Flight compensation in the United Kingdom

Rules and amounts

UK261 is Regulation 261/2004 as retained in UK law. It covers all departures from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and every other UK airport, and inbound flights on UK or EU airlines. Amounts: £220 (up to 1,500 km), £350 (1,500–3,500 km), £520 (over 3,500 km, no intra-EU cap).

Enforcement: the CAA

The Civil Aviation Authority publishes guidance, monitors compliance and can take enforcement action against airlines. It does not decide individual claims, but its Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) reviews complaints against airlines that are not in an ADR scheme.

ADR schemes

Most airlines flying from the UK belong to one of two CAA-approved schemes:

• AviationADR — Ryanair (with Buzz, Malta Air and Lauda), easyJet, TUI Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Wizz Air, Air France, KLM, TAP, Turkish Airlines, Delta and others.
• CEDR — British Airways, BA CityFlyer, Cathay Pacific and SAS.

Jet2 and Loganair belong to neither scheme (CAA list, September 2026): their refusals go to the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team, which reviews but cannot bind the airline, or to the county court.

You can use the scheme after the airline has given a final answer or after 8 weeks without one. Decisions are binding on the airline; there is no fee for passengers (a £25 fee may apply at AviationADR if the claim fails, depending on the scheme’s rules at the time).

Courts

Money claims can be issued online (Money Claim Online) and are allocated to the small-claims track up to £10,000 in England and Wales. Limitation: 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; 5 years in Scotland.

UK specifics

• Flights before 1 January 2021 from the UK are assessed under EU261 in euros.
• CJEU judgments before the end of 2020 remain binding “retained case law”; later ones are persuasive.
• Airlines must pay in cash or bank transfer; vouchers require your written agreement.