TUI Airways cancelled flight compensation
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Quick answer
When TUI Airways cancels your flight you always get the choice between a full refund and re-routing, plus meals and a hotel while you wait. Compensation of £220, £350 or £520 per passenger is due on top if TUI Airways told you less than 14 days before departure and did not offer a replacement flight within the legal time windows — unless it proves extraordinary circumstances.
Operating carrier
TUI Airways BY / TOM · United Kingdom
UK-licensed carrier — UK261 applies to its flights departing from the UK and to its flights into the UK. EU261 applies to its flights departing from the EU.
Where to send your claim
- Official claim form / help centre
- https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/contact-us
- Dispute-resolution scheme
- AviationADR
Cancellation compensation on typical TUI Airways routes
- London → Palma de Mallorca (1,309 km)£220
- Manchester → Tenerife (3,048 km)£350
- Birmingham → Tenerife (2,978 km)£350
- London → Orlando (6,992 km)£520
- Manchester → Cancún (7,794 km)£520
Due when {airline} informed you less than 14 days before departure and no replacement flight met the legal time windows.
Direct answer
- Short answer
- If TUI Airways told you of the cancellation less than 14 days before departure and did not re-route you within the legal windows, UK261 compensation is due per passenger unless TUI Airways proves an extraordinary circumstance.
- Amount
- £220–£520per passenger on TUI Airways’s typical routes, by distance
- Why
- Compensation depends on when TUI Airways informed you and what it offered (Article 5); the amount is fixed by distance. Refund or re-routing and care are due whatever the cause.
- What can change it
- You were told 14 days or more before departure: no fixed compensation, but refund or re-routing
- TUI Airways re-routed you within the legal windows (2 h early / 4 h late with 7–14 days’ notice; 1 h / 2 h under 7 days)
- TUI Airways proves an extraordinary circumstance for your flight — weather, ATC, a third-party strike — and that it could not avoid the delay
- Another airline operated the aircraft: the operating carrier owes the compensation, not TUI Airways
- Check your flight
- Check my TUI Airways flight
- Official source
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as retained in UK law (assimilated law) — UK Government — legislation.gov.ukLast checked against the source on 23 September 2026
Can TUI Airways passengers claim compensation?
Yes. TUI Airways holds a UK licence, so Regulation 261 covers its flights departing from the EU/EEA, the UK or Switzerland and its flights into them: £220–£520 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?
TUI 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
- TUI Airways
- Cancelled
When were you told about the cancellation?
TUI cancellations: what is specific
TUI’s cancellation notice is its e-mail, text or app message; its timestamp decides the 14-day rule. TUI usually offers an alternative flight within its own programme, sometimes days later on long-haul routes, which keeps the full amount due; hotel and meals while you wait are owed whatever the cause.
If you booked a TUI package holiday, the flight-compensation claim is against TUI Airways as operating carrier and is separate from any refund or price reduction for the holiday, which you request from TUI as organiser under the Package Travel Regulations 2018.
The three questions that decide a TUI Airways cancellation claim
- When did TUI Airways tell you? Informed 14 days or more before departure: no compensation, but a refund or re-routing and care. Less than 14 days: compensation is due unless a replacement flight met the windows below or the cause was extraordinary. TUI Airways must prove when and how it informed you — keep its cancellation e-mail or app notification with the timestamp.
- What replacement did TUI Airways offer? Between 7 and 14 days’ notice, no compensation if the re-routing departed no more than 2 hours early and arrived less than 4 hours late; under 7 days’ notice the margins shrink to 1 hour early and 2 hours late.
- Why was it cancelled? Weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, security and external strikes are extraordinary; TUI Airways’s technical problems, crew shortages, rotation planning and its own staff’s strikes are not.
What you always get, whatever the reason
Compensation may depend on the cause, but three rights never do. TUI Airways must offer you the choice between a full refund of the unused ticket (within 7 days, in cash or bank transfer — a voucher only with your agreement) and re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity or on a later date of your choice. While you wait for the re-routing TUI Airways must provide meals, refreshments, two calls or e-mails and, when an overnight stay becomes necessary, a hotel and transport to it. If it leaves you to arrange this yourself, keep receipts and claim the reasonable amounts.
How much TUI Airways owes when compensation is due
£220, £350 or £520 per passenger under UK261, set by the distance of the flight (or of the whole journey on one booking). TUI Airways may halve the long-haul amount to £260 when the replacement flight it offered arrived within the reduction windows (2 hours late for short flights, 3 hours for medium, 4 hours for long).
How to claim a cancellation from TUI Airways
- Keep the cancellation notice, the original booking and the details of any replacement flight offered (departure and arrival times).
- Ask TUI Airways in writing for the reason for the cancellation.
- Submit the claim through TUI Airways’s official channel (https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/contact-us), stating the notice date, the replacement offered (or not) and the amount per passenger.
- If TUI Airways refuses or stalls for 8 weeks, escalate to AviationADR, then to the courts 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
Do I get compensation if TUI Airways cancelled my flight two weeks in advance?
Not fixed compensation: cancellations announced 14 days or more before departure are exempt. TUI Airways still owes you the choice between a full refund and re-routing, and care if you travel on the replacement flight.
Can TUI Airways give me a voucher instead of a refund?
Only with your written agreement. The refund must be paid in cash, by bank transfer or card within 7 days. You can decline a voucher and insist on money.
Is a strike a valid reason for TUI Airways not to pay?
A strike by TUI Airways's own pilots, cabin crew or ground staff is not an extraordinary circumstance, so compensation is due. Strikes by air-traffic controllers or airport staff outside TUI Airways's control are extraordinary, but the refund, re-routing and care rights still apply.
TUI Airways rebooked me on a flight the next day — is that compensable?
If you were informed less than 7 days before departure, compensation is due unless the replacement departed at most 1 hour early and arrived less than 2 hours late — a next-day flight almost always exceeds that. TUI Airways also owes a hotel and meals for the night.
Sources
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-549/07 Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia — technical problems are not, as such, extraordinary circumstances
- 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
- AviationADR (Consumer Dispute Resolution Ltd)AviationADR — CAA-approved ADR scheme: eligibility (final response or eight weeks without reply)
- UK Civil Aviation AuthorityAlternative dispute resolution (ADR) for aviation complaints
- UK Civil Aviation AuthorityDelays and cancellations — your rights
- UK Government — legislation.gov.ukLimitation Act 1980, section 5 — six years for actions founded on simple contract (England and Wales)
- UK Government — legislation.gov.ukRegulation (EC) No 261/2004 as retained in UK law (assimilated law)
- UK Government — legislation.gov.ukThe Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/278)
Last legally reviewed: 12 September 2026 · Content updated: 12 September 2026
Did TUI Airways cancel with less than 14 days’ notice?
Enter the flight, when you were told and what TUI Airways offered; the check applies the notice and re-routing windows and tells you the amount.