UK261: what UK flight compensation law actually says

Which flights UK261 covers

Article 3(1) was rewritten for the UK by the 2019 EU Exit instrument. As it now reads, the regulation applies to passengers departing from an airport in the United Kingdom, and to passengers departing from an airport elsewhere where the flight lands in the UK on a UK or Community carrier, or lands in an EU member state on a UK carrier. The CAA states the same test in three lines on its delays page.

• • Departing a UK airport — any airline, anywhere in the world it is going.
• • Arriving at a UK airport — only where a UK or EU airline operated the flight.
• • Arriving at an EU airport — only where a UK airline operated the flight.

Two conditions in Article 3(2) sit underneath all of that: a confirmed reservation, and presenting yourself for check-in by the time the airline published, or 45 minutes before departure where it published none. Article 3(3) excludes free and non-public reduced fares, but expressly keeps frequent-flyer redemptions inside the regulation.

The sterling amounts in Article 7

The 2019 instrument replaced Article 7(1) wholesale, substituting sterling figures for the euro ones. These are the amounts in the current UK text:

• 🛫 1,500 km or less — £220
• 🛫 Between 1,500 and 3,500 km — £350
• 🛫 Over 3,500 km — £520

Article 7(2) is the reduction: where the airline offers re-routing that brings you in within two, three or four hours of the original arrival depending on distance, it may halve the figure. That is where the CAA's £110, £175 and £260 rows come from. Distance is measured by the great circle route to the last destination on the booking, and the amount is per passenger rather than a share of the fare.

UK261 sets its own figures in sterling, so UK sterling amounts are set separately from the euro bands and the two regimes are not interchangeable. Clairo's checker currently shows euro estimates only — check current UK CAA guidance for the sterling figures that apply.

Where UK261 and EU261 now read differently

The two texts are not worded alike. Article 7(1)(b) of the EU regulation fixes €400 for intra-Community flights over 1,500 km as well as for other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km. The UK version of the same sub-paragraph reads simply £350 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, with no intra-Community clause, and £520 for everything above that. Read the two articles side by side before assuming a long route falls in the middle band under both.

Two more differences came in with the 2023 amendment instrument, and both moved things into the UK text that the EU version still leaves outside it:

• • Article 6(3) and 6(4). The UK text now says in terms that a delay of three hours or more in reaching the final destination carries the Article 7 right, and that the airline is excused where it proves extraordinary circumstances it could not have avoided. Under the EU regulation the three-hour rule comes from the Court of Justice rather than from the words of Article 6.
• • Article 3(7) to 3(9). These separate a 261 claim from a Montreal Convention damages action, and route limitation to section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980. The EU text has no equivalent paragraphs.

None of this changes which regime applies to you. That still turns on where the flight departed and who operated it. A Manchester to Faro flight departs the UK, so the UK text governs it; the return leg departs the EU, so the EU text governs that one, even though it is one booking and one airline.

What Clairo's checker gives you here

Clairo's checker quotes euro estimates and applies an intra-Community-style cap that treats UK airports as inside that area. The UK text of Article 7(1) does not use that wording, so on a long UK–EU route the estimate and the legislation can point at different bands. Treat the checker as a screening step, read the article for yourself, and check the sterling figure the CAA publishes for your route.

Clairo caps its estimate at €400 when both ends of the route are EU/EEA/UK airports, mirroring the intra-Community cap in Article 7(1)(b); it only estimates €600 where one end lies outside that area. Long UK–EU routes sit at the edge of that cap, so treat the figure as an estimate and check the position for your route.

The checker also never learns why the flight was late. It screens route, distance and arrival delay, and that is the part a passenger can establish from a boarding pass and a flight tracker. Whether the cause was extraordinary is the question that decides the claim, and it is answered from the airline's own records. Read how the checker reaches a result for the full list of what it does not evaluate.

The official claim route

1. 1. The airline. The CAA is explicit that compensation is not paid automatically and that the claim goes to the airline first. Many carriers publish a standard form; the CAA also notes that some have terms requiring the passenger to come to them directly before involving a third party.
2. 2. An ADR scheme, or PACT. Once you have a final response, or the airline has had eight weeks without giving one, the complaint can go to the airline's approved ADR provider. The CAA lists which airlines belong to AviationADR and which to CEDR. For an airline on neither list, the CAA's own Passenger Advice and Complaints Team may take the case up, without power to bind the airline.
3. 3. Court. The CAA points to the small claims route on GOV.UK, and suggests exhausting the steps above first. An ADR decision you decline to accept does not close the court door.

Deadlines apply at each of these stages and they are not the same deadline. See how long you have to claim in the UK.

Primary sources

Everything above is read off these pages. Where a figure or a rule matters to your claim, follow the link and check the current wording rather than taking ours.

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as retained in UK lawlegislation.gov.uk

  The assimilated text the UK keeps up to date, article by article. This is what people mean by UK261.

• UK261 Article 3 — scope, multi-leg flights and limitationlegislation.gov.uk

  Which flights the UK regulation covers, how a journey booked as a single unit is treated, and the limitation provision.

• UK261 Article 6 — delaylegislation.gov.uk

  Care thresholds by distance, and the paragraph that puts the three-hour arrival-delay right in the UK text itself.

• UK261 Article 7 — right to compensationlegislation.gov.uk

  The sterling bands and the 50% reduction where re-routing limits the delay.

• The Air Passenger Rights and ATOL (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019legislation.gov.uk

  The instrument that converted the euro amounts to sterling and rewrote the scope article for the UK.

• The Aviation (Consumers) (Amendment) Regulations 2023legislation.gov.uk

  The 2023 instrument that added the multi-leg, delay-compensation and limitation paragraphs to the UK text.

• Flight delays and cancellationsUK Civil Aviation Authority

  The regulator's hub for what UK261 gives a passenger when a flight goes wrong.

• Your rights when a flight is delayedUK Civil Aviation Authority

  Care thresholds, the sterling compensation figures and how connecting bookings are measured.

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 on EUR-LexEUR-Lex

  The EU version, which still states its amounts in euro and keeps the intra-Community wording in Article 7(1)(b).

Guides for a specific disruption

• Delayed UK flight, in plain English →
• Cancelled flight compensation in the UK →
• Missed connection compensation →
• Denied boarding compensation →
• How long you have to claim in the UK →
• Claiming yourself instead of using a service →