easyJet Flight Compensation 2026 — Delays & Cancellations

easyJet owes you €250–€400 (or £220–£350 under UK261) 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 — set by distance, not by your fare. As a short-haul carrier it never reaches the €600 long-haul band. It's more cooperative than the most resistant budget airlines, but it still refuses a share of valid claims, so documenting the arrival time and knowing which regime applies is what gets you paid.

How much easyJet owes you

easyJet's entire network is short and medium European routes, so every claim lands in one of two bands. The trigger is arrival three or more hours late at your final destination, measured when the aircraft door opens — a late push-back that's made up in the air owes nothing.

A worked example: Gatwick to Faro is about 1,700 km — the €400 / £350 band. Scheduled into Faro at 12:00, door open at 15:10 after a technical fault: three hours ten late, a valid £350 claim under UK261. Arrive at 14:55 and you're owed nothing. The fifteen minutes either side of the three-hour line is exactly where easyJet's reported arrival time and an independent tracker can diverge — so capture both.

The amount is the same whether you paid £25 or £125 — the rules compensate lost time, not fare. The checker above reads the band for your specific flight; for the full breakdown see EU261 compensation amounts.

UK261 or EU261 — easyJet flies both

Because easyJet is UK-headquartered but operates heavily from EU bases, the regime depends on where the flight departs. UK departures and easyJet flights into the UK fall under UK261 (pounds); easyJet flights departing an EU airport fall under EU261 (euros). The mechanics are identical — only the statute and currency change. Our EU261 vs UK261 guide covers the split, and the who-is-covered guide handles every route-and-carrier case.

How easyJet handles claims

Among budget carriers, easyJet is one of the more reasonable to claim from — its online process is functional and it pays a fair proportion of clean claims without a drawn-out fight. It is not, however, frictionless: it declines a share of valid claims, most often on weather or air-traffic-control grounds, and those refusals aren't always correct. The realistic expectation is straightforward payment on clean cases and a refusal worth challenging on contested ones.

On timing, set expectations: a clean easyJet claim that the airline accepts is often resolved within a few weeks, while a contested one that has to be escalated to alternative dispute resolution or court can run several months. The wait is frustrating but it does not weaken the claim — the entitlement is the same whether it settles in three weeks or six months, so a slow response is not a reason to give up on money you are owed.

What counts as easyJet's fault

Compensation is owed only when the cause was within easyJet's control. Technical faults from normal operation, crew shortages, and knock-on delays from easyJet's own earlier flights all qualify. Genuine extraordinary circumstances — severe weather, ATC restrictions, security alerts, third-party strikes — remove the cash compensation but leave your right to care and to a refund or rerouting intact. easyJet's own crew or pilot industrial action is within its control and is generally not extraordinary.

Cancellations, rerouting and care

An easyJet cancellation gives you a choice of full refund or rerouting at the earliest opportunity, plus compensation if the notice was under 14 days and the cause was controllable. As with any low-cost carrier, the rerouting right is constrained by frequency — if easyJet flies your route once a day, "earliest opportunity" can mean tomorrow. When that breaks a trip the day matters for, the practical choices narrow to waiting, self-arranged onward transport, or a charter.

The right to care applies regardless of cause once the wait passes roughly two hours — meals, communications, and a hotel plus transfers overnight. If easyJet doesn't provide it, keep receipts and reclaim the reasonable cost; a travel insurance policy covers the gap, and a pre-booked transfer beats hunting a taxi at a regional airport at midnight.

Reclaiming your care expenses

easyJet handles two things through two different routes, and travellers often miss the second. The €250–€400 statutory compensation is one claim. The care expenses — the meals you bought and the hotel you paid for during the wait — are a separate reimbursement, claimed with receipts, and owed regardless of whether the delay was extraordinary. A weather delay that removes your compensation does not remove easyJet's duty to feed and house you, and you can reclaim what you reasonably spent if easyJet failed to provide it at the airport.

Keep everything: itemised receipts, boarding passes, and any message easyJet sent about the disruption. Reasonable means sensible — an airport meal and a mid-range hotel, not a tasting menu and a suite. A comprehensive travel insurance policy covers these costs immediately rather than weeks later when easyJet processes the reimbursement, which matters when you're paying for the hotel tonight.

What to do in the first hour

Budget-airline claims live or die on documentation, because the refusal you'll likely face is "weather" or "operational". Capture the evidence that rebuts it while you're there:

That last column is the quiet edge: if half the airport's flights left on schedule, easyJet's "weather" defence on yours weakens considerably. Run a free eligibility check before you file — it tells you whether the cause easyJet is likely to cite actually removes your claim, so you don't accept a refusal you could overturn. Don't sit on it: while you have up to six years in England and Wales, the proof gets harder to assemble with time.

Claiming — direct or via a service

One trap to check first: how your connection was booked. easyJet sells mostly point-to-point fares, and if you self-connected by buying two separate tickets, a delay on the first that makes you miss the second usually leaves you without protection for the onward leg — each ticket is judged on its own. Only where both legs sat on a single booking (including easyJet's own connecting "Worldwide by easyJet" itineraries) is the three-hour test applied at your true final destination. It's the difference between a valid claim and none, so establish it before you file.

For a clean easyJet claim, the direct route is free and usually works: file through easyJet's claim form, cite the regulation, attach an independent arrival-time record, and wait. If easyJet refuses what you believe is valid, escalate to its ADR body, the CAA, or small-claims court — or hand it to a no-win, no-fee service (typically 35%, up to 50% if it goes legal, nothing if it fails). Against a contested refusal, that's two-thirds of a payout you'd otherwise have to chase through court yourself. See claims companies vs DIY for the full trade-off, and the airline tactical guide for how easyJet ranks against its peers.