What is the time limit for EU261 claims in each country?

By Richard Jasinski·Updated 4 November 2026

EU261 has no time limit of its own, so national law decides, from 1 year in Poland and Belgium up to 10 years by some companies' figures. The claims companies in our table give these limits on their own websites; on a few countries they disagree.

What is the time limit for EU261 claims in each country?

Most companies give 6 years for the UK (5 in Scotland), 5 for France, 3 for Germany and Austria, 2 for Italy and the Netherlands and 1 for Poland and Belgium. They disagree on Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Latvia; two say a single 9-month limit is coming. Claim as soon as you can.

How this page works. EU261 sets no time limit of its own, so each country's law decides. These are the limits the claims companies in the Uncompromised Travel flight compensation table give on their own websites, read on 20 October 2026, country by country; where they disagree, every figure is shown. They are the companies' statements, not legal advice: check the limit for your case before it runs out. No company paid to be on this page.

United Kingdom

Six years in England and Wales, five in Scotland, at most companies that give a UK figure; Flightright's British Airways page also says up to ten years depending on country of origin.

  • Bott and Co: Up to six years from the date of the flight in England and Wales; five in Scotland.
  • ClaimFlights: 6 years.
  • Flight-Delayed: 6 years for UK flights (5 in Scotland); its Ryanair page says 6 years 'regardless of your itinerary', which conflicts with its national limits.
  • FlightCompensations: 6 years (5 in Scotland).
  • Flightright: 6 years (5 in Scotland), counted from the end of the year of the incident; its British Airways strike page also says 'up to ten years (depending on country of origin)'.
  • Indemniflight: England and Wales 6 years (5 in Scotland).
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 6 years.
  • AviFly: 6 years.
  • SkyRefund: 6 years (Scotland 5), from the flight date.
  • Click2Refund: 6 years.
  • FlyClaims: 5 to 6 years, grouped with France, Spain and Ireland.

Ireland

Six years.

  • ClaimFlights: 6 years.
  • FlightCompensations: 6 years.

France

Five years, every company that gives a French figure says.

  • AirCashBack: 5 years.
  • AviFly: 5 years.
  • ClaimFlights: 5 years.
  • Click2Refund: 5 years.
  • FlightCompensations: 5 years.
  • Indemniflight: 5 years from the flight (Civil Code article 2224).
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 5 years.
  • SkyRefund: 5 years.

Spain

Five years at most companies; AviFly's own pages also say 4 and AirCashBack says 10.

  • AviFly: 5 years (Civil Code article 1964), per its FAQ; its Wizz Air, Air France and Air Europa pages say 4 years.
  • AirCashBack: 10 years, in its passenger rights table.
  • ClaimFlights: 5 years.
  • Click2Refund: 5 years.
  • FlightCompensations: 5 years.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 5 years.

Germany

Three years, every company that gives a German figure says; ClaimFlights, FairPlane and MYFLYRIGHT count from the end of the year of the flight.

  • ClaimFlights: 3 years, counted from the end of the year.
  • Compensation2Go: 3 years.
  • FairPlane: 3 years after the end of the year of the event.
  • Flight-Delayed: 3 years.
  • FlightCompensations: 3 years.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 3 years (from the end of the year).
  • Refund Pilot: Three years under German law.
  • AviFly: 3 years.
  • Indemniflight: 3 years.

Austria

Three years.

  • ClaimFlights: 3 years.
  • FairPlane: 3 years from the flight date, under Austrian law.
  • FlightCompensations: 3 years.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 3 years.

Italy

Two years.

  • AviFly: 2 years.
  • ClaimFlights: 2 years.
  • FlightCompensations: 2 years.
  • Indemniflight: About 2 years.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 2 years.

Netherlands

Two years.

  • AviFly: 2 years.
  • ClaimFlights: 2 years.
  • Flight-Delayed: 2 years, on its KLM page.
  • FlightCompensations: 2 years.

Poland

One year, the shortest in the EU on these figures.

  • AirHelp: 1 year.
  • AirCashBack: 1 year for court proceedings, after a Polish Supreme Court ruling; it accepts cases up to 3 years but urges quick action.
  • ClaimFlights: 1 year.
  • Click2Refund: 1 year.
  • FlightCompensations: 1 year.

Belgium

One year.

  • ClaimFlights: 1 year.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 1 year.

Greece

Five years.

  • ClaimFlights: 5 years.
  • Click2Refund: 5 years.
  • FlightCompensations: 5 years.

Hungary

Five years.

  • ClaimFlights: 5 years.
  • Click2Refund: 5 years.
  • Flight-Delayed: 5 years, on its Wizz Air page.

Sweden

The companies disagree: 4 years at ClaimFlights, 10 at MYFLYRIGHT.

  • ClaimFlights: 4 years, in its fuller country table.
  • MYFLYRIGHT: 10 years.

Switzerland

The companies disagree: 2 years at ClaimFlights, 10 at SkyRefund.

  • ClaimFlights: 2 years.
  • SkyRefund: 10 years.

Latvia

The companies disagree: 10 years at AirHelp, 2 at Click2Refund.

  • AirHelp: 10 years.
  • Click2Refund: 2 years.

Romania

Three years.

  • MYFLYRIGHT: 3 years.
  • SkyRefund: 3 years.

A change due from 2027

Two companies say the EU261 reform will bring one limit for every country: 9 months.

  • FlyClaims: For flights from 23 October 2027, 'new EU rules require you to claim within 9 months'.
  • FlightCompensations: The EU261 reform will bring one 9-month limit, expected from the second half of 2027.
Sources (each company's time-limit page): Bott and Co, ClaimFlights, Flight-Delayed, FlightCompensations, Flightright, Indemniflight, MYFLYRIGHT, AviFly, SkyRefund, Click2Refund, FlyClaims, AirCashBack, Compensation2Go, FairPlane, Refund Pilot, AirHelp.

Time limits by country: the questions people ask

Does EU261 set a time limit?

No. National law decides, which is why the limits differ from 1 year to 10, the companies on this page say.

Which country's limit applies?

Flight-Delayed and Indemniflight say a passenger may choose the country whose limit is most favourable; check with the company for your case.

When does the time start?

Companies differ: some count from the flight date; ClaimFlights, FairPlane, MYFLYRIGHT and Flightright count from the end of the year of the flight for Germany or the UK.

What is the shortest limit?

1 year, in Poland and Belgium, by these figures.

What is changing in 2027?

FlyClaims and FlightCompensations say the EU261 reform will bring a single 9-month limit, for flights from late 2027.

Can a claims company still take an old flight?

Within the limit, yes; the two-years-ago and older-than-three-years pages list the companies that take older flights.

Are these limits legal advice?

No. They are what each company publishes; check the limit for your own case before it runs out.

Did any company pay to be on this page?

No. Every claims company in the table that gives a country limit is shown.

Built to answer the question in the main heading. What is shown: what each claims company published on its own website, read on 20 October 2026, from the Uncompromised Travel flight compensation table. Left out: companies whose websites would not open, a company whose activities were taken over by another, a company whose address opens another company's site, services that pass the claim to other companies and one company whose fee page is being re-read. Time limits are as each company states them; they are not legal advice. How this site earns · How we work.

Richard Jasinski · Uncompromised Travel · written from Valencia · first published 4 November 2026 · updated 4 November 2026