ANSWER · UK 261 AND EC 261

What is the airline required to give me while I wait at the airport?

Art. 9 requires meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, plus two free communications, once the delay reaches the Art. 6 threshold for your distance: two hours up to 1,500 km, three hours in the middle band and four hours beyond. Accommodation follows where an overnight stay becomes necessary.

REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V5 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026

When the duty starts

ART. 6 THRESHOLDS
DISTANCE	CARE STARTS AT
1,500 km or less	2 hours
Intra-EU over 1,500 km, or 1,500 to 3,500 km	3 hours
All other flights	4 hours

Art. 6(1). The duty is on the operating carrier, whoever sold the ticket.

What counts as reasonable

The regulation does not price a meal. In practice airlines issue vouchers, and the test is whether what was provided bears a reasonable relation to the length of the wait. A drinks voucher after nine hours does not.

Where nothing is provided, receipts for what you actually spent are the evidence. Alcohol and duty free are outside the head of loss.

A voucher is not a settlement

Care is a separate duty from compensation. Accepting a sandwich, a hotel or a rebooking does not release a claim under Art. 7, and no signature at a service desk is required to receive care.

THE JUDGMENTS BEHIND THIS ANSWER

McDonagh, C-12/112013

SOURCES

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 9 · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 6 · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Case C-12/11 McDonagh v Ryanair, judgment of 31 January 2013 (ECLI:EU:C:2013:43) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026