ANSWER · UK 261 AND EC 261

I was rebooked and still arrived 3 hours late. Does that count?

Yes. Being re-routed is the airline performing its Art. 8 duty, and it does not extinguish the Art. 7 claim. What matters is the arrival delay you actually experienced at the final destination: 3 hours or more keeps the compensation in play, subject to the cause and to the Art. 7(2) reduction on the longest band.

REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V6 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026

Which arrival is measured

The one you made. Sturgeon frames the test as loss of time against the originally scheduled arrival, so the comparison is between the scheduled arrival on the original itinerary and the actual arrival on the replacement.

Where a same day rebooking can reduce the sum

Art. 7(2) allows a 50 percent reduction above 3,500 km where the re-routing arrival falls inside the shorter window. Below 3,500 km the reduction has no application, so a same day rebooking on a European itinerary does not cut the amount.

The care duty during the gap

Art. 9 runs while you wait for the replacement: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the wait, two communications, and accommodation if the rebooking crosses a night.

THE JUDGMENTS BEHIND THIS ANSWER

Sturgeon, C-402/07 and C-432/072009

SOURCES

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 7(2) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 8 · 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