Lufthansa delayed flight compensation

Lufthansa delays: what is specific

Lufthansa is a German (EU) carrier: EU261 covers every Lufthansa departure and every Lufthansa flight into the EU, including from the United States and Asia. Most Lufthansa journeys connect through Frankfurt or Munich on a single ticket, so the delay is measured at the final destination and the distance band uses the whole journey — a delayed feeder that makes you miss the long-haul flight is a long-haul claim (€600 from 4 hours of arrival delay, €300 between 3 and 4 hours).

Regional flights may be operated by Lufthansa CityLine, Air Dolomiti or Lufthansa City Airlines under LH numbers; all are EU carriers, so your rights are identical. Lufthansa handles claims through its passenger-rights form and is a member of the Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp), Germany’s conciliation scheme, which is free for passengers and the first escalation step if Lufthansa refuses.

Frankfurt’s winter weather and airspace restrictions are Lufthansa’s usual defences; crew rostering, technical faults and its own staff’s strikes are not extraordinary.

How the 3 hours are measured on Lufthansa 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 Lufthansa 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.

Flights may be operated by Lufthansa CityLine (CL), Air Dolomiti (EN) or Lufthansa City Airlines (VL) under LH flight numbers. Check the operating carrier on your boarding pass: the rules follow the airline that flew the aircraft, not the one that sold the ticket.

How much Lufthansa 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 Lufthansa 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 Lufthansa’s typical routes.

Care while you wait

From 2 hours of delay (short flights), 3 hours (medium) or 4 hours (long) Lufthansa 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 Lufthansa may argue

Only extraordinary circumstances exempt Lufthansa 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 Lufthansa’s own staff strikes are not extraordinary. The burden of proof is on Lufthansa: 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 Lufthansa

1. Note the actual arrival time (arrivals board, flight-tracker screenshot, Lufthansa’s own notification).
2. Ask Lufthansa in writing for the reason for the delay.
3. Submit the claim through Lufthansa’s official channel (https://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/passenger-rights), or by post to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Customer Relations, Postfach 1244, 33309 Gütersloh, Germany, quoting the booking reference, the flight, the date, the arrival delay and the amount per passenger.
4. If Lufthansa refuses or does not reply within 8 weeks, escalate to Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp, Germany); a court claim remains available within the limitation period of the departure country.