RunwayEU261 Flight Compensation Calculator
Pick the airport where your journey started and your final destination, tell us what happened, and the calculator applies Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (and its UK version, UK261) to estimate the fixed compensation per passenger. Distances are great-circle values computed from the airport coordinates in the RunwayFacts dataset, as Article 7(4) requires.
Enter two airports to see the distance band and the amount under EU261 and UK261.
Want someone else to chase the airline? A claims service can file and follow up for you, usually for a share of the payout.
Check your claim with AirHelp →Disclosure: RunwayFacts may join AirHelp’s affiliate programme and earn a commission from this link in future. It does not change the calculation above. You can also claim directly from the airline for free.
Estimate only — not legal advice. The calculator runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to RunwayFacts.
How much compensation? The Article 7 distance bands
| Great-circle distance | EU261 (Art 7(1)) | UK261 | 50% reduction if re-routed and arriving within |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 km or less | €250 | £220 | 2 hours |
| Intra-EU, more than 1,500 km | €400 | — | 3 hours |
| Other flights, 1,500–3,500 km | €400 | £350 | 3 hours |
| Other flights, more than 3,500 km | €600 | £520 | 4 hours |
- Distance is the great-circle distance between the first departure airport and the final destination, regardless of the route actually flown or any connections (Art 7(4); CJEU Bossen, C‑559/16).
- Intra-EU flights never reach €600: a flight between two EU airports of more than 1,500 km is always €400, even Paris → Réunion at over 9,000 km.
- Delays earn compensation once you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late (CJEU Sturgeon, C‑402/07 & C‑432/07). For flights over 3,500 km outside the EU, a delay of 3 to under 4 hours may be paid at 50%.
- Cancellations are not compensated if you were told at least 14 days ahead, or 7–13 days ahead with a re-routing leaving ≤2 h earlier and arriving <4 h later, or under 7 days ahead with a re-routing leaving ≤1 h earlier and arriving <2 h later (Art 5(1)(c)).
- Extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken cancel the right to compensation (Art 5(3)) — the airline has to prove them. Routine technical faults (Wallentin-Hermann, C‑549/07) and strikes by the airline's own staff (Airhelp, C‑28/20) generally do not qualify.
- Compensation is per passenger, in addition to your right to care (meals, hotel) and to a refund or re-routing. Claim deadlines are set by national law and differ between countries.
Is my flight covered?
| Journey | EU261 | UK261 |
|---|---|---|
| Departing an EU / EEA / Swiss airport | Yes, any airline | Only if departing the UK |
| Arriving in the EU / EEA / Switzerland from outside | Only on an EU/EEA/Swiss airline | Only on a UK airline (EU Member States) |
| Departing a UK airport | Only if arriving in the EU on an EU airline | Yes, any airline |
| Arriving in the UK from outside | No | On a UK or EU airline |
| Neither end in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or UK | No | No |
"Airline" means the operating carrier (the one whose crew and aircraft fly you), not the one that sold the ticket. Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein apply the regulation through the EEA Agreement and Switzerland through its air transport agreement with the EU; the calculator treats them like EU airports. EU outermost regions such as Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana count as EU territory; overseas countries such as French Polynesia and New Caledonia, the Faroe Islands and Greenland do not. Passengers arriving from outside the EU who already received compensation or assistance under that country's law are excluded (Art 3(1)(b)).
Worked examples
Computed from the airport coordinates in this dataset with the same code the calculator uses.
| Scenario | Great-circle distance | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Munich → Dubai on a non-EU airline, arrived 3 h 30 min late because of a technical fault. (MUC → DXB) | 4,565 km | EU261: €300 (50% reduction) |
| London Heathrow → Madrid on an EU airline, cancelled two days before departure; passenger took a refund instead of re-routing. (LHR → MAD) | 1,244 km | EU261: €250 · UK261: £220 |
| Denver → Munich on a US airline, 5 h late. (DEN → MUC) | 8,387 km | Not covered by EU261 or UK261 |
| The same Denver → Munich trip, but operated by an EU airline. (DEN → MUC) | 8,387 km | EU261: €600 |
| Paris CDG → Réunion (an EU outermost region), 4 h late. (CDG → RUN) | 9,370 km | EU261: €400 |
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Articles 3, 5 and 7 — EUR-Lex (CELEX 32004R0261).
- UK261 (retained Regulation 261/2004 as amended) — Article 7 and Article 3 on legislation.gov.uk.
- CJEU Sturgeon, C‑402/07 & C‑432/07 (19 November 2009) — 3-hour delay rule and 50% reduction.
- CJEU Bossen, C‑559/16 (7 September 2017) — distance for connecting flights.
- CJEU Wallentin-Hermann, C‑549/07 and Airhelp, C‑28/20 — technical faults and own-staff strikes.
- European Commission, Your Europe: air passenger rights.
- Airport coordinates: OurAirports snapshot 2026-09-01 (CC0) — see Methodology.