Schedule change or cancellation? When a retimed flight earns compensation

Moved earlier by more than one hour: a cancellation

The Court reasoned that a flight leaving substantially earlier than planned is as disruptive as one that does not leave at all — you may not be able to catch it. In Azurair and Others (Joined Cases C-146/20, C-188/20, C-196/20 and C-270/20, 21 December 2021) it fixed the line at more than one hour. Such a flight is cancelled for the purposes of the Regulation, and the notice rules of Article 5(1)© decide the compensation:

• Told 14 days or more before departure: no compensation, but you may refuse the new time and take a full refund or re-routing.
• Told between 7 and 14 days ahead: no compensation if the new departure was at most 2 hours earlier than planned; brought forward by more than 2 hours, compensation is due.
• Told less than 7 days ahead: no compensation only if the new departure was at most 1 hour early — which a flight brought forward by more than one hour is not — so compensation is due.

Two further points from the same judgment. The airline cannot halve the amount under Article 7(2): that reduction exists for re-routing that arrives a little late, and the Court held it does not apply to a flight brought forward. And telling you of the new time before the journey can itself count as the “offer of re-routing” — which is why the notice date matters so much. Keep the message announcing the change, with its date.

Moved later: a delay, measured at arrival

A flight postponed by less than three hours, with nothing else changed, is not a cancellation (Corendon Airlines, C-395/20, same day). You get care from the usual thresholds — meals after 2, 3 or 4 hours depending on distance — and nothing else unless the arrival delay grows.

A longer postponement is assessed as a delay: compensation is due if you reach your final destination 3 hours or more after the originally scheduled arrival (Sturgeon), unless the airline proves an extraordinary circumstance. The Court has not ruled on whether a postponement of three hours or more announced days in advance can instead be treated as a cancellation with its 14-day defence; airlines argue it, national courts differ. Claim on the arrival delay and expect the airline to contest the notice point. If the new time does not suit you, the Regulation gives no refund right until the delay reaches 5 hours — though most airlines’ own conditions allow a free change or refund for a “significant” schedule change.

Moved to another day

Two things can have happened, and the paperwork tells you which. If your original flight was dropped and you were moved to a different flight the next day, that is a cancellation: the notice rules above apply, the refund choice is open whatever the notice, and compensation is due unless you were told 14 days or more ahead or an extraordinary circumstance applies. If the same flight was pushed to the next day — the Commission’s guidelines accept this can still be a delay, case by case, even with an annotated flight number — it is a delay of well over three hours, and compensation is due unless the airline proves an extraordinary circumstance. Either way, an overnight move announced at short notice is rarely free of compensation, and the hotel and meals are owed in the meantime.

Schedule changes announced weeks or months ahead

Airlines re-time flights well in advance for seasonal schedules. Announced 14 days or more ahead, no compensation is due — the Regulation’s notice rule is exactly for this. What survives: a brought-forward flight still gives you the choice of a refund or re-routing, and a significant change usually gives you a free rebooking under the fare rules. Read the e-mail carefully: “your flight has been retimed” with a new flight number is a cancellation and re-routing offer in one.

Refund, rebooking or compensation: which applies

The compensation and the refund are separate rights: a cancelled brought-forward flight that you refuse gives you the refund and, inside the notice windows, the compensation. The refund guide has the detail, including why a voucher needs your signed agreement.

Package holidays and tour-operator bookings

The same judgment protects passengers who booked through a tour operator. A booking confirmation from the operator that names the flight and its times is a “confirmed reservation” even if the airline never confirmed those times to the operator, and the times on it are the scheduled times for measuring a delay — passengers who were never told of any change may rely on them. Separately, Krijgsman (C-302/16) holds that an airline which told only the travel agent or operator, which did not pass the information on in time, has not informed you: the compensation is still due. The claim is against the operating airline, which can recover from the operator afterwards (Article 13). The package holiday guide covers the rest.

UK flights

UK261 keeps the Regulation’s text and the case law decided before the end of 2020. Azurair and Corendon were decided in December 2021, so they are persuasive rather than binding on UK courts and ADR schemes; the reasoning — a flight you cannot catch is as good as cancelled — is the same, and it is worth citing. Amounts are £220, £350 and £520.

Four realistic scenarios

Ryanair Dublin → Faro, 09:40 departure moved to 06:15, e-mail received five days before. Brought forward 3 h 25, inside 7 days: a cancellation with no defence under the notice rule. €400 per passenger (over 1,500 km), and the choice of a refund if the new time is impossible — no 50 % reduction.

Wizz Air Budapest → London Luton retimed from 07:00 to 08:45, announced three weeks ahead. Moved later by under 3 hours: not a cancellation, and the arrival will be under 3 hours late. No compensation; check the fare rules for a free change.

easyJet Manchester → Málaga moved from Saturday 18:30 to Sunday 07:10, new flight number, notified ten days before. Cancellation announced 7–14 days ahead; the replacement reaches Málaga about 13 hours after the original scheduled arrival, far outside the 4-hour arrival limit of the 7–14-day window. £350 per passenger, plus a refund instead if the Sunday flight is useless to you.

British Airways London → Rome retimed by 30 minutes earlier, told two months ahead. Brought forward by an hour or less: not a cancellation; announced 14+ days ahead anyway. No compensation; the fare rules decide whether you can change for free.

What to keep

The original confirmation showing the scheduled times, every message announcing a change with its date, the fare rules in force when you booked, and the actual times flown. If you refused the new time, keep the refund request and the airline’s answer.