EU Delayed Flight Compensation Amount Rules — Distance & Delay Breakdown

Under EU Regulation 261/2004 the payout is €250 for flights up to 1,500 km, €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and €600 for flights over 3,500 km. That is the entire scale. The EU delayed flight compensation amount is fixed by distance, not by what your ticket cost.

So the sum you are owed has nothing to do with the fare on your booking confirmation. A €39 fare and a €900 fare on the same delayed route produce the same EU delayed flight compensation amount. What the regulation cares about is how far you were travelling, how late you actually arrived, and whether the airline put you on a replacement flight that got you there almost on time.

Key Takeaways

• Three fixed tiers set the EU delayed flight compensation amount: €250, €400 and €600. Ticket price is irrelevant.
• Distance is measured as a great-circle line between your departure airport and your final destination, not the path the aircraft actually flew.
• A 50% reduction applies when the airline reroutes you and the replacement flight lands inside the time windows written into the regulation.
• Every passenger holding a paid seat counts, children included, while infants travelling on a lap ticket usually do not.

EU Delayed Flight Compensation Amount by Distance Band

There is no sliding scale and no partial credit. The EU delayed flight compensation amount sits in one of three bands:

• Up to 1,500 km: €250
• 1,500 km to 3,500 km: €400
• Over 3,500 km: €600

One detail trips people up constantly. Intra-EU flights longer than 1,500 km sit in the €400 band regardless of how long they are, so a 4,200 km hop inside the EU pays €400 rather than €600. The top EU delayed flight compensation amount is reserved for long-haul flights leaving the bloc. Get that wrong and the airline can reject your claim on a technicality.

The same three bands govern more than delays. They set the flight cancelled compensation you can claim when the airline scraps the flight with less than 14 days' notice. They also set involuntary denied boarding compensation when you are bumped off an oversold aircraft against your will. One distance table, three triggers.

How the Delayed Flight Compensation Amount Is Calculated

Work through it in order. Skipping a step is how passengers claim the wrong EU delayed flight compensation amount and get nothing.

1. Check the arrival delay, not the departure delay. The clock stops when the aircraft doors open at your final destination. You need three hours or more. A flight that pushes back four hours late but makes up time in the air and lands two hours 55 minutes down pays nothing.
2. Measure the distance. Great-circle line, departure airport to final destination.
3. Read off the band. €250, €400 or €600.
4. Check for the 50% reduction. Only relevant if you were rerouted.
5. Multiply by paying passengers. Each seat on the booking earns the full sum.

That last point matters more than people expect. A family of four on a 4,000 km flight from the EU to a non-EU destination is looking at €2,400, not €600 split four ways. The compensation amount for delayed flight claims is per passenger, always.

Connecting itineraries follow the same logic as long as they were booked as one reservation. If you miss a connection because leg one ran late and you reach your final destination more than three hours behind schedule, the distance is measured end to end. A short feeder flight into a long-haul connection can therefore land you in the €600 band. Our guide to the delayed flight compensation amount walks through the connection rules in more detail.

Calculate Your Exact EU Flight Delay Compensation Amount

Worked Examples on Generic Routes

Three cases, using round distances rather than named carriers.

Case one. A 900 km flight between two EU capitals arrives three hours 20 minutes late because of a crew shortage. Distance puts it in the bottom band, so the amount of compensation for delayed flight passengers here is €250 each. Crew rostering is within the airline's control, so an extraordinary circumstances defence fails.

Case two. A 2,800 km flight from an EU airport to North Africa lands five hours late. Middle band, so the EU delayed flight compensation amount is €400 per passenger. Two adults and one child with a paid seat means €1,200. The lap infant adds nothing.

Case three. An 8,000 km long-haul departure from the EU arrives four hours 10 minutes late. Top band, €600 each. Had the airline rerouted these passengers onto a flight arriving three hours 30 minutes late, the sum would have dropped to €300.

When the Amount of Compensation for a Delayed Flight Is Halved

Halving the EU delayed flight compensation amount is the airline's main tool for cutting its bill, and the regulation permits it when applied correctly. It only bites when you were offered re-routing and the replacement flight arrived within a set window of the original schedule:

• Under 1,500 km: replacement arrives less than 2 hours late, pay €125
• 1,500 to 3,500 km (and intra-EU over 1,500 km): less than 3 hours late, pay €200
• Over 3,500 km: less than 4 hours late, pay €300

Note what this does not cover. If your original flight was simply late and you stayed on it, there is no re-routing, so the amount of compensation for delayed flight passengers stays at the full band figure. The reduction applies to the alternative flight the airline put you on, so keep the boarding pass for the replacement leg. It is the document that settles the argument.

What Never Changes the Amount

Fare class does not change the EU delayed flight compensation amount. Business and economy passengers on the same aircraft receive the same figure. Loyalty points bookings count too, provided the ticket was not free to the general public. Whether the airline handed you a meal voucher makes no difference either.

Right to care sits alongside the money rather than replacing it. Once you have waited two hours on a short flight, three on a medium one or four on a long-haul, the airline owes you meals, refreshments and communication, plus a hotel if you are stuck overnight. Accepting a sandwich does not waive your claim, and any airline suggesting otherwise is overreaching.

Claiming It Yourself or Using a Firm

You can absolutely file the claim yourself. Write to the airline, state the flight, the arrival delay and the compensation amount for delayed flight passengers in that band, then be prepared to chase. Plenty of straightforward cases settle that way.

The problem is the contested ones. Airlines lean on the extraordinary circumstances defence heavily, and disproving a vague technical fault claim means knowing what the courts have already rejected. That is where a delayed flight compensation no win no fee arrangement earns its keep, because the fee only applies if money actually lands. A specialist flight delay compensation company already holds the case law and the airline contacts.

Either route works. Choose self-service if the airline has accepted liability, and choose delayed flight compensation no win no fee support if you have already had one rejection letter. What you should not do is let the claim sit. National limitation periods vary and some are shorter than passengers assume, and an expired claim is worth nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the flight compensation distance calculated?

By the great-circle distance between your departure airport and your final destination, measured as a straight line over the earth's surface. The EU delayed flight compensation amount therefore ignores the actual route flown, any diversion and any intermediate stop. For a connecting itinerary booked as one reservation, measure from the first departure airport to the last arrival airport.

Can the airline reduce my compensation amount by 50%?

Yes, but only when it offered you re-routing and the alternative flight arrived within the regulation's limits: two hours for short flights, three for medium, four for long-haul. If you were never rerouted and simply waited for your delayed aircraft, the reduction does not apply and the full band figure stands.

Do children receive the same compensation amount as adults?

Yes, as long as a seat was paid for. A child with their own ticket earns the same €250, €400 or €600 as any adult on that flight. Infants travelling on a lap ticket at a nominal percentage of the adult fare are generally excluded. Check your booking to see how each passenger was ticketed.

Calculate Your Exact EU Flight Delay Compensation Amount