Flight Compensation Calculator (EU, UK, India)

About the Flight Compensation Calculator (EU, UK, India)

When a flight arrives hours late, is cancelled at short notice or leaves without you because it was overbooked, the law may give you a fixed sum of compensation on top of a refund, a replacement flight and meals — whatever you paid for the ticket. Which rules apply depends on where the flight leaves from, where it lands and which airline operates it.

Enter the airports (or the distance), the airline and what happened. The calculator checks the EU rules (Regulation 261/2004, which also cover Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, with the Court of Justice’s rulings on delays), the UK rules (UK261, as the Civil Aviation Authority applies them) and India’s rules (the DGCA requirements in the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Passenger Charter). For each set that covers your flight it shows the amount per passenger, any reduction the airline may make, the exceptions, your other rights and where to complain — and drafts a claim letter to send. The amended EU rules of Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 are used for flights on or after the day they start to apply.

Common uses

• A passenger checking whether a late or cancelled flight is worth claiming for, and how much to ask.
• A traveller turned down by an airline that blames “extraordinary circumstances”, checking the rules before escalating.
• A family on a delayed Indian domestic flight working out the refund, meals and compensation the Charter promises.

Which rules cover your flight

• EU rules — every flight leaving an airport in the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland, on any airline; and flights from elsewhere landing there on an EU (or Norwegian, Icelandic or Swiss) airline, unless you received benefits or compensation and assistance under the law of the country you left (Art 3(1)). The Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores and the French overseas regions such as Réunion and Guadeloupe are part of the EU.
• UK261 — flights leaving a UK airport on any airline, flights landing in the UK on a UK or EU airline, and flights landing in the EU on a UK airline.
• India — the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s Passenger Charter sets out the DGCA rules for airline passengers in India; for a foreign airline’s international flight, ask the airline which rules it applies.

For a connection on one booking, the distance and the delay are counted from the first departure to the final destination; with separate tickets each flight stands alone. Free tickets and staff fares not available to the public are not covered; frequent-flyer tickets are.

How much: EU and UK

The distance is the great circle between the first departure and the final destination (Art 7(4)).

• 1,500 km or less — €250 · £220.
• 1,500 to 3,500 km, and EU flights over 1,500 km between two EU airports — €400 · £350.
• Over 3,500 km — €600 · £520.

A delay is compensated when you reach your final destination three hours or more late — the Court of Justice treats it like a cancellation (Sturgeon; Nelson), measured at the moment a door opens (Germanwings). On a flight over 3,500 km the airline may pay half if you are between three and four hours late. After a cancellation or denied boarding, the airline may halve the sum if the replacement flight arrives no more than 2, 3 or 4 hours late, by distance (Art 7(2)).

Cancellations: when no compensation is due

Under Article 5(1)(c) — and in UK261 — you get no compensation if you were told:

• at least 14 days before the departure; or
• 7 to 13 days before, and offered a flight leaving no more than 2 hours early and arriving less than 4 hours late; or
• less than 7 days before, and offered a flight leaving no more than 1 hour early and arriving less than 2 hours late.

In every case you still choose between a refund of the ticket and a replacement flight, and get meals, refreshments and, when needed, a hotel while you wait (Arts 8, 9).

The amended EU rules (Regulation (EU) 2026/2202)

For flights from the day the amending Regulation applies (its Article 3), the EU rules change. The calculator uses them when the date of your flight is on or after that day:

• Delays are compensated when you arrive more than three hours late (new Art 6(4)), as are missed connections on one booking (Art 6b(3)); the amounts stay €250, €400 and €600.
• The 50% reduction is kept only for journeys over 3,500 km arriving no more than four hours late (Art 7(2)); a replacement you take that leaves 1 to 2 hours early lets the airline cut 50%, and 2 to 3 hours early 25% (Art 7(3)).
• A cancellation is excused only if you were told 14 days ahead, or told later and offered a flight leaving at most one hour early and arriving less than two hours late (Art 5(5)).
• Volunteers who give up their seat keep the right to compensation unless they accept the airline’s benefits in its place on a durable medium (Art 4(2)).
• Claim within nine months; the airline must pay, or explain why not, within 30 days (Art 7(9)). An Annex lists the extraordinary circumstances.

India: what the Passenger Charter gives

• Cancellation — told at least two weeks ahead, or between two weeks and 24 hours: an alternate flight or a refund. Told later (or a missed connection on the same ticket): an alternate flight you accept, or a full refund plus ₹5,000, ₹7,500 or ₹10,000 for a block time up to 1 hour, up to 2 hours or longer — or the booked one-way basic fare plus fuel charge, if that is less.
• Denied boarding for over-booking — no compensation if the alternate flight leaves within an hour of the original; otherwise 200% of the booked one-way basic fare plus fuel charge (up to ₹10,000) for an alternate flight within 24 hours, or 400% (up to ₹20,000) for a later one or if you take a refund.
• Delays — meals and refreshments from 2, 3 or 4 hours by block time; for a domestic flight over 6 hours late, an alternate flight within 6 hours or a full refund; a hotel for longer delays.
• No compensation for force majeure, or if you did not give the airline your contact details when booking. Complain at the airline’s desk, then on AirSewa, then to a consumer commission or court.

Extraordinary circumstances

Under the EU and UK rules the airline pays nothing if it proves the cancellation or delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures (Art 5(3)). Weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control restrictions, security risks and strikes outside the airline usually qualify. A technical problem with the aircraft usually does not, unless it comes from events outside the airline’s normal activity (Wallentin-Hermann; van der Lans; in the UK, Jet2 v Huzar). If the airline relies on one, ask it to say exactly what happened and what it did to avoid the disruption.

Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 — Arts 3–10
• Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 — amending Arts 3–10, Art 6b, Art 6c and the Annex
• Court of Justice: Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07); Nelson (C-581/10); Folkerts (C-11/11); Germanwings (C-452/13); Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07)
• UK Civil Aviation Authority: delays, cancellations, denied boarding, extraordinary circumstances
• Ministry of Civil Aviation, Passenger Charter — DGCA Civil Aviation Requirement Section 3, Series M, Part IV
• Airport locations: OurAirports (public domain)

Limitations

• An estimate, not legal advice: the airline, the national enforcement body, an ADR scheme or a court decides, including whether extraordinary circumstances applied.
• Only the EU, UK and Indian rules are checked. Other countries have their own passenger rights; the Montreal Convention covers damage you can prove.
• Distances are great circles from the listed airport coordinates; near 1,500 or 3,500 km an airline or court may measure slightly differently.
• Refunds, meal costs, hotel bills and lost baggage are claimed on top and are not totalled here. Package holidays and separate tickets have their own rules.

Privacy

Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.