Can an airline refuse EU261 compensation? The lawful grounds, and the ones that are not

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Réponse rapide

Yes, but only on grounds the Regulation itself sets out: the flight is outside its scope; you had no confirmed reservation or did not check in in time; the arrival delay was under three hours or the cancellation was announced 14+ days ahead or with a re-routing inside the windows; the airline proves an extraordinary circumstance; boarding was denied on reasonable grounds; you signed for a voucher; or the claim is time-barred. A cheap fare, a contract clause, or "we only accept claims through our form" are not grounds.

Réponse directe

En bref

An airline can refuse EU261 compensation only on grounds the Regulation lists: the flight is outside its scope, the booking or check-in conditions were not met, the delay or notice rules exclude it, it proves extraordinary circumstances, boarding was denied on reasonable grounds, you signed for a voucher, or the claim is time-barred.

Montant

€250–€600per passenger by distance when none of the grounds applies

Pourquoi

Regulation 261/2004 sets the conditions of the right (Arts. 3, 4, 5, 6) and its exclusions (Arts. 2(j), 5(3)); Article 15 prevents the airline narrowing them by contract.

Ce qui peut changer la réponse

The flight departed outside Europe on a carrier not licensed in the EU/EEA, the UK or Switzerland.
You arrived less than three hours late at your final destination.
The airline proves an extraordinary circumstance and reasonable measures.
You agreed in writing to a voucher knowing you could have money.

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Source officielle

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 CouncilDernière vérification à la source le 23 septembre 2026

The airline rejected your claim: what decides the next step

Was the flight covered by EU261, UK261 or the Swiss rules?

Art. 3: any departure from the EU/EEA, the UK or Switzerland; an arrival there from outside only on a carrier licensed there

Yes
Did the arrival delay reach three hours, was the cancellation announced less than 14 days ahead, or were you denied boarding against your will?
Arts. 4, 5(1)(c), 6 and 7; Sturgeon (C-402/07); arrival = doors open at the final destination (C-452/13)
- Yes
  Did the airline claim extraordinary circumstances?
  Art. 5(3): the airline must prove the circumstance and that all reasonable measures could not have avoided it
  - Yes
    Does the airline show a record for your flight — and is the cause one that can be extraordinary?
    Technical faults, crew shortages and the airline's own strikes are not (van der Lans C-257/14, Airhelp v SAS C-28/20); ATC, severe weather and bird strikes can be
    Yes
    Check: The rejection may be valid. Check the record covers your flight at the time it was due; care and refund rights survive. Test the airline's reason
    No
    Pursue: The burden of proof is not discharged: ask for the record, then escalate to the ADR scheme or the enforcement body. Check your case
  - No
    Is the airline a member of an ADR scheme for this flight?
    The dispute-body registry; membership is per airline and per country
    Yes
    Pursue: Reply once with a 14-day deadline, then refer the case to the scheme — free for passengers. ADR schemes and members
    No
    Pursue: Complain to the enforcement body of the departure country; the small-claims court is the route that orders payment. ADR, enforcement body or court
- No
  Stop here: Fixed compensation is unlikely; care (meals, hotel) and a refund or re-routing may still be due.
- Not sure
  Check: Establish the arrival time at the final destination or the date you were told of the cancellation — the refusal often turns on it. Check your case
No
Stop here: Fixed compensation does not apply. The Montreal Convention (proven damage) and the airline's own conditions are the remaining routes.
Not sure
Check: Check the departure airport and the operating airline on the boarding pass — they decide the regime. Check your case

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The lawful grounds, in the Regulation’s order

Scope (Article 3(1)). The flight did not depart from the EU/EEA, the UK or Switzerland, and it arrived there from outside on a carrier not licensed there.
Booking and check-in (Article 3(2)). You had no confirmed reservation, or — except for a cancellation — did not present yourself for check-in at the time the airline indicated in writing, or 45 minutes before departure if none was given.
Free and non-public fares (Article 3(3)). Tickets free of charge or at a reduced fare not available to the public are excluded — but frequent-flyer and other commercial-programme tickets are covered, and a promotional fare anyone could buy is not “non-public”.
The delay or notice rules. An arrival delay under three hours at the final destination; a cancellation announced 14 days or more ahead, or with a re-routing inside the windows of Article 5(1)©.
Extraordinary circumstances (Article 5(3)). The airline proves a circumstance outside its control that caused the disruption of your flight and could not have been avoided with all reasonable measures.
Denied boarding on reasonable grounds (Article 2(j)). Health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documents. There is no extraordinary-circumstances defence to denied boarding, and a volunteer who agreed to give up the seat (Article 4(1)) receives the agreed benefits instead.
Settlement. You agreed in writing to a voucher as compensation (Article 7(3)) — subject to Article 15(2) if you were not told your rights.
Time. The limitation period of the competent country has run.

The airline may also deduct compensation already paid under the Regulation from further damages (Article 12(1)) — it cannot pay the same compensation twice.

Grounds that are not in the Regulation

“The fare was a promotion / basic economy.” Any fare available to the public is covered.
“Our conditions of carriage exclude it.” Obligations under the Regulation cannot be limited or waived by a contract clause (Article 15(1)).
“You booked through an agency.” The operating carrier owes the compensation whoever sold the ticket (Article 3(5)); informing the agent of a cancellation is not informing you (Krijgsman).
“The flight was operated by our partner.” Then the partner, as operating carrier, owes it — a reason to redirect the claim, not to drop it.
“We only accept claims through our web form.” The Regulation prescribes no form; a written claim by e-mail or letter is a claim. Using the airline’s form is often quicker, but refusing a claim because it came another way has no legal basis.
“Only vouchers are available.” Money is the rule; vouchers need your signed agreement.

What to do with a refusal

Match it against the list. If it rests on a lawful ground, check the facts behind it — the arrival time, the date you were told, the record of the circumstance. If it rests on none, reply once in writing with the article the airline is misapplying and a 14-day deadline, then escalate. The rejected-claim check does that matching for your flight.

Questions et réponses

Can an airline refuse compensation because I bought a cheap or promotional fare?

No. Article 3(3) excludes only tickets free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public. A promotional or basic fare that anyone could book is covered, and so are frequent-flyer tickets.

Conditions

A confirmed reservation and timely check-in

Exceptions

Staff tickets and other fares not available to the public

Exemple

A €19 promotional fare on a flight delayed four hours: €250–€400 compensation depending on distance, the same as for a full fare.

Étape suivante

Check whether the airline's rejection is valid

Source officielle

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

Can an airline refuse a claim sent by e-mail instead of its online form?

The Regulation prescribes no form for a claim, so a written claim by e-mail or letter is a claim. An airline may ask you to use its form, and doing so can speed things up, but a refusal only because the claim came another way has no basis in the Regulation.

Conditions

A written claim that identifies the flight, the passengers and what is claimed

Exceptions

An airline may ask for documents it needs to identify the booking — answer that request; it is not a refusal

Exemple

An airline replies “please resubmit through our website”; the passenger does so, noting the date of the original e-mail for the waiting period.

Étape suivante

How long the airline has to answer

Source officielle

How to complain: contact the airline first, then the National Enforcement Body of the country of departure (or arrival for inbound EU-carrier flights)

Les motifs invoqués par les compagnies, et ce que chacun vaut

Airline says "extraordinary circumstances"

The airline is invoking Article 5(3): it says the cause was outside its control and unavoidable. That is a defence it has to prove for your flight, not a label it can apply to the day.

Ce qu’il faut demander à la compagnie, par écrit

Which specific circumstance affected flight [number] on [date], at what time and at which airport?
Where is it recorded — a NOTAM, an ATC slot message, a METAR, a strike notice?
What measures did the airline take to avoid the delay, and why could you not be re-routed sooner?
Did other flights operate from the same airport in the same period?

Quand ce motif tient

It holds when the airline names the event, shows it applied to your flight rather than the schedule in general, and shows that spare aircraft, standby crew or re-routing could not have avoided the delay. A refusal that names nothing has proven nothing.

Prochaine étape

Reply once asking the four questions with a 14-day deadline; if the answer stays generic, refer the case to the ADR scheme or the enforcement body — they apply exactly these tests.

Airline says the delay was under three hours

A dispute about the arrival time. The moment that counts is when at least one aircraft door opened at your final destination (Germanwings v Henning), compared with the scheduled arrival on the booking — not touchdown, not the departure delay, not the time on the screen.

Ce qu’il faut demander à la compagnie, par écrit

What time does the airline say the doors opened at [final destination], and what is that based on?
What was the scheduled arrival time on the booking as originally issued?
For a connection on one booking: was the delay measured at the final destination rather than at the hub?

Quand ce motif tient

It holds when the doors genuinely opened less than three hours after the scheduled arrival: a 2 h 55 arrival delay carries no fixed compensation, although care and expenses may still be due. It does not hold when the airline measured touchdown, the departure, or the wrong leg.

Prochaine étape

Compare the airline's figure with your own evidence — a photo of the arrivals board, a timestamped message, flight-tracking history. If your figure is three hours or more, reply with it and escalate; if it is under three hours, claim the care and expenses you paid for instead.

Airline says your flight is outside EU261

A scope argument under Article 3: the airline says the flight departed outside the EU/EEA, the UK or Switzerland on a non-European airline, or that the regime does not reach it. Sometimes right — often not: every departure from Europe is covered whatever the airline, and inbound flights are covered on EU, EEA, UK and Swiss carriers.

Ce qu’il faut demander à la compagnie, par écrit

Which airport does the airline say the flight departed from, and which airline actually operated it (the boarding pass, not the ticket)?
For a connection on one booking: did the journey as a whole start in Europe?

Quand ce motif tient

It holds for a third-country airline flying you into Europe from outside it (Dubai to Manchester on Emirates), or for a flight entirely outside Europe. It does not hold for any departure from a European airport, for an EU/UK/Swiss carrier inbound, or for a connection that began in Europe on one booking (Folkerts).

Prochaine étape

Check the operating carrier and the departure airport against the rules; if the flight is within scope, reply citing Article 3 and escalate; if it is genuinely outside, the Montreal Convention and the airline's conditions are the remaining routes.

Airline says it was not responsible

Usually one of three things: "we did not operate the flight" (a partner or wet-lease airline did), "the delay came from an earlier flight" (a knock-on), or "the airport / handler / ATC caused it". Only the operating carrier owes compensation — but the operating carrier cannot pass a knock-on delay or its own contractor's failure to someone else.

Ce qu’il faut demander à la compagnie, par écrit

Which airline operated the aircraft, as shown on the boarding pass?
For a knock-on delay: what caused the first delay in the rotation, and was that cause extraordinary?
For a contractor (ground handler, de-icing company): was it working for the airline?

Quand ce motif tient

It holds when another airline genuinely operated the flight — claim from that airline instead. It does not hold for a late inbound aircraft whose original delay was operational, or for a handler the airline itself engaged.

Prochaine étape

Confirm the operating carrier from the boarding pass; re-address the claim if it was the wrong airline, otherwise reply asking for the root cause of the first delay and escalate.

Airline says your claim lacks documents

The airline says it cannot find the booking, needs proof of the reservation or of who travelled, or needs a signed authority. This is an administrative refusal, not a decision on the merits — and it is resolved by sending what is asked for, once, in writing.

Ce qu’il faut demander à la compagnie, par écrit

Which document exactly is missing, and in what form?
Has the airline recorded the claim under a case reference while it waits?

Quand ce motif tient

It holds only until you supply the document. A booking confirmation, the boarding passes and a copy of your ID for the passengers named usually settle it; a claim company's power of attorney is a separate question.

Prochaine étape

Send the documents with the case reference and a dated cover note; if the airline then refuses on the merits, that new refusal is the one to test.

Sources

Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-302/16 Krijgsman v SLM — the operating carrier bears the burden of proving the passenger was informed of the cancellation in time
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-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 Commission — DG MOVEHow to complain: contact the airline first, then the National Enforcement Body of the country of departure (or arrival for inbound EU-carrier flights)
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

Dernière revue juridique : 23 septembre 2026 · Contenu mis à jour : 23 septembre 2026

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