Cancelled Flight? Refund, Re-routing and Care Explained
When a flight is cancelled, compensation is only part of the story — and sometimes not part of it at all. Whatever the cause, the airline has duties to look after you and get you where you are going or give your money back. This guide covers those duties under Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation 261/2004 and the UK version.
The choice: refund or re-routing
Article 8 gives you three options when your flight is cancelled or you are denied boarding:
- Reimbursement within seven days of the full cost of the ticket for the parts of the journey not made, and for parts already made if the flight no longer serves any purpose in relation to your original plan — together with, where relevant, a return flight to your first point of departure at the earliest opportunity.
- Re-routing under comparable transport conditions to your final destination at the earliest opportunity.
- Re-routing at a later date of your convenience, subject to seat availability.
The choice is yours, not the airline's. An airline that only offers a voucher, or only offers a flight two days later when other options exist, is not meeting the obligation. Refunds must be paid in money — cash, bank transfer, electronic payment or cheque — or in travel vouchers only if you agree in writing.
What "earliest opportunity" means
The Commission's interpretative guidelines suggest that re-routing at the earliest opportunity can include flights on other airlines and other transport modes where the airline's own next flight is much later. In practice, enforcement bodies expect airlines to consider reasonable alternatives, not just their own schedule. If you book a reasonable alternative yourself after the airline fails to offer one, keep evidence and claim the cost back; this is more contentious, so document the airline's failure to help.
Long delays: the five-hour refund right
If a flight is delayed by at least five hours, Article 6 gives you the right to a refund under Article 8 if you decide not to travel. This is separate from compensation, which depends on arrival delay. A business traveller whose meeting is lost by a five-hour delay can abandon the trip, get the fare back and, if already at a connecting point, a flight home.
Care while you wait
Article 9 requires the airline to offer, free of charge:
- Meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time.
- Hotel accommodation where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or a stay additional to that intended.
- Transport between the airport and the hotel.
- Two telephone calls, emails or similar messages.
For delays, care is triggered when the expected departure delay reaches two hours for flights of 1,500 km or less, three hours for intra-EU flights over 1,500 km and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and four hours for longer flights. For cancellations, care applies when you are waiting for a replacement flight. There is no cap on the duration of care: in the 2010 volcanic ash crisis the Court confirmed in McDonagh (C-12/11) that care had to be provided even for an extraordinary, prolonged event.
When the airline does not provide care
Airlines often hand out meal vouchers, but at a disrupted airport late at night there may be nobody to ask. If you buy food or book a hotel yourself, keep receipts and claim reasonable costs from the airline afterwards. Reasonable means a standard meal and a hotel of a normal standard near the airport. Expensive restaurants and luxury hotels may be refused in part.
Cancellations at the gate and in advance
A cancellation is when the planned flight does not operate at all. Changes to timings, flight numbers or routes can sometimes amount to a cancellation — for instance if the flight is merged with another one or diverted to an airport serving a different city without onward transport. If an airline brings a flight forward by more than an hour, the Court held in 2021 that this can be treated as a cancellation, which may trigger compensation if you were told less than 14 days ahead.
Compensation on top
Refund or re-routing does not replace compensation. If your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days' notice for reasons that were not extraordinary, you can get your money back or a new flight and also the €250–€600 compensation, subject to the reductions described in our EU261 guide.
Package holidays
If your flight was part of a package, the tour operator has duties under package travel law to provide assistance and alternatives. The airline still owes the regulation's compensation and care. Refunds of the ticket price are usually claimed from the organiser, because you paid them for the whole package.
US flights
Departures from the EU or UK on US airlines are covered by the regulations above. For flights within or from the US, the DOT refund rule applies instead — see our guide to the DOT refund rule.
Checklist when your flight is cancelled
- Ask the airline (desk, app, phone) for the options and write down what is offered.
- Choose refund or re-routing; do not accept a voucher unless you want one.
- Ask for meal vouchers and, if needed, a hotel.
- Keep receipts for anything you pay.
- Ask the reason for cancellation and note it.
- Afterwards, check compensation with the calculator.
Families and passengers with reduced mobility
Article 11 requires airlines to give priority to persons with reduced mobility, their companions and unaccompanied children when providing care and re-routing. If you travel with young children or need assistance, say so at the desk; you should be helped first.
Common airline tactics
Some airlines present a voucher as the default when you click "manage booking" after a cancellation. Others offer only their own next flight. Some say compensation is excluded because of "operational reasons", which is not a legal category. None of these change your rights. A polite written follow-up that cites the regulation usually resolves the issue. If you are pushed into an option, record the conversation and challenge it later.