British Airways Delay & Cancellation Compensation 2026

British Airways owes you £220 to £520 under UK261 — or €250 to €600 under EU261 on EU-departing flights — for a delay of three hours or more at your destination, and for most cancellations within 14 days, when the cause was within its control. The amount is set by distance, not ticket price or cabin. BA generally pays valid claims, but slowly, and it refuses a fair share at first pass — so knowing which regime applies and documenting the arrival time is half the battle.

UK261 or EU261 — which applies, and in which currency

British Airways is the one major airline where you must check the regime before the amount, because Brexit split its flights across two near-identical regulations in two currencies. UK261 — the UK's retained version of the rules — governs flights departing the UK and flights arriving in the UK on a UK or EU carrier like BA, and pays in pounds. EU261 governs BA flights departing an EU airport and pays in euros. Same three-hour logic, same distance bands, different statute and currency.

Our EU261 vs UK261 guide sets out every combination; for most BA passengers flying out of Heathrow or Gatwick, it's a UK261 claim in pounds.

How much BA owes you

The bands, side by side:

A worked example: London to New York is roughly 5,500 km — the top band. If your BA flight is scheduled into JFK at 14:00 but a crew-rostering problem means the door opens at 17:20, that's three hours twenty late: a valid £520 claim under UK261. Land at 16:50 instead and you'd be owed nothing. Thirty minutes of arrival time decides £520, which is why an independent arrival record matters when BA's reported time sits near the line.

BA flies the full range, so the £520 / €600 long-haul band genuinely applies to its transatlantic and long-haul network — unlike a short-haul-only carrier. The trigger is arrival, not departure: you must reach your final destination three or more hours late, measured when the aircraft door opens. The fastest way to see your exact figure is the free checker above, which reads the regime and distance for you. For the full statutory breakdown, see EU261 compensation amounts.

How BA handles claims

BA sits in the middle of the airline-behaviour spectrum: more reliable than the budget carriers, slower and more selective than the best. It generally honours clean claims, but it refuses a notable share at first pass — frequently citing operational or weather causes that don't always hold up — and it can be slow to pay. The pattern to expect is: clean claim, eventual payment; contested claim, a refusal you may have to push past.

Because BA's refusals aren't always correct, this is a carrier where a free eligibility check earns its keep — it tells you whether your specific cause is genuinely extraordinary or a refusal worth fighting.

What counts as BA's fault

The line that catches passengers out is "technical fault": a one-off mechanical issue arising from normal operation is BA's responsibility, not an extraordinary circumstance. See extraordinary circumstances explained for where the courts have drawn it.

Cancellations, rerouting and care

When BA cancels, you get a choice of a full refund or rerouting at the earliest opportunity, plus compensation if the notice was under 14 days and the cause was within BA's control — the compensation is on top of, not instead of, the refund. Separately, the right to care applies regardless of cause once the wait passes roughly two hours: meals, communications, and a hotel plus transfers for an overnight delay. Our cancellation rights guide covers the notice windows.

If BA fails to provide care, keep the receipts and reclaim the reasonable cost — and a comprehensive travel insurance policy covers the expenses while you're arguing about them. Getting to a hotel or onward when rerouting fails is smoother with a pre-booked private transfer than a midnight taxi queue.

Vouchers and Avios — you can insist on cash

BA sometimes offers compensation as a travel voucher or in Avios points rather than cash — and the points figure is usually framed to look generous. It rarely is. Statutory compensation under UK261 and EU261 is a cash entitlement, and you are not obliged to accept Avios or a voucher in its place. If the value of the points doesn't comfortably exceed the £220–£520 you're owed in cash, decline and ask for the bank transfer you're entitled to.

The same applies to a refund offered instead of compensation. A refund of your fare and the compensation for the disruption are two separate rights — accepting a refund for a cancelled flight does not waive the £220–£520. If BA's correspondence implies you must choose, that framing is wrong. A free eligibility check confirms exactly what cash sum you're owed so you can judge any points offer against it.

What to do in the first hour

The claim is won or lost by what you capture while you're still at the airport. In order:

Then check eligibility before you write to BA, so you go in knowing the regime, the band and whether BA's likely cause holds — a free check settles all three in a couple of minutes. You have up to six years to claim under the law of England and Wales, but documentation fades fast, so do it while the evidence is fresh.

Claiming — direct or via a service

On a clean BA claim, going direct through BA's Customer Relations form is free and works — keep your booking reference and an independent arrival-time record, cite UK261 or EU261, and wait. If BA refuses what you believe is valid, you escalate to its approved ADR scheme, the CAA, or small-claims court — or hand it to a no-win, no-fee service that does the escalating for a percentage of the recovery (typically 35%, rising to 50% if it goes legal, nothing if it fails). For a resistant refusal, that's two-thirds of a payout you'd otherwise have to litigate yourself versus the full sum you might never collect. We weigh it in claims companies vs DIY.