Airline refuses delay compensation: the five delay-specific refusals and how to test them
Quick answer
A delay claim is refused for one of five reasons, and each has a settled answer. The delay counts at your final destination when the doors open, not at departure; three hours is the threshold. Technical faults and crew problems are not extraordinary. A knock-on delay is judged on the cause of the first delay in the aircraft's day. On a single booking, a missed connection counts at the final destination. Test the airline's reason against these before accepting it.
Direct answer
- Short answer
- A delay refusal holds only if you reached your final destination less than three hours late (doors open), or if the airline proves an extraordinary circumstance for your flight. Technical faults, crew problems and knock-on delays from the airline's own operation do not excuse it.
- Amount
- €250–€600 / £220–£520per passenger by distance; halved on flights over 3,500 km that arrived 3–4 hours late
- Why
- The Court of Justice extended fixed compensation to arrival delays of three hours or more (Sturgeon), measured when the doors open (Germanwings v Henning) and at the final destination of a single booking (Folkerts); only a proven extraordinary circumstance excuses the airline (Art. 5(3)).
- What can change it
- The arrival delay at the final destination was under three hours.
- A genuine ATC restriction or severe weather held your flight and the airline shows it took all reasonable measures.
- The flights were on separate tickets: each is judged alone.
- The flight was not covered: a departure outside Europe on a carrier not licensed there.
- Check your flight
- Check my flight
- Official source
- 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 CouncilLast checked against the source on 23 September 2026
A delay claim was refused: does the refusal hold?
Did you reach your final destination three hours or more late — measured when the doors opened?
Sturgeon (C-402/07); Germanwings v Henning (C-452/13); on one booking, the final destination counts (Folkerts, C-11/11)
- Yes
Does the airline name a cause for your flight — including the original cause of a knock-on delay?
Art. 5(3); a knock-on delay is judged on the cause of the first delay in the rotation
- Yes
Is that cause one that can be extraordinary, and does a record show it held your flight?
Technical faults and crew problems are not extraordinary (van der Lans C-257/14, TAP C-156/22); ATC, severe weather, bird strikes can be
- YesCheck: The refusal may hold. Check whether the airline could have re-routed you sooner or used a spare aircraft. Test the airline's reason
- NoPursue: Compensation appears due. Reply once with the rule the airline misapplies, then refer the case. Check your case
- Yes
- NoPursue: The refusal has not discharged the burden of proof. Ask for the cause and the record, then escalate. Check your case
- Yes
- NoStop here: No fixed compensation; meals and refreshments may still be due from 2, 3 or 4 hours of delay depending on distance (Art. 6).
- Not sureCheck: Establish the arrival time: an app notification, an arrivals-board photo or the flight-tracking history for the flight.
Is the airline's rejection valid?
Enter the flight and the reason the airline gave — or paste its reply. Horvera tests the reason against the rules, tells you what is still decisive, the amount the flight would earn, and which body you can escalate to and from when.
1. “The delay was under three hours”
Compensation for delay starts at three hours at the final destination (Sturgeon). The moment that counts is when at least one door opened and passengers could leave the aircraft (Germanwings v Henning) — not touchdown, not the gate time on the app. A dispute of a few minutes is common: ask the airline for the door-opening time and compare it with your own evidence — an app notification, a photo of the arrivals board, the flight’s public tracking history.
2. “The flight left on time” or “the departure delay was short”
The departure time is irrelevant to compensation; only the arrival delay at the final destination counts. A flight that left 90 minutes late and arrived 3 h 10 late qualifies.
3. “A technical problem”
Technical faults — including an unexpected component failure — are inherent in operating aircraft and are not extraordinary (Wallentin-Hermann; van der Lans). The narrow exceptions are a hidden manufacturing defect revealed by the manufacturer or authority, or damage caused by sabotage or terrorism, which the airline must prove.
4. “The aircraft arrived late from its previous flight”
A knock-on delay is judged on its original cause. If the first delay of the aircraft’s day was operational — a technical fault, a crew shortage, slow turnaround — the knock-on delay is compensable. If it was genuinely extraordinary (an air-traffic-control restriction on the earlier sector, say), the airline must still show that it could not have absorbed it with a spare aircraft or a re-routing. Ask what caused the first delay in the rotation.
5. “You missed your connection; the first flight was only slightly late”
On a single booking, the delay is measured at your final destination and the distance over the whole journey (Folkerts). A 40-minute delay on the first leg that made you miss the connection and arrive four hours late qualifies. On separate tickets, each flight is judged on its own.
Crew, weather and air traffic control
Crew shortages and the unexpected absence of a crew member are not extraordinary (TAP, C-156/22); strikes by the airline’s own staff are not either (Airhelp v SAS). Weather and air-traffic-control restrictions can be — but only for your flight, at the time it was due, and only if the airline shows it took all reasonable measures. The extraordinary-circumstances rejection guide goes through those tests.
What survives a valid refusal
Meals and refreshments from two, three or four hours of delay depending on distance, a hotel if the delay runs overnight (Article 6 and 9), and — after five hours — the right to abandon the trip and have the ticket refunded (Article 6(1)(iii)). Keep receipts for anything you paid for yourself.
The long-haul reduction
On a flight over 3,500 km, an arrival delay between three and four hours earns half the amount — €300 instead of €600 — as the Court applies Article 7(2) to delays. A refusal that offers €300 on such a flight may be right about the amount even if it is framed as a goodwill gesture.
Questions answered
Can an airline refuse delay compensation because of a technical problem?
Not as a rule. The Court of Justice has held that technical problems, including unexpected component failures, are inherent in the normal exercise of an airline's activity and are not extraordinary circumstances (Wallentin-Hermann, van der Lans). A refusal on that ground alone does not hold.
- Conditions
- An arrival delay of three hours or more at the final destination
- A covered flight
- Exceptions
- A hidden manufacturing defect disclosed by the manufacturer or an authority, or sabotage — for the airline to prove
- Example
A 4-hour delay blamed on “a technical fault with the aircraft” — the reply cites van der Lans (C-257/14) and asks for payment within 14 days.
- Next step
- Check whether the airline's rejection is valid
- Official source
- Case C-257/14 van der Lans v KLM — spontaneous technical failure is inherent in the normal exercise of the activity
Does the delay count at departure or arrival?
At arrival, at your final destination. Compensation depends on reaching the final destination three hours or more after the scheduled arrival time, measured when at least one door opens; the departure delay does not matter.
- Conditions
- On a single booking, the final destination of the whole journey
- Exceptions
- Care rights (meals, hotel) are triggered by the expected departure delay under Article 6
- Example
Departure 1 h 30 late, arrival 3 h 05 late: compensation is due; the refusal “the flight left only 90 minutes late” is wrong.
- Next step
- The 3-hour rule in detail
- Official source
- Joined 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
The reasons airlines give, and what each one is worth
Airline rejected your claim because of weather
Severe weather can be extraordinary — but only weather that actually made your flight impossible or unsafe, at the time it was due to operate. "Adverse weather conditions" with no place, time or report is a template.
- What to ask the airline, in writing
- What weather, at which airport and at what time, and what is the METAR or airport notice for that hour?
- Did other flights depart from and arrive at that airport in the same period?
- Was the delay caused by the weather itself or by a de-icing queue, a crew change or an aircraft swap the airline organised badly?
- Why could the flight not be re-routed or retimed?
- When this reason holds
- It holds for a closed runway, a storm that halted operations, or visibility below the airport's minima for your slot. It does not hold for weather elsewhere, weather the day before, a knock-on delay the airline could have absorbed with a spare aircraft, or a de-icing queue the airline under-resourced.
- Next step
- Check publicly available flight history for the same airport and hour; if other flights operated, say so in your reply and escalate if the airline does not produce the weather record.
Airline rejected compensation after a technical issue
Technical problems are inherent in operating aircraft and are not extraordinary — including unexpected component failures discovered on the day (Wallentin-Hermann, van der Lans). The only exceptions are a hidden manufacturing defect affecting the fleet, or sabotage or terrorism, which the airline must prove.
- What to ask the airline, in writing
- What exactly failed, and does the airline say it was a hidden manufacturing defect notified by the manufacturer or the regulator?
- What did the airline do to avoid the delay — spare aircraft, another carrier, retiming?
- When this reason holds
- It almost never holds. A technical fault is the airline's risk; a refusal on this ground is the clearest case for a written reply and, if maintained, an ADR referral or a small claim.
- Next step
- Reply citing van der Lans (C-257/14) with a 14-day deadline; refer the case to the ADR scheme or the enforcement body if the airline maintains the refusal.
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.
- What to ask the airline, in writing
- 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?
- When this reason holds
- 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.
- Next step
- 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 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.
- What to ask the airline, in writing
- 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?
- When this reason holds
- 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.
- Next step
- 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 rejected a missed-connection claim
On a single booking, a short delay on the first flight that costs you the connection is compensated on the delay at the final destination and on the distance of the whole journey (Folkerts). On separate tickets, each flight stands alone and the missed onward flight is not the first airline's problem.
- What to ask the airline, in writing
- Were both flights on one booking reference?
- What was the arrival delay at the final destination, measured when the doors opened?
- Was the connection time in the booking the airline's own minimum connection time?
- When this reason holds
- It holds when the flights were bought separately, or when the connection was missed for a reason unrelated to the first flight (a late passenger, a security queue). It does not hold when one booking, a feeder delay and an arrival at the final destination three hours or more late are all present.
- Next step
- Check the booking reference on both boarding passes; on one booking, reply citing Folkerts (C-11/11) with the arrival time at the final destination and escalate.
Sources
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-28/20 Airhelp v Scandinavian Airlines — a strike organised by the airline's own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-11/11 Air France v Folkerts — compensation for connecting flights depends on the delay at the final destination
- 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 UnionJoined Cases C-156/22 to C-158/22 TAP Portugal — unexpected absence of crew is not an extraordinary circumstance
- Court of Justice of the European UnionCase C-257/14 van der Lans v KLM — spontaneous technical failure is inherent in the normal exercise of the activity
- 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
Last legally reviewed: 23 September 2026 · Content updated: 23 September 2026
Is the airline's rejection valid?
Enter the flight and the reason the airline gave — or paste its reply. Horvera tests the reason against the rules, tells you what is still decisive, the amount the flight would earn, and which body you can escalate to and from when.