LIMITATION MAP
How long you have to claim, country by country
The deadline for a flight compensation claim is set by national law, not by the regulation. Cuadrench Moré held in 2012 that time limits for a Regulation 261/2004 claim come from each Member State's own rules on limitation. Across the 31 forums mapped here the period runs from 1 to 10 years, with Belgium and Poland at the short end.
REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V5 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026
Time limits are set by national law and differ by forum. Rows marked as pending review are drawn from the sources shown and have not yet been confirmed by our lawyers; where sources conflict, the shorter period is shown. Do not calculate the deadline for your own claim from this table alone. The free check applies the limit for your route, and the operative rules are those of the courts responsible for your claim.
Every forum in the rule set
This table is generated at build time from rule set v5. The engine day gate is the point past which our free check stops accepting a claim, set conservatively so it sits later than the true deadline rather than earlier, and it is the reason a row can show 3 years and a longer day count.
| DEPARTURE COUNTRY | PERIOD | CLOCK STARTS | REGIME | ENGINE DAY GATE | SOURCE STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1 year | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 365 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Poland | 1 year | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 365 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Croatia | 2 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 730 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Italy | 2 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 730 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Malta | 2 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 730 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Netherlands | 2 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 730 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Slovakia | 2 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 730 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Slovenia | 2 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 730 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Austria | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Bulgaria | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Czechia | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Denmark | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Estonia | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Finland | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Germany | 3 years | End of the year of the flight | EC 261 | 1,460 d | Statute cited |
| Latvia | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Lithuania | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Luxembourg | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Norway | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Portugal | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Romania | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Sweden | 3 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,095 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Hungary | 4 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,460 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Iceland | 4 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,460 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| France | 5 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,825 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Greece | 5 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,825 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Spain | 5 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 1,825 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| Cyprus | 6 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 2,190 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
| Ireland | 6 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 2,190 d | Launch book table, counsel review pending |
| United Kingdom | 6 years | Date of the flight | UK 261 | 2,190 d | Statute cited |
| Switzerland | 10 years | Date of the flight | EC 261 | 3,650 d | Industry research 2026-07-18, counsel review pending |
Where a departure country has no entry
A departure outside the mapped forums falls to the rule set's fallback: 3 years from the end of the year of the flight, with the engine's conservative day gate at 1,460 days. Those claims are also flagged for a human to confirm the forum before anything is filed, because a fallback is a placeholder rather than an answer.
What the day gates do
| BAND | BEHAVIOUR |
|---|---|
| Before the referral window | The free check runs the full assessment |
| Final 180 days before the bar | Referred to a partner rather than taken on under time pressure |
| Past the day gate | Declined |
Rows where published sources disagree
6 of the 31 rows have a known conflict in the available sources. In every case the shorter period is encoded, which refers a claim out earlier rather than risking a dead one. These are the rows counsel is asked to settle first.
Luxembourg · 3 YEARS ENCODED
Sources conflict: 3 years and 10 years both appear. The shorter period is encoded.
Sweden · 3 YEARS ENCODED
Sources conflict: 3 years and 10 years both appear. The shorter period is encoded.
Hungary · 4 YEARS ENCODED
Sources conflict: 4 years against a 5 year general civil period. The shorter period is encoded.
Iceland · 4 YEARS ENCODED
Attributed to the Icelandic Aviation Act rather than the general civil code.
Cyprus · 6 YEARS ENCODED
A widely repeated claim that Cyprus has "no time limit" predates Law 66(I)/2012. Six years is encoded, and the row is a counsel priority.
Switzerland · 10 YEARS ENCODED
Single-source outlier at 10 years, far longer than any neighbour. Flagged for counsel as a priority.
How to read the source status column
STATUTE CITED
The instrument itself was fetched and read, and it is cited in the sources below.
LAUNCH BOOK TABLE, COUNSEL REVIEW PENDING
From the launch book table of 8 July 2026, carried since rule set v2. Not yet counsel reviewed.
INDUSTRY RESEARCH 2026-07-18, COUNSEL REVIEW PENDING
Researched from published industry tables on 18 July 2026 and encoded conservatively. Not yet counsel reviewed.
Changelog for this page
7 AUGUST 2026 · DATA
Germany's limitation row upgraded to statute verified
18 JULY 2026 · RULE SET
Rule set v5: limitation coverage completed for the EU and EEA
22 NOVEMBER 2012 · CASE LAW
Cuadrench Moré: national law sets the deadline for a compensation claim
Every change to this table is dated on the passenger rights changelog, and the periods themselves are downloadable in the open rules dataset.
SOURCES
- Case C-139/11 Cuadrench Moré v KLM, judgment of 22 November 2012 (ECLI:EU:C:2012:741) · EUR-Lex · checked 7 August 2026
- Limitation Act 1980, s. 5 · legislation.gov.uk · checked 7 August 2026
- Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) § 195, Regelmäßige Verjährungsfrist · gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 7 August 2026
- Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) § 199, Beginn der regelmäßigen Verjährungsfrist · gesetze-im-internet.de · checked 7 August 2026
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 7 · 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