How do I claim flight delay compensation when the airline refuses?

Airlines refuse a large share of valid compensation claims at the first attempt, usually with a single-sentence assertion that the cause was extraordinary. That assertion is not a decision, it is a position, and the burden of proving it sits with the airline rather than with you. Most successful claims are ones that were refused once.

Step by step

1. Check the claim is in scope before spending time on it.The retained UK air passenger rights rules cover flights departing from a UK airport on any airline, and flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU airline. EU rules cover flights departing the EU on any airline and arriving in the EU on an EU airline. The delay has to have reached the qualifying threshold measured at arrival, not at departure. The Civil Aviation Authority publishes the current thresholds and amounts.
2. Claim directly with the airline first.Use the airline's own claim form where it has one, and give the booking reference, flight number, date, route and the actual arrival time. Keep it factual. Do not accept vouchers offered instead unless you positively want them.
3. When it is refused, demand the reason and the evidence.Ask specifically: what was the cause, why does the airline say it was extraordinary, and what reasonable measures did it take to avoid the delay. A refusal that names no cause is not a defence, and a bare assertion of weather or air traffic control without detail is routinely rejected on escalation.
4. Test the extraordinary circumstances claim.Genuinely extraordinary: severe weather, air traffic control restrictions, security incidents, political instability, a strike by parties other than the airline's own staff, a bird strike. Not extraordinary: routine technical faults, most maintenance issues, crew shortages, the airline's own staff striking, and knock-on delays caused by the airline's own earlier disruption. The distinction has been settled repeatedly in the courts.
5. Check the knock-on argument carefully.Airlines frequently blame a delay on an earlier disruption elsewhere in the day. That works as a defence only if the original cause was itself extraordinary and the airline could not reasonably have recovered. It is one of the most commonly overturned refusals.
6. Escalate to the airline's dispute resolution body.Many UK airlines belong to an approved alternative dispute resolution scheme. It is free to the passenger and its decisions bind the airline. The airline must tell you which scheme it uses; the Civil Aviation Authority lists them.
7. Use the CAA passenger advice route where there is no scheme.For airlines not in a scheme, the CAA operates a passenger advice and complaints service. It cannot compel the airline, but its view carries weight and it monitors airline behaviour.
8. Consider the small claims route.A claim can be brought in the county court under the small claims track. It is designed to be used without a solicitor, the fee is modest and recoverable if you win, and airlines frequently settle once a claim is issued. Time limits for bringing a claim are set by limitation law and are long, but do not sit on it.

Tips

• Record the actual arrival time — meaning when the doors opened — from a flight tracking service, and screenshot it. Airlines have been known to dispute arrival times, and this is what the qualifying delay is measured against.
• Compensation is a fixed amount by distance band, entirely separate from a refund of the fare and separate again from expenses. Do not let an airline present a refund as compensation.
• Keep every receipt for food, accommodation and transport during the disruption. Those are recoverable under the duty of care in addition to compensation, and they are claimed separately.
• Write everything. Phone calls to airlines leave no record and are the reason many claims stall.

Common mistakes

• Accepting the first refusal — The first-line response is frequently automated and the burden of proof is on the airline. A large proportion of refused claims succeed on escalation.
• Accepting a voucher — Vouchers are usually worth less than the cash entitlement, expire, and are restricted to that airline. You are entitled to the cash unless you agree otherwise in writing.
• Measuring the delay at departure — The entitlement is calculated on arrival delay at the final destination on that booking. A late departure that arrives nearly on time may not qualify; an on-time departure with a long diversion may.

Questions people ask