ANSWER · UK 261 AND EC 261
My flight landed at a different airport. What am I owed?
It depends where it landed. A diversion to an airport serving the same town or region is not a cancellation: the Court held on 22 April 2021 in WZ v Austrian Airlines that the carrier must offer to pay your transfer, and compensation of €250, €400 or €600 or £220, £350 or £520 arises only where you reach the booked airport, or an agreed nearby point, 3 hours or more late.
REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V6 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026
A nearby airport or somewhere else entirely?
The Court read town, city or region widely: what counts is that the airports are in close proximity to the territory they serve, not administrative boundaries. Landing somewhere that does not serve your destination at all is different: the Court has said a flight diverted to an airport not serving the booked one must in principle be treated as cancelled.
How the delay is measured after a diversion
Not at the diversion airport. The reference point is when you actually reach the airport you booked, or another close destination agreed with the airline, at the end of the transfer. That is the number the 3 hour test runs on.
If the airline leaves you to pay the transfer
Breach of the Art. 8(3) duty gives you back what the transfer necessarily and reasonably cost. It does not add the flat rate sums on top; those still depend on the arrival delay.
THE JUDGMENTS BEHIND THIS ANSWER
SOURCES
- Case C-826/19 WZ v Austrian Airlines, judgment of 22 April 2021 (ECLI:EU:C:2021:318) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 8(3) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
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