Flight Compensation Claim Deadlines 2026 — By Country
How far back you can claim flight compensation depends on where the claim is brought, not when you flew. The windows run from about one year in Belgium to six years in the UK and Ireland — with Germany around three, France and Spain around five, and the Netherlands and Italy around two. Baggage claims under the Montreal Convention carry their own hard two-year limit. Miss the applicable window and a valid claim is worthless, so the deadline, not the merits, often decides whether you get paid.
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Why the deadline is set by country, not by your flight
EU261 itself doesn't set a claim deadline. Instead, the time limit comes from the national limitation law of wherever the claim is pursued — and those periods vary enormously across Europe. The Court of Justice confirmed that EU261's silence on deadlines means each member state's own rules apply, which is why the same three-hour delay can be claimable for six years in one country and barely one in another.
Which country's law applies usually turns on the airline's home jurisdiction, where you bought the ticket, or where the flight departed or arrived — and it's not always obvious. The practical takeaway is simple: never assume you have years. Find the shortest plausible deadline that could apply to your flight and treat that as your limit.
When timing is the whole game
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Approximate limitation periods for flight-compensation claims. These are general guides, not guarantees — the precise deadline depends on the facts and which law applies, so treat the shorter end as your working assumption.
| Country | Approx. limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (Eng & Wales) | 6 years | 5 years under Scottish law |
| Ireland | 6 years | Among the most generous |
| France | ~5 years | Air France claims |
| Spain | ~5 years | Reduced from 15 years in 2015 |
| Germany | ~3 years | To end of third calendar year; Lufthansa |
| Netherlands | ~2 years | Short — KLM claims |
| Italy | ~2 years | Short window |
| Belgium | ~1 year | Among the shortest in the EU |
| Montreal Convention (baggage) | 2 years | Hard limit; plus 7/21-day complaint windows |
The spread is striking: a Lufthansa claim in Germany gives you roughly half the time of a BA claim in England, and a Belgian claim a fraction of either. For how this interacts with the post-Brexit split, see EU261 vs UK261.
The short deadlines to watch
Belgium (~1 year), the Netherlands (~2 years) and Italy (~2 years) are the dangerous ones. A KLM disruption from early in a year can lapse before a leisurely claimant gets around to it, and a Belgian-carrier claim has the tightest window in the bloc. If your flight involves any of these jurisdictions, treat the claim as urgent rather than something to file "eventually".
The asymmetry matters most on connecting and mixed-carrier itineraries, where more than one country's law could plausibly apply. When in doubt, the safe move is to pursue the claim within the shortest deadline that could bind it — and a free eligibility check will tell you both what you're owed and which limit is in play before any of them expire.
Which country's deadline applies to your flight
The hard part isn't the table above — it's working out which row binds your flight. There is no single switch; the answer usually depends on a combination of the airline's home country, where you bought the ticket, and where you choose to bring the claim. In practice a claim can often be pursued in more than one jurisdiction, which means you may have a choice — and that choice can change your deadline.
A delayed Lufthansa flight from Madrid to Frankfurt. A claim brought in Germany (the airline's home) faces the ~3-year limit; a claim grounded on the Spanish departure might engage Spain's ~5-year period. Where more than one forum is genuinely available, the longer deadline can be the better route — but the rules on jurisdiction are technical, and getting it wrong can be fatal to the claim. This is exactly the kind of cross-border question a free check or a no-win, no-fee service resolves before a deadline forces your hand.
The safe default remains: identify the shortest deadline that could plausibly apply and treat that as your real limit. If a longer forum turns out to be available, you've lost nothing by acting early; if you assumed the long one and were wrong, you may have lost the claim.
How the clock is measured
In most jurisdictions the limitation period runs from the date of the flight or its scheduled arrival — not from when the airline refused you. That detail is decisive: an airline that strings out negotiations for months is not extending your deadline, and a passenger who waits for the airline's "final" answer before acting can find the window has closed while they waited. Treat a slow or evasive airline as a reason to escalate sooner, not as the clock being paused.
A few jurisdictions allow the period to be interrupted or suspended by formal steps such as issuing proceedings, but the rules differ and are easy to get wrong from abroad. If you're near a deadline, the conservative move is to lodge the claim formally rather than rely on negotiations holding the clock.
Baggage and the Montreal 2-year limit
Baggage runs on its own, stricter timetable under the Montreal Convention rather than EU261: a two-year hard limit to bring a lawsuit, plus written-complaint windows of just 7 days for damaged and 21 days for delayed baggage. These are unrelated to the EU261 compensation deadlines above and are far shorter, so a combined disruption — a delay and a lost bag — can have two entirely different clocks running at once.
Mistakes that forfeit a valid claim
The deadline rarely catches people who understand it — it catches people who make one of a handful of avoidable errors. The common ones:
| Mistake | Why it costs you the claim |
|---|---|
| Waiting for the airline's "final" answer | Negotiation usually doesn't pause the clock — it just burns it |
| Assuming the longest deadline applies | If a shorter jurisdiction binds you, the claim can already be dead |
| Treating a baggage claim like a delay claim | Baggage has 7/21-day complaint windows and a 2-year cap |
| Losing the evidence over time | Boarding passes, receipts and arrival records fade fast |
| Forgetting a years-old eligible flight | In long-window countries, real money can simply go unclaimed |
That last one is more common than it sounds. In the UK and Ireland, with six-year windows, plenty of travellers are sitting on claimable disruptions from years back without realising — a quick check against an old booking can turn a forgotten delay into a payout while the window is still open. Our step-by-step claim guide and claims-vs-DIY comparison cover how to act on one once you've found it.
Don't wait — what to do now
The deadline rules reduce to one instruction: don't sit on a claim. The cost of acting early is an hour of your time; the cost of acting late can be the entire entitlement, however strong the underlying case. Even where you have six years, evidence fades, staff forget, and airlines grow less cooperative with time; where you have one or two, delay can simply forfeit the money. The first move costs nothing and resolves both the "am I owed anything" and "how long do I have" questions at once:
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to claim flight compensation?
It depends on where the claim is brought, not when you flew. Limits range from about one year in Belgium to six years in the UK and Ireland, with Germany around three years, France and Spain around five, and the Netherlands and Italy around two. Because the deadline is set by jurisdiction, the same disrupted flight can have very different windows depending on which country's law applies.
What is the deadline to claim against a UK airline?
For claims under the law of England and Wales the limit is generally six years; under Scottish law it is five. These are among the most generous windows in Europe, but you should still claim promptly because evidence fades and airlines are easier to deal with closer to the event.
How long do I have to claim against a German airline like Lufthansa?
German law generally allows about three years, running to the end of the third calendar year after the flight — so a 2026 disruption typically must be claimed by the end of 2029. This is shorter than the UK's six years, so German-carrier claims should not be left to drift.
What is the shortest flight-compensation deadline?
Among EU countries, Belgium is notably short at around one year for air-transport claims, and the Netherlands is about two years. These tight windows catch travellers out, particularly on KLM and Belgian-carrier claims, so check the applicable deadline early rather than assuming you have years.
Does the deadline run from the flight or from the refusal?
Generally from the date of the flight or scheduled arrival, not from when the airline refused your claim. An airline dragging out negotiations does not pause the limitation clock in most jurisdictions, so a slow airline response is a reason to act sooner, not later.
Is the baggage claim deadline different?
Yes. Baggage and other Montreal Convention claims carry a strict two-year limit to bring a lawsuit, plus much shorter written-complaint windows of 7 days for damage and 21 days for delay. These are separate from, and generally shorter than, the EU261 compensation deadlines.
Can a claim be made after several years?
Possibly, if the applicable limitation period is long — six years in the UK and Ireland leaves real room — but the practical difficulty rises with time as records and airline cooperation fade. The safest course is to check eligibility promptly; a free check confirms both what you're owed and which deadline applies.
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