Flight Delay Compensation: How Much, By Airline

Flight delay compensation does not change by airline — the amount is fixed by distance and by regulation, the same whether you flew Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 or TUI. What actually varies between carriers is not the figure but how quickly, and how readily, each one pays it without a fight.

When You Actually Qualify

The distance-band numbers below only apply once a flight has actually qualified, and that line trips up more claims than the maths does. Under EU Regulation 261/2004 and its UK twin, UK261, you need to land three hours or more after your scheduled arrival time, and the delay has to be within the airline’s control — a technical fault, a crew scheduling error, or an aircraft arriving late from a previous rotation all count. A delay caused by weather, an airport strike, air traffic control restrictions or a security incident does not, because the regulation treats those as extraordinary circumstances outside any airline’s control, budget or otherwise.

The Distance-Band Figures

These are the figures in force under EU261 and UK261, checked against Your Europe and the UK Civil Aviation Authority in September 2026. They have barely moved since the EU rule was written in 2004, but compensation law can be revised, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm the live figure before you file anything.

Distance	EU261 (EU-regulated flights)	UK261 (UK-regulated flights)
Up to 1,500 km	€250	£220
1,500–3,500 km	€400	£350
Over 3,500 km	€600 (can drop to €300 if rerouted and still arriving within 4 hours)	£520

Why the Airline Doesn’t Change the Number

This is the part worth saying plainly, because it is the whole answer to the question most people are actually asking: the figure is set by law based on distance, not by the carrier’s brand, ticket price or how budget the airline is. Ryanair pays the same €400 for a 2,000 km delay that a full-service carrier would, because the obligation sits with the regulation, not with the airline’s own terms and conditions. A cheaper ticket does not mean a smaller payout.

What Does Change Between Carriers

Where airlines genuinely differ is in behaviour, not arithmetic. Some, easyJet among them, have built a claims form directly into their app and pay out within days once a claim is approved. Others are slower to acknowledge a qualifying delay, classify more delays as “extraordinary circumstances” than a strict reading of the rule supports, or wait for a complaint to an aviation authority before settling. None of that changes what you’re owed — it changes how much persistence getting it takes.

Which Regulation Even Applies

EU261 covers any flight departing from an EU airport, on any airline, and any flight arriving at an EU airport on an EU-registered carrier. UK261 is the UK’s retained version of the same rule, covering flights departing the UK on any airline and flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU carrier. A Ryanair flight from Dublin to Lisbon sits under EU261; a Jet2 flight from Manchester to Antalya sits under UK261. Knowing which one applies mostly matters for the currency you’re claiming in — the mechanics are otherwise identical.

The Reduced-Compensation Rule

There’s one wrinkle in the long-haul row of that table worth understanding on its own: the €600 figure for flights over 3,500 km can be cut in half, to €300, if the airline gets you to your final destination with an arrival delay of less than four hours compared to the original schedule. This exists specifically to reward an airline for rerouting you quickly rather than leaving you on the original, very late flight — it is not a loophole, it is the rule working as designed. There is no equivalent halving on the two shorter distance bands.

What Counts as “Extraordinary” in Practice

This is where most disputed claims actually live, because airlines have an obvious incentive to stretch the definition. A bird strike, a lightning strike, an airport-wide air traffic control restriction, a security threat, or a medical emergency that forces a diversion are all genuinely outside the airline’s control and excuse it from paying. A technical fault found during a routine pre-flight check, a crew running out of legally permitted duty hours, or an aircraft arriving late because of how the airline scheduled its previous rotation are not — those sit squarely inside the airline’s own operation, however inconvenient they are for the airline to admit to.

Filing the Claim Itself

Go to the airline first, not a claims agent that takes a cut of what you’re owed. Most airlines now have a delay-compensation form in their app or on their site; have your booking reference, the scheduled and actual arrival times, and the reason given for the delay (or a note that none was given) ready before you start. If the airline refuses or goes quiet, the relevant national aviation authority — the one for the country whose regulation applies — is the next step, not small-claims court.

Staying Reachable While You Wait

A three-hour delay is also three hours where you need a working connection more than usual — checking the claim form, rebooking a missed onward leg, telling whoever is meeting you that the time has changed. That’s the moment a FlightSIM eSIM earns its keep: install the FlightSIM app before you fly, over your own Wi-Fi, using our setup guides, and it’s already active rather than something to set up standing at a departures board with a delay notice in front of you. See our pricing for what a trip’s worth of data actually costs, and read what to do next if the delay turns into an outright flight cancellation.