Flight delayed 2 hours: what you are owed (and what you are not)

Why 2 hours is a threshold at all

Regulation 261/2004 has two clocks. Compensation (Article 7) runs from 3 hours of arrival delay, a figure the Court of Justice read into the Regulation in Sturgeon. Care (Articles 6 and 9) runs earlier and depends on distance: 2 hours for flights up to 1,500 km, 3 hours between 1,500 and 3,500 km, 4 hours beyond. So a 2-hour delay on Paris–Rome already obliges the airline to look after you, while the same delay on Paris–Tokyo does not yet.

What care means in practice

• Meals and refreshments “in reasonable relation to the waiting time” — usually a voucher; if none is offered, buy something reasonable and keep the receipt.
• Two telephone calls, e-mails or messages free of charge.
• A hotel and transport to and from it when the delayed departure moves to the next day.

Care is owed whatever the cause of the delay — weather, strikes and air-traffic control included. The Court confirmed in McDonagh that there is no time or money limit on it.

Expenses the airline did not cover

If the airline left you to fend for yourself, you can claim back reasonable costs: meals, a modest hotel, transport, and the calls you had to make. Claim them in writing with receipts, separately from any compensation. Luxury choices will be cut down to what was reasonable.

When 2 hours becomes 3

Departure delays grow. If the aircraft finally arrives 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival, the compensation clock is met — so from the first announcement, note the scheduled and actual times, photograph the board and keep every airline message. The arrival time that counts is the moment a door opens (Germanwings v Henning); the 3-hour delay page shows how the threshold plays out on real routes.

The 5-hour refund option

If the delay reaches 5 hours you may choose not to fly and obtain a full refund of the unused ticket within 7 days, plus a return flight to your point of departure if the trip has lost its purpose mid-journey.