TUI Airways delay compensation
Compensation is due when you arrive at your final destination 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time. It is the arrival that counts, not the departure: a flight that leaves four hours late but makes up time and lands 2 hours 50 minutes late is not covered.
Which TUI Airways flights are covered
TUI Airways is a UK airline, so most of its flights are covered in both directions.
- Departing a UK airport: covered by UK261.
- Departing an EU airport: covered by EU261.
- Arriving in the UK from outside Europe: covered by UK261, because TUI Airways is a UK carrier.
- Arriving in the EU from outside Europe: not covered by EU261, because TUI Airways is not an EU carrier — though a UK departure on the same trip is.
Worked examples on TUI Airways routes
| Route | Distance | Rules | Per passenger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester (MAN) → London (LGW) | 283 km | UK261 | £220 |
| Manchester (MAN) → Birmingham (BHX) | 106 km | UK261 | £220 |
| Manchester (MAN) → Bristol (BRS) | 221 km | UK261 | £220 |
| Manchester (MAN) → Paris (CDG) | 588 km | UK261 | £220 |
What TUI Airways is likely to say — and the answer
“Extraordinary circumstances” with no detail — ask which circumstance, and for the evidence.
“A technical problem” — not an extraordinary circumstance, and settled by the Court of Justice.
“The inbound aircraft arrived late” — a knock-on delay only counts if the original cause was itself extraordinary.
A disputed arrival time — ask for their recorded on-blocks time and compare it with yours.
Specific to TUI Airways
TUI is slower than most, and six weeks for a first substantive answer is normal rather than exceptional. Keep the 14-day deadline in your letter anyway — it starts the clock for escalation.
Long-haul TUI flights to the Caribbean and Mexico sit firmly in the over-3,500 km band, so the sums are large. Their Dominican Republic and Mexico routes are among the most claimed.
Because TUI mostly carries package customers, rejections sometimes conflate package-holiday compensation with flight compensation. They are separate rights and you can pursue both.
CEDR handles their alternative dispute resolution, and they are one of the slower members to engage with it. Do not escalate before you have a final response or eight weeks of silence.
Time limit: TUI Airways is based in United Kingdom, where claims run for 6 years from the date of the flight. How that works
Check it free, then send the letter yourself.
If your TUI Airways delay appears eligible, the claim letter is £15 flat, with TUI Airways’s likely objection answered in advance. You keep 100% of what they pay. If the airline rejects your claim on eligibility grounds, we refund the £15. Forward us their reply and we refund within five working days.
TUI Airways delay: common questions
How much can I claim from TUI Airways for a delay?
Between €250 and €600 (or £220 and £520 under UK261) per passenger, depending on distance. The worked examples on this page show the figure for some of TUI Airways’s routes.
My TUI Airways flight left more than three hours late but landed less than three hours late. Can I claim?
No. The test is how late you arrive at your final destination. If the flight made up time and landed under three hours late, the fixed compensation does not apply — though you may still have been owed meals and refreshments during the wait.
What reasons does TUI Airways give for refusing delay claims?
The most common are: Extraordinary circumstances with no detail; A technical problem; The inbound aircraft arrived late; A disputed arrival time. Most of these do not hold up against the Regulation or the case law.
How long do I have to make a TUI Airways delay claim?
Where TUI Airways is based, the limit is 6 years. You can usually also claim in the country your flight departed from or arrived in, which may give you longer.
Other TUI Airways claims
- TUI Airways: delayCompensation is due when you arrive at your final destination 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time.
- TUI Airways: cancellationCompensation is due unless you were told at least 14 days before departure, or were told later but re-routed on a flight that fell inside the timing windows set by Article 5(1)(c).
- TUI Airways: denied boardingCompensation is due immediately when you are refused boarding against your will — most often because the flight was overbooked — provided you checked in on time with a confirmed reservation.
- TUI Airways: missed connectionWhere all your flights were on a single booking, a delay that makes you miss a connection is measured at your final destination.