Flight Refund - Claim Refunds For Flight Delays, Flight Cancellations And Missed Flights

If your flight has been cancelled or delayed more than 5 hours, you may be able to claim a refund for your ticket and, in some cases, also up to £520 in flight compensation.

When Can I Claim For A Flight Refund?

Under EU Reg 261, you have a legal right to request a refund on your flight under the following circumstances.

• A full refund if your flight was delayed more than 5 hours
• A full refund if your flight was cancelled more than 14 days before departure
• A full refund if your flight was cancelled and you do not wish to fly on the alternative flight the airline offers you
• A full refund if you were involuntarily denied boarding and you do not wish to take the alternative flight the airline offers you
• A full refund if you missed your connection and you do not wish to take the alternative flight the airline offers you.

When Can I Claim For A Flight Refund And Flight Compensation?

You may be able to claim a full refund for your ticket and compensation if your flight was cancelled less than 14 days before the departure date and the airline could not provide you with an alternative flight that arrived within 2 hours of the originally scheduled arrival time.

Can I Claim A Flight Refund From UK Airlines Under EU Regulation 261?

As part of their legal requirements under EUReg 261 and the accompanying UK equivalent, UK based airlines are legally bound to provide refunds for delays or cancellations that are not classed as an extraordinary circumstance.

Refunds must be paid by electronic transfer, bank orders or cheques within seven days.

You do not have to accept if the airline offers vouchers instead of a financial refund. Usually, once you accept the vouchers, you forfeit your right to get a monetary refund or any compensation that may be due.

What Flights Are Eligible For Refunds And Compensation?

EU Regulation 261 and its UK equivalent, UK261, protects airline passengers for flights within the EU and UK. You will be legally able to request a refund if:

• Your scheduled flight departed from a UK or EU airport on any airline
• Your scheduled flight was on a UK or EU airline and arrived at a UK or EU airport

Flight Delay Refunds

How To Get A Refund For A Flight Delay

EU Regulation 261 classifies a flight delay of five hours or more the same as a cancellation. So, if your flight is delayed by more than five hours, you have the right to get a full refund on the price of your ticket.

Additionally, if your original flight is cancelled and your replacement flight is delayed, you will be able to receive both a refund for the original flight and compensation for the delay on the replacement flight.

The compensation amounts for flight delays are fixed and unrelated to the ticket cost or the class of the fare you booked.

How much you can claim will depend on how many hours your flight was delayed and the flight distance.

Cancelled Flight Refunds

When Can I Get A Refund For A Cancelled Flight?

If your flight is cancelled, you are able to claim for a refund if your flight is eligible under EU Reg261. You will be able to claim a refund if:

• The airline cancels your flight less than 14 days before departure, and the replacement flight offered delays your arrival by 2 hours or more
• The airline cancelled your flight less than 14 days prior to departure, and the alternative flight offered does not suit your travel arrangements.

When Can I Get A Refund For A Missed Flight?

You can claim a refund if you missed a connecting flight and the alternative flight offered to you no longer suits your travel requirements.

Usually, you are legally entitled to be refunded for the value of the unused part of your itinerary. However, in some cases, you may be able to claim the total value of your ticket if the airline cannot offer you an alternative flight or offers you an alternative flight that no longer serves your original travel plans.

You may also be entitled to ask the airline to provide you with a ticket to your first point of departure.

When Isn’t The Airline Responsible For A Refund?

The airline would not be liable to provide a refund if an extraordinary circumstance caused the cancellation or delay.

An extraordinary circumstance is when the reason for the delay is considered out of the airline’s control.

Examples of extraordinary circumstances include:

• Extreme and unexpected weather conditions
• Strikes and industrial action, including strikes unrelated to the airline, such as air traffic control strikes, baggage handler strikes, or border force strikes
• Air traffic control decisions affecting flight scheduling
• Hidden manufacturing defects or technical issues with the plane
• Bird strikes, flying into and damaging the engine
• A passenger or member of airline staff taken ill on the flight, including a medical emergency on board
• An unruly passenger on the flight
• Acts of terrorism or civil unrest
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel bans
• Security risks
• Disease outbreaks
• Disruptions to airspace, including drones.
• Unexpected IT outages that are beyond the responsibility of the airline

Situations when you would be able to claim flight compensation that are not classed as an extraordinary circumstance include:

Examples that are not extraordinary circumstances include:

• Insufficient airline staff, pilots, cabin crew, check-in staff, or ground staff
• Airline staff sickness, including pilots and cabin crew
• Airline staff strikes
• Known technical issues or defects with the aircraft
• Technical problems with in-person or online check-in, boarding the flight
• Flight overbooking or involuntarily denied passenger boarding
• Expected bad weather
• Lightening strikes
• Bad weather affecting a previous flight causes your flight to be delayed.

Meet Our Solicitors

Coby Benson

A member of The Law Society and a SRA Registered Solicitor, Coby has been instrumental in establishing flight delay compensation law in the UK, including playing a significant part in the landmark cases of Huzar v Jet2 and Dawson v Thomson at The Supreme Court.

Coby is regularly asked for comment in the national media, regularly featuring in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and The Independent as well as appearing on BBC Television, Sky News, ITV and BBC Radio 4 and Radio Five Live.

More About Coby