ITA Airways delayed flight compensation
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Quick answer
If your ITA Airways flight reached its final destination 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time, EU261 compensation of €250, €400 or €600 per passenger (by distance) is due unless ITA Airways proves extraordinary circumstances. The departure delay does not matter — the arrival time, measured when the doors open, does. Below 3 hours you still have care rights.
Operating carrier
ITA Airways AZ / ITY · Italy
EU/EEA-licensed carrier — Regulation 261/2004 applies to all its flights departing from the EU/EEA and to its flights into the EU/EEA.
Where to send your claim
- Official claim form / help centre
- https://www.ita-airways.com/en_en/support.html
- Dispute-resolution scheme
- ENAC (Italy NEB)
Delay compensation on typical ITA Airways routes
- Rome → London (1,444 km)€250
- Milan → London (981 km)€250
- Rome → Paris (1,101 km)€250
- Milan → Rome (511 km)€250
- Rome → Tel Aviv (2,278 km)€400
- Rome → New York (6,866 km)€600(€300 3–4 h)
Full amount from 4 hours of arrival delay; on flights over 3,500 km the amount in brackets applies between 3 and 4 hours.
Direct answer
- Short answer
- If your ITA Airways flight arrived at its final destination 3 hours or more late, EU261 compensation is due per passenger unless ITA Airways proves an extraordinary circumstance.
- Amount
- €250–€600per passenger on ITA Airways’s typical routes, by distance
- Why
- The amount is fixed by the distance of the flight, not the fare; the delay is measured when the doors open at the final destination (Sturgeon, Germanwings v Henning). ITA Airways can only refuse by proving the cause was extraordinary and unavoidable.
- What can change it
- ITA Airways proves an extraordinary circumstance for your flight — weather, ATC, a third-party strike — and that it could not avoid the delay
- The arrival delay was under 3 hours: care and expenses may still be due, fixed compensation is not
- Another airline operated the aircraft: the operating carrier owes the compensation, not ITA Airways
- Over 3,500 km outside the intra-EU cap with a 3–4 hour delay: the amount is halved
- Check your flight
- Check my ITA Airways flight
- Official source
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights — European Parliament and CouncilLast checked against the source on 23 September 2026
Can ITA Airways passengers claim compensation?
Yes. ITA Airways holds a EU/EEA licence, so Regulation 261 covers its flights departing from the EU/EEA, the UK or Switzerland and its flights into them: €250–€600 per passenger for an arrival delay of 3 hours or more, a cancellation announced under 14 days ahead, or denied boarding — unless the airline proves an extraordinary circumstance.
Does this apply to your flight?
ITA Airways flight affected?
A few short questions — no flight number needed yet. You get a preliminary result on the facts you give; the full check confirms it from the itinerary.
Already known from this page
- ITA Airways
- Delayed
How late did you arrive at your final destination?
Count the delay when the doors opened at your final destination, not the departure delay.
ITA delays: what is specific
ITA connects through Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate; on a single booking the delay is measured at your final destination. A late Milan–Rome sector that costs you the Rome–New York connection is a €600 case.
Italian ATC strikes are announced in advance, usually for a few hours; ITA cancels or delays around them. A third-party strike can be extraordinary, but ITA must still show it took all reasonable measures — including re-routing you rather than waiting. Strikes by ITA’s own staff are not extraordinary.
How the 3 hours are measured on ITA Airways flights
The delay that counts is the arrival delay at your final destination, measured when at least one aircraft door opens — not the departure delay, the touchdown time or the block-on time. Compare it with the scheduled arrival on your booking. A ITA Airways flight that leaves 3 hours 30 late but makes up time to arrive 2 hours 50 late is not compensable; one that leaves on time and arrives 3 hours late is.
How much ITA Airways owes for a delay
Under EU261 the amount depends only on the great-circle distance of the flight (or of the whole journey on a single booking), never on the ticket price: €250, €400 or €600 per passenger. On flights over 3,500 km ITA Airways may halve the amount (€300 instead of €600) when the arrival delay is between 3 and 4 hours; from 4 hours the full amount applies. The table above shows the amounts on ITA Airways’s typical routes.
Care while you wait
From 2 hours of delay (short flights), 3 hours (medium) or 4 hours (long) ITA Airways must offer meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, two phone calls or e-mails, and a hotel with transport if you are kept overnight. If it does not, keep receipts for reasonable expenses and claim them separately — they come on top of the fixed compensation. After 5 hours you may also abandon the trip and claim a full refund of the unused ticket.
What ITA Airways may argue
Only extraordinary circumstances exempt ITA Airways from paying: severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions or strikes, security incidents, bird strikes, external strikes. Technical faults, crew shortages, late inbound aircraft from an earlier rotation and ITA Airways’s own staff strikes are not extraordinary. The burden of proof is on ITA Airways: ask for the precise cause of your flight’s delay and the measures it took, and treat a bare “operational reasons” as no answer.
How to claim a delay from ITA Airways
- Note the actual arrival time (arrivals board, flight-tracker screenshot, ITA Airways’s own notification).
- Ask ITA Airways in writing for the reason for the delay.
- Submit the claim through ITA Airways’s official channel (https://www.ita-airways.com/en_en/support.html), quoting the booking reference, the flight, the date, the arrival delay and the amount per passenger.
- If ITA Airways refuses or does not reply within 8 weeks, escalate to ENAC (Italy NEB); a court claim remains available within the limitation period of the departure country.
Prepare the claim letter
Enter your flight and what happened; get the regulation, the amount, the evidence list and an editable letter — free.
Frequently asked questions
How much does ITA Airways pay for a 3-hour delay?
€250 per passenger on flights up to 1,500 km, €400 between 1,500 and 3,500 km and €600 beyond 3,500 km — the same fixed amounts as any airline under EU261. On long-haul flights ITA Airways may pay €300 when the arrival delay is under 4 hours.
Does ITA Airways pay compensation for a 2-hour delay?
No fixed compensation is due below 3 hours of arrival delay. From 2 hours (short flights) ITA Airways still owes care: meals, refreshments and communication, and a hotel if the wait runs overnight. Keep receipts if it does not provide them.
Is a delay caused by a late inbound aircraft compensable on ITA Airways?
Usually yes. A knock-on delay from an earlier rotation is only exempt if ITA Airways proves the original cause was extraordinary and that it could not have avoided the delay with reasonable measures such as a spare aircraft or crew.
How long do I have to claim a ITA Airways delay?
It depends on the country of departure, not on ITA Airways: typically between 1 and 6 years (for example 6 years in the UK and Ireland, 5 in France and Spain, 3 in Germany, 2 in the Netherlands). Check the country page for your departure airport.
Sources
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-28/20 Airhelp v Scandinavian Airlines — a strike organised by the airline's own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance
- Court of Justice of the European UnionJoined Cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 Sturgeon v Condor and Böck v Air France — passengers of flights delayed by three hours or more may claim compensation
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-257/14 van der Lans v KLM — spontaneous technical failure is inherent in the normal exercise of the activity
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-549/07 Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia — technical problems are not, as such, extraordinary circumstances
- European CommissionInterpretative Guidelines on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (2016/C 214/04)
- European Parliament and CouncilRegulation (EC) No 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights
- Council of the European Union (Decision 2001/539/EC) — Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by AirMontreal Convention (1999), Article 35 — two-year limitation for actions for damages against the carrier
Last legally reviewed: 12 September 2026 · Content updated: 12 September 2026
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