to air passengers — European Parliament and Council of the EU, 2004-02-11. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/261/oj?locale=en
Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), Joined Cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 (Sturgeon v Condor Flugdienst GmbH ; Böck and Lepuschitz v Air France SA) — Court of Justice of the European Communities, 2009-11-19. https://infocuria.curia.europa.eu/

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