UK261 Flight Compensation in 2026: When You're Owed £220 to £520

UK261 is the United Kingdom’s flight compensation rule, and it is essentially EU261 with a British accent. When the UK left the EU it kept Regulation 261/2004 in domestic law through the 2019 EU Exit regulations, so the rights are the same: £220 to £520 in cash when your flight arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled on short notice, or you are bumped from an overbooked flight, as long as the cause was within the airline’s control.

If you have read our EU261 guide, almost everything here will look familiar. The two real differences are the currency (pounds instead of euros) and the enforcement body (the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the CAA). The amounts are set in pounds outright, not converted from the euro figures, so do not assume they track the exchange rate.

How much UK261 pays

Compensation is fixed by flight distance, not by what you paid. The long-haul band has a split that the euro version handles through a separate 50% reduction:

A short hop like London to Edinburgh or London to Paris pays £220. A medium flight like London to Istanbul pays £350. A long-haul like London to Los Angeles pays £520 if you landed more than 4 hours late, or £260 if you were only 3 to 4 hours late after a re-routing.

Which flights are covered

UK261 follows the same where-you-fly logic as EU261:

• Any flight departing a UK airport is covered, on any airline.
• Flights arriving at a UK airport from elsewhere are covered if operated by a UK or EU airline.

So London to New York is covered on any carrier because it left the UK. New York to London is covered on British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, or an EU airline, but not on a US carrier, because a non-UK, non-EU airline arriving into the UK falls outside the rule. If your flight departed an EU airport instead, you are in EU261 territory. If it was a US itinerary with no UK or EU leg, neither applies and you are looking at the much weaker US refund rules.

The triggers and exclusions are the same as EU261

Because UK261 is retained EU law, the conditions match:

• Delay: 3 or more hours late at your final destination.
• Cancellation: compensation depends on notice. More than 14 days, nothing. Between 7 and 14 days, the replacement has to leave no more than 2 hours early and arrive under 4 hours late to avoid it. Under 7 days, an even closer replacement is required.
• Denied boarding: if you were bumped involuntarily from an overbooked flight after checking in on time, you get the same £220 to £520 scale plus your choice of refund or re-routing.

And the same extraordinary circumstances get the airline off the hook: bad weather, air traffic control decisions, security alerts, political instability, and strikes outside the airline. Most technical faults and crew problems are within the airline’s control and do qualify. The airline carries the burden of proving the cause was extraordinary, so do not accept a one-line “operational issues” refusal.

For the gaps UK261 leaves open (weather, ATC, security), a separate trip policy is what reimburses the costs you eat. SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance covers trip interruption, missed connections, medical emergencies, and lost baggage worldwide on a monthly subscription, which works for a single trip or a year of travel without buying separate policies.

Refund, care, and compensation still stack

As with EU261, a cancellation or denied boarding gives you three separate rights that do not cancel each other:

1. A refund or re-routing to your destination, your choice. A refund is due within 7 days.
2. The right to care while you wait: meals and refreshments, a hotel and transport if you are delayed overnight, and communications. This is owed regardless of the delay cause, even in bad weather.
3. Cash compensation of £220 to £520 if the disruption meets the conditions.

Getting your money back for the flight does not collect the compensation. If you only claimed a refund, you can still go back for the compensation separately.

How long you have to claim

This is one area where the UK is more generous than much of the EU. The claim deadline is 6 years in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and 5 years in Scotland, running from the date of the flight. You do not need to rush a claim in within months. That said, evidence and airline records are easier to work with sooner rather than later, so do not sit on it indefinitely.

How to claim, and how to keep the whole amount

The process is a written claim to the airline, and you do not need to pay anyone:

1. Confirm the flight qualifies on coverage, the 3-hour or cancellation or denied-boarding trigger, and a cause within the airline’s control.
2. Gather evidence: booking confirmation, boarding passes, flight number and date, and any message stating the delay reason and length.
3. Claim directly from the airline, citing UK Regulation 261/2004, your flight details, the delay length, and the exact amount.
4. Escalate for free if refused or ignored after 8 weeks to the airline’s alternative dispute resolution scheme (CEDR or AviationADR are the common ones), or to the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team if the airline is not in a scheme.

Claims companies take 25 to 35 percent of the payout for sending the same letter, so on a £520 long-haul claim that is £130 to £182 you keep by doing it yourself. They are only worth considering when an airline is genuinely stonewalling a clear case you would otherwise drop.

The bottom line

If your flight left a UK airport, or landed in the UK on a UK or EU airline, and it ran 3 or more hours late for a reason within the airline’s control, UK261 owes you £220 to £520. The rule survived Brexit nearly intact, the CAA enforces it, and you have years to claim. The most common reason the money goes uncollected is the same as everywhere: people assume a rebooking or a refund ended their rights. It did not.

Not sure whether your trip falls under UK261, EU261, or US rules? Start with Are You Entitled to Flight Compensation?. For European carriers with very different reputations for paying out, our Ryanair vs easyJet and other airline comparisons cover refund and rebooking behavior in practice.