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Claim compensation for a delayed or cancelled flight, or denied boarding (UK)
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales · in English · for consumers
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17 questions · about 7 min
Made for use in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
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For a passenger whose flight arrived three hours or more late, was cancelled at short notice, or who was denied boarding, on a flight covered by UK261 (Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law): every flight from a UK airport, and flights to the UK on a UK airline or, from outside the EU, on an EU airline. The letter claims the fixed compensation in pounds — £220, £350 or £520 per passenger, by distance — from the airline that operated the flight, unless extraordinary circumstances caused the problem. Send it by email or the airline's claim form, and by first class post.
- Made for use in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- Last updated October 28, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- Your flight from a UK airport landed hours late and you want the compensation.
- The airline cancelled your flight at the last minute and refuses to pay.
- You were bumped off an overbooked flight in the UK although you checked in on time.
- The airline blames extraordinary circumstances for the delay and you do not accept it.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Town or city
- Sender's postcode
- Date
- Airline
- Airline's postal address (customer service)
- Booking reference
- Flight number
- Date of the flight
- Departure airport
- Destination airport
- Names of all passengers claiming
- What happened to the flight
- How late the flight arrived (leave empty if it was not delayed)
- Compensation per passenger, by flight distance
- Bank account
Common questions
- How much flight delay compensation can I claim under UK261?
- Per passenger: £220 for flights of 1,500 km or less, £350 for 1,500 to 3,500 km, and £520 for longer flights, with £260 where a long flight arrives three to four hours late. After a cancellation, an alternative flight arriving close to the original time can halve the sum or mean none is owed. Nothing is due for extraordinary circumstances such as bad weather or air traffic control restrictions.
- Is there a free way to claim, and where do I go if the airline says no?
- Yes: the airline's own claim form is free, and so is the CAA's guidance. If the airline refuses or has not answered after eight weeks, use the ADR body it belongs to, or the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team if it belongs to none. Claims firms keep a share of the compensation; this letter lets you claim it yourself.
- How old can a flight be for a UK261 claim in the UK?
- In England and Wales, up to six years after the flight: the limitation period the Court of Appeal applied to these claims in Dawson v Thomson Airways in 2014. In Northern Ireland the period is also six years (Article 4 of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989). In Scotland a claim prescribes five years after the flight (Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973). Airlines and ADR bodies may ask for the booking, the boarding passes and any messages about the disruption, so keep them.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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