ANSWER · UK 261 AND EC 261

What am I owed if my flight is delayed 3 hours?

EC 261 sets compensation at €250, €400 or €600 per passenger once you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late, with the amount fixed by flight distance rather than by what you paid. UK 261 sets £220, £350 or £520 on the same thresholds. Whether a particular flight is covered depends on the cause of the delay, and the free check applies these rules to your answers.

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

How much does each distance band pay?

Distance is measured great circle from the departure airport to the final ticketed destination, not the length of the leg that went wrong.

COMPENSATION BY DISTANCE BAND
DISTANCE BAND	EC 261	UK 261
Up to 1,500 km	€250	£220
1,500 to 3,500 km	€400	£350
Over 3,500 km	€600	£520

Bands and amounts read from rule set v5, the same data the free check evaluates. EC 261 figures are set by Art. 7(1); the sterling figures were substituted by SI 2019/278 for flights covered by the retained regulation.

Why 3 hours, when the regulation talks about cancellations?

Regulation 261/2004 gives a fixed sum for cancellation and denied boarding. It does not mention delay compensation at all.

The Court of Justice read it in during 2009, in Sturgeon, holding that passengers who lose three hours or more should be treated like passengers whose flight was cancelled. The Grand Chamber confirmed that reading in Nelson in 2012, after airlines and the UK Civil Aviation Authority challenged it.

What can the airline still argue?

Art. 5(3) releases the carrier from compensation where it proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The burden sits on the airline, twice: it has to prove the circumstance and prove the response.

Technical faults are generally inside the airline's control (Wallentin-Hermann, van der Lans).
A strike by the airline's own staff is generally inside its control (Krüsemann, Airhelp v SAS).
Bird strikes and severe weather generally sit outside it (Pešková).

THE JUDGMENTS BEHIND THIS ANSWER

Sturgeon, C-402/07 and C-432/072009 Nelson, C-581/10 and C-629/102012

SOURCES

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 7(1) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Joined Cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 Sturgeon v Condor, judgment of 19 November 2009 (ECLI:EU:C:2009:716) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Joined Cases C-581/10 and C-629/10 Nelson v Deutsche Lufthansa and TUI Travel v CAA, judgment of 23 October 2012 (Grand Chamber, ECLI:EU:C:2012:657) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/278), reg. 8 · legislation.gov.uk · checked 7 August 2026