UK261, explained properly

What UK261 is

“UK261” is the name for Regulation 261/2004 as it was kept in UK law after Brexit, amended by The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The substance is the same as EU261: fixed compensation for long delays, short-notice cancellations and denied boarding, and a right to care while you wait.

UK courts continue to apply the Court of Justice rulings made before Brexit — including the ones on technical faults and the three-hour delay rule — and the Court of Appeal has made its own decisions pointing the same way.

Which flights are covered

• Any flight departing a UK airport, on any airline. (UK261 Art. 3(1) (as retained))
• Flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU airline — British Airways from New York, or Air France from Tokyo via Paris, for example.

A flight from the EU to the UK is covered by EU261 instead, because the departure rule decides it. Either way, you are covered — just in euros rather than pounds.

The gap to know about: a flight into the UK from outside Europe on an airline that is neither UK nor EU is not covered by either. Emirates from Dubai to London is not protected; Emirates from London to Dubai is.

How much

Amounts are per passenger and set by great-circle distance to the final destination, exactly as under EU261. (UK261 Art. 7(1)) Short flights such as London to Paris are £220; long-haul flights such as London to New York are £520.

Delays, cancellations and overbooking

The triggers mirror EU261:

• Delay: 3 hours or more late arriving at your final destination. Arrival, not departure. (Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07))
• Cancellation: compensation unless you were told 14 days or more before, or re-routed within the timing windows. (EU261 Art. 5(1)(c))
• Denied boarding: compensation if you did not volunteer. (EU261 Art. 4(3))
• Missed connection: on a single booking, measured at your final destination. (Folkerts (C-11/11))

The halving rule applies too: re-routed passengers who arrive within 2, 3 or 4 hours (by distance) may be paid half. (EU261 Art. 7(2))

When the airline can refuse

As under EU261, the airline must prove extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided by all reasonable measures. English courts have been clear about the common excuses:

• Technical faults are not extraordinary. (Jet2.com v Huzar [2014] EWCA Civ 791)
• Crew illness is not extraordinary — a pilot falling ill is part of running an airline. (Lipton v BA City Flyer [2021] EWCA Civ 454)
• The airline’s own staff striking is not extraordinary. (Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20))

Severe weather, air traffic control restrictions and security alerts can be extraordinary — but the airline still has to show the event caused your flight’s disruption and that it did everything reasonable about it.

How long you have

Longer than almost anyone expects. In England and Wales it is 6 years from the date of the flight; in Scotland, 5 years. The Court of Appeal confirmed that the shorter two-year limit in the Montreal Convention does not apply to these claims. (Dawson v Thomson Airways [2014] EWCA Civ 845)

So a flight from 2021 may well still be claimable. How the England and Wales limit works · Scotland

If the airline says no

1. Write to the airline and give it a deadline — 14 days is usual.
2. If it refuses, or eight weeks pass without a final answer, take it to the airline’s alternative dispute resolution scheme. Most UK airlines belong to CEDR or AviationADR. ADR is free for passengers, and if you accept the decision the airline is bound by it.
3. If the airline is not in a scheme, the Civil Aviation Authority’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team can take it up.
4. Beyond that, the small claims track of the county court is built for claims of this size. In England and Wales you can start online through Money Claim Online.

UK airlines

British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, TUI Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Wizz Air UK, Loganair.