How to claim compensation for cancelled flights in the UK

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Knowing your rights as an air passenger can be incredibly valuable if you’re unlucky enough to experience flight disruption while travelling.

In the past, I’ve successfully claimed compensation on multiple occasions after my flight was cancelled.

The legislation that protects air passenger rights is fairly robust in the UK, but understanding them can be tricky as there are often exceptions.

With that in mind, here’s how and when you can claim compensation for cancelled flights in the UK.

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When UK laws apply

Many countries don’t have legislation around air passenger rights but fortunately the UK is one of the exceptions – and it offers travellers pretty robust protection.

The laws were first introduced in the UK under EU Regulation 261/2004, so they work in pretty much the same way.

After Brexit, they were adopted into UK law, which means compensation is paid in pounds rather than euros.

For cancelled flights, the UK legislation applies if your flight is operated by:

an airline departing from an airport in the UK
an EU or UK airline arriving at an airport in the UK
a UK airline arriving at an airport in the EU

The rest of this post is based on flights covered under UK laws.

Your options after a cancelled flight

No matter when your flight gets cancelled, the airline must offer you two options.

Your first option is to cancel your trip entirely and get a full refund, which includes any return flights on the same reservation.

If you’ve already completed part of a journey that involves connecting flights, the airline must also get you back to where you started if you no longer want to reach your final destination.

Bear in mind that if you’re mid-journey and pick this option, the airline’s duty of care immediately ends (more below).

Obviously this assumes both flight segments were part of a single booking rather than separate bookings.

Your second option is a replacement flight, either on the next available service or at a later date.

You can ask to fly with a different airline if they’ll get you there faster, though you’ll need to negotiate this directly with your original carrier.

Airlines’ duty of care

Airlines have duty of care obligations when they cancel your flight and you’re already travelling.

That duty of care includes supplying you with the following:

meals and refreshments (but not alcohol)
a means for you to communicate, such as phone or data credits
overnight accommodation, if needed, and transport to and from that accommodation

Sometimes you’ll need to cover the costs yourself and get them reimbursed later.

It’s why you should always keep receipts and make sure your expenditure is reasonable.

Airlines are pretty vague about what counts as reasonable but somewhere between £25 to £50 per 12-hour period for food and drinks is sensible.

This is also what travel insurance companies are generally willing to pay out.

Hotel costs are trickier, but targeting mid-range options near the airport is usually a safe bet.

When you can get compensation

Compensation isn’t a given if your flight gets cancelled. It all depends on when and why it was cancelled.

Flights cancelled more than 14 days before travel don’t qualify for any compensation, regardless of the reason.

Cancellations within 14 days of travel might qualify, but only if the cause was within the airline’s control – like staffing shortages or aircraft availability.

No compensation is due if the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances, like extreme weather, airport or air traffic control strikes, or political instability.

How much compensation can you get?

If you qualify for compensation, how much you get depends on when the flight was cancelled, when you departed and how long you’re delayed, and where you’re travelling to.

Flights cancelled seven to 14 days before departure

For short haul flights (less than 1,500km), you’ll get:

£110 if your replacement flight leaves two or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination less than two hours late.
£220 if your replacement flight leaves two or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination more than two hours late.
£220 if your replacement flight gets you to your final destination more than four hours late.

For medium haul flights (between 1,500km and 3,500km), you’ll get:

£175 if your replacement flight leaves two or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination less than three hours late.
£350 if your replacement flight leaves two or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination more than three hours late.
£350 if your replacement flight gets you to your final destination more than four hours late.

For long haul flights (over 3,500km), you’ll get:

£260 if your replacement flight leaves two or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination less than four hours late.
£520 if your replacement flight gets you to your final destination more than four hours late.

No compensation is due if your replacement flight leaves less than two hours earlier than your original flight and gets you to your final destination less than two hours later.

Flights cancelled less than seven days before departure

For short haul flights, you’ll get:

£110 if your replacement flight leaves one or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination less than two hours late.
£220 if your replacement flight gets you to your final destination more than two hours late.

For medium haul flights, you’ll get:

£175 if your replacement flight leaves one or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination less than three hours late.
£350 if your replacement flight gets you to your final destination more than three hours late.

For long haul flights, assumed to be distances over 3,500km, you’ll get:

£260 if your replacement flight leaves one or more hours earlier than your original flight, and gets you to your final destination less than four hours late.
£520 if your replacement flight gets you to your final destination more than four hours late.

No compensation is due if your replacement flight departs less than an hour before your original departure time and arrives less than two hours after your original scheduled arrival time.

My three cancelled flights

As a full-time travel writer, I fly all the time and probably encounter more cancelled flights than most.

In 2024, British Airways cancelled three different flights I had booked, citing operational reasons each time.

They make perfect case studies for how the law around air passenger rights works in practice.

Glasgow to London – no compensation

The first cancellation was a Glasgow to London Heathrow flight, which was cancelled the day before departure.

BA automatically rebooked me onto a flight from Edinburgh for the following day.

The problem was, I had a rental car on the same booking that needed to be returned to Glasgow.

Luckily I could easily select a different flight on their website.

My replacement flight was only 15 minutes later than the original one, but it went to London City Airport instead of Heathrow.

This journey didn’t qualify for compensation since my replacement flight got me to London at practically the same time, just to a different airport.

Because I chose a different London airport, BA wouldn’t have covered additional costs like my taxi home.

Had I chosen the following day’s Heathrow flight – plenty were available from Glasgow – I would have qualified for overnight accommodation, meals, and compensation.

Since I had work commitments, this wasn’t possible.

London to Paris – £220 compensation

My second cancellation was a flight from London Heathrow to Paris Charles De Gaulle. The notification came the evening before travel.

This time BA’s automated system booked me on a flight that was over three hours later than my original departure.

They also bumped me down from business class without any explanation or compensation.

I had to phone BA about this change but was able to secure a later flight in business class.

The lesson here is to never accept the first alternative without exploring whether better options exist.

In this instance, my replacement arrived over three hours later than my original flight, entitling me to the full £220 compensation.

BA accepted my claim and paid the compensation promptly.

London to Malta

The third cancellation was a flight from London Gatwick to Malta Luqa International. I was told about the cancellation three weeks before travel.

This booking was part of a package holiday deal that included accommodation.

Since there was only one flight a day, I had to call BA to shift the entire holiday forward and reorganise our hire car and airport parking, which were booked separately.

As the cancellation was made with more than two weeks’ notice, no compensation was due.

Both the airport parking and car hire I had booked could be rescheduled without additional fees, which made the whole experience quite a bit less painful.

Had there been additional fees to reschedule my other bookings, I would have needed to check whether my travel insurance would cover these additional costs.

Most likely, with excess fees, I would have been left out of pocket.

How to claim compensation for cancelled flights

You’ll need supporting evidence to make a claim.

That means keeping things like boarding passes to prove you travelled, and documentation showing the reason for the cancellation.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority keeps a list of cancelled flights where compensation might be due.

You’ll need to submit your claim through the airline’s website or by contacting the airline using its dedicated email.

Remember, your claim is with the airline you travelled with and not the airline you booked your flight with – and this is especially important for codeshare flights.

Then it’s just a waiting game.

Where to make your claim for compensation

You need to submit your claim for compensation directly with the airline you travelled with.

Here are the links to the main UK airlines’ compensation pages: