Sources
Everything the checker relies on, so you can verify it yourself. Data checked 2026-11-14.
Legislation
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004: Art. 2(j) denied boarding definition; Art. 3 scope; Art. 4 denied boarding; Art. 5 cancellation (5(1)(c) notice and re-routing windows, 5(3) extraordinary circumstances); Art. 6 delay; Art. 7 amounts (€250/€400/€600), 7(2) the 50% reduction, 7(4) great-circle distance; Art. 8 refund/re-routing; Art. 9 care; Art. 16 national enforcement bodies.
- UK261: Regulation 261/2004 as retained in UK law and amended by SI 2019/278 (£220/£350/£520).
- Regulation (EC) No 861/2007: European Small Claims Procedure (up to €5,000).
Key CJEU judgments
| Case | What it decided |
|---|---|
| C-402/07 & C-432/07 Sturgeon (2009) | A delay of 3 hours or more at arrival gives the same compensation as a cancellation. The 50% reduction can apply to long-haul delays of 3–4 hours. |
| C-581/10 & C-629/10 Nelson (2012) | Confirmed Sturgeon, and held that it is compatible with the Montreal Convention. |
| C-11/11 Folkerts (2013) | For connecting flights, delay is measured at the final destination. |
| C-559/16 Bossen (2017) | Distance is the great circle between the first departure and the final destination. |
| C-452/13 Germanwings (2014) | "Arrival" means the moment at least one aircraft door opens. |
| C-549/07 Wallentin-Hermann (2008) | Technical problems are generally not extraordinary circumstances. |
| C-257/14 van der Lans (2015) | An unexpected failure of a component is not extraordinary. |
| C-294/10 Eglītis (2011) | The airline must also show it took all reasonable measures, including planning a time reserve. |
| C-315/15 Pešková (2017) | A bird strike can be extraordinary. |
| C-195/17 Krüsemann (2018) | A "wildcat strike" by the airline's own staff is not extraordinary. |
| C-28/20 Airhelp v SAS (2021) | A strike by the airline's own staff, called by a union, is not extraordinary. |
| C-74/19 TAP (2020) | An unruly passenger can be extraordinary. A delay carried over from an earlier flight counts only if that delay was itself extraordinary. |
| C-156/22 to C-158/22 TAP (2023) | The sudden death of a crew member is not extraordinary. |
| C-22/11 Finnair (2012) | Extraordinary circumstances do not excuse denied boarding. |
| C-139/11 Cuadrench Moré (2012) | Limitation periods are set by national law. |
| C-204/08 Rehder (2009) | You may sue at the place of departure or arrival. |
| C-537/17 Wegener (2018) | Connecting itineraries on one booking from the EU are covered even if a leg outside the EU is delayed. |
UK: Dawson v Thomson Airways [2014] EWCA Civ 845 (6-year limitation period in England & Wales).
Enforcement and ADR bodies (verified 2026-11-14)
Starting point: the European Commission's list of national enforcement bodies, updated 13 October 2026. We then checked each body's own website.
Hungary
- Budapest Főváros Kormányhivatala, Fogyasztóvédelmi Főosztály (Government Office of the Capital City Budapest, Consumer Protection Department) – NEB. Handles passenger complaints about air passenger rights in Hungary (it is a regulator, not a money-recovery service).
- Budapesti Békéltető Testület (Budapest Conciliation Board) – ADR. Free consumer conciliation. It can issue a recommendation (ajánlás), or a binding decision (kötelezés) in some cases. Whether it takes a given airline dispute must be checked with the board. Its coverage of airline disputes is not confirmed.
Germany
- Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), Nationale Beschwerde- und Durchsetzungsstelle Fluggastrechte (Federal Aviation Office, National Enforcement Body for Air Passenger Rights) – NEB. Takes complaints and can bring administrative-offence proceedings. It does not recover money for you.
- Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr e.V. (formerly söp) (Travel & Transport Conciliation Body) – ADR. Free for consumers. Its recommendation binds only if both sides accept it. Use it for airlines that are members.
- Schlichtungsstelle Luftverkehr beim Bundesamt für Justiz (Air Transport Conciliation Body at the Federal Office of Justice) – ADR. Free fallback conciliation for airlines that are not members of a private conciliation body. Its proposal is non-binding.
Poland
- Rzecznik Praw Pasażera przy Prezesie Urzędu Lotnictwa Cywilnego (Passengers' Rights Ombudsman at the Civil Aviation Authority (ULC)) – ADR. Free amicable (ADR) procedure for EU261 money claims on flights from Poland. It does not issue decisions, and its site reports a backlog.
- Prezes Urzędu Lotnictwa Cywilnego, Komisja Ochrony Praw Pasażerów (President of the Civil Aviation Authority, Passenger Rights Protection Commission) – NEB. Enforcement of Regulation 261/2004 in Poland.
Romania
- Autoritatea Națională pentru Protecția Consumatorilor (ANPC) (National Authority for Consumer Protection) – NEB. Romania's enforcement body for air passenger rights (per the European Commission list). (Not loaded automatically: please check.) The ANPC site blocked automated checks; open it yourself. We have not confirmed a Romanian ADR body for air passenger claims.
United Kingdom
- Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (Civil Aviation Authority) – NEB. UK regulator. Its complaints team handles only airlines that are not in an approved ADR scheme. It cannot make binding decisions.
- AviationADR (AviationADR (Consumer Dispute Resolution Ltd)) – ADR. CAA-approved ADR. Free for passengers. The decision binds the airline if you accept it. Members include Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air, Air France, KLM and Turkish Airlines.
- CEDR Aviation Adjudication Scheme (CEDR) – ADR. CAA-approved ADR for its member airlines. Free for passengers.
Italy
- ENAC – Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile (Italian Civil Aviation Authority) – NEB. Imposes sanctions on airlines. A complaint to ENAC does not get you paid.
- Autorità di Regolazione dei Trasporti – ConciliaWeb (Transport Regulation Authority (ConciliaWeb)) – ADR. Free online conciliation. You must complain to the airline first. If you reach agreement, the signed record (verbale) is enforceable.
Spain
- Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA) (State Aviation Safety Agency) – BOTH. Enforcement body and approved ADR for flights from 2 June 2023. Its decision binds the airline but not you. Free. Claim from the airline first and wait 1 month, then file within 1 year of that claim.
France
- Direction générale de l'aviation civile (DGAC) – Mission du droit des passagers (Directorate General for Civil Aviation, Passenger Rights Unit) – NEB. Takes reports and can sanction airlines. It does not recover money for you.
- Médiation Tourisme et Voyage (MTV) (Tourism and Travel Mediation) – ADR. Free mediation for member airlines. Write to the airline first; you can go to MTV after 60 days without an answer or after a refusal. Since 7 Feb 2026, mediation is generally mandatory before suing in France over EU261 (official source: info.gouv.fr).
Netherlands
- Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (ILT) (Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate) – NEB. Logs reports and can fine airlines, but does not handle individual cases. Report within 1 year of the flight, after claiming from the airline and waiting 2 months. There is no Dutch ADR for airline claims: the court route is the kantonrechter (district court).
Time limits by country
| Country | Years | Rule | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 3 | 3 years from the end of the year in which the claim arose (§§ 195, 199 BGB). | high |
| United Kingdom | 6 | 6 years in England & Wales (Limitation Act 1980 s.5; Dawson v Thomson Airways [2014] EWCA Civ 845); 5 years in Scotland. | high |
| France | 5 | 5 years (Code civil art. 2224) is the period most often cited. Some sources, including an airline's own page, cite 2 years. Since 7 Feb 2026, mediation is mandatory before court. | medium |
| Spain | 5 | 5 years from the flight date (stated by AESA). | high |
| Italy | 2 | Disputed: sources cite 2 years (art. 2951 c.c. / Codice della Navigazione) or 10 years. Treat 2 years as the safe deadline. | low |
| Poland | 1 | 1 year from the scheduled flight date (art. 205c(7) Prawo lotnicze for flights from 1 Apr 2019; earlier flights: Supreme Court III CZP 111/16). | medium |
| Netherlands | 2 | 2 years from the day after arrival (art. 8:1835 BW as applied by Dutch courts). | medium |
| Hungary | 5 | 5 years, the general civil-law limitation period (Ptk. 6:22). Not confirmed by an official source. | medium |
| Romania | 3 | 3 years, the general Civil Code limitation period. Not confirmed by an official source. | medium |
| Ireland | 6 | 6 years for contract claims (Statute of Limitations 1957); some sources argue 2 years. Check. | low |
| Austria | 3 | 3 years (§ 1489 ABGB per Austrian Supreme Court case law). | medium |
Airline claim channels
- Wizz Air. Wizz Air's EC261 help page links to its online claim form. Its separate claim platform blocked automated checks, so open it from the help page.
- Ryanair. The EU261 form address now sends you to the myRyanair 'requests' portal, so you need to log in.
- easyJet. easyJet's Compensation Claims Portal. Out-of-pocket costs (meals, hotels) go through a separate form at /en/claim/welfare.
- Lufthansa. Lufthansa's online form for flight-disruption compensation and reimbursement.
- LOT Polish Airlines. LOT's 'claim after departure' form.
- Air France (could not load the form automatically). Air France's claims information page loaded and links to the claim form. The form itself did not load during automated checks. Air France refers unresolved claims to Médiation Tourisme et Voyage.
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (could not load the form automatically). KLM's compensation page loaded and its 'Request compensation' button points to klm.com/claim. That target was not loaded during automated checks.
- Turkish Airlines. Turkish Airlines' general feedback form, linked from its flight-irregularities page. We found no dedicated EU261 form. Turkish Airlines is not an EU carrier, so EU261 covers only its flights departing from the EU/EEA/Switzerland (and UK261 only flights departing from the UK).
Data
- Airport coordinates: OurAirports (public domain).
- Barcode reading: zxing-cpp (Apache-2.0). Text recognition: RapidOCR (Apache-2.0). Both run locally on our server.