Missed Connections and Flight Cancellations: Your EU Rights

If your flight is delayed, cancelled or you miss a connection, EU air passenger rights may give you assistance at the airport, a choice between reimbursement and re-routing, and in some cases compensation. The practical answer: keep your booking and boarding passes, ask the airline in writing for the reason for the disruption, and claim through the airline first. This guide covers the rules as they stand today, 11 October 2026, and flags what is changing.

Who this affects

EU air passenger rights apply in four situations. Your flight is within the EU and is operated by an EU or a non-EU airline. Your flight arrives in the EU from outside the EU and is operated by an EU airline. Your flight departs from the EU to a non-EU country and is operated by an EU or a non-EU airline. Or you have not already received benefits such as compensation, re-routing or assistance for this journey under the law of a non-EU country.

"EU" means the 27 EU countries, including Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands, but not the Faeroe Islands. The rules also apply to flights to and from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Connecting flights are journeys where you take more than one flight to reach your final destination. For compensation after a missed connection, the flights must have been booked as part of a single reservation.

What to do step by step at the airport

1. Go to the airline's transfer desk or service desk as soon as you know you will miss the connection. Ask to be re-routed to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, under comparable transport conditions.
2. Ask for the disruption to be recorded in writing. If you were denied boarding, your flight was cancelled, you faced a delay of more than 2 hours at departure, or you arrived with a long delay at your final destination, the airline must give you a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance.
3. Keep everything: boarding passes, booking confirmation showing a single reservation, receipts for meals, taxi fares and hotel costs you had to pay yourself.
4. If you choose reimbursement instead of re-routing, ask how and when it will be paid. For downgrades, the reimbursement should be paid within 7 days.
5. If the airline refuses compensation, ask it to prove the extraordinary circumstances it is relying on, for example extracts from logbooks or incident reports. If it does not, you can contact your national authority for further assistance.

Costs, amounts and timing

Compensation for denied boarding depends on distance: €250 for 1,500 km or less, €400 for more than 1,500 km within the EU and all other flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km, and €600 for more than 3,500 km. If you arrived on time for check-in, you should always receive compensation if you are denied boarding, unless there were reasonable grounds such as health, safety or security concerns, or you did not have the required travel documents.

For cancellations, you have the right to choose between reimbursement, re-routing or return, and you are entitled to assistance at the airport. If you were informed less than 14 days before the scheduled departure date, you have a right to compensation, unless the carrier proves extraordinary circumstances.

For delays, your right to assistance, reimbursement and a return flight depends on the length of the delay and the distance of the flight. If you arrive at your final destination 3 hours or more late, you are entitled to compensation, unless the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances.

If your flight is downgraded, you are entitled to a percentage of the ticket price: 30% for flights of 1,500 km or less, 50% for flights within the EU of more than 1,500 km (except flights between the EU and French overseas departments) and all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and 75% for flights not falling under those categories, including flights between the EU and French overseas departments. If you have two or more connecting flights on a single ticket, you can only be reimbursed for the flight that was downgraded, not the whole journey.

For luggage, if checked-in baggage is lost, damaged or delayed, the airline is liable up to approximately €1,300. Claims for lost or damaged luggage should be made in writing to the airline within 7 days, or within 21 days of receiving your luggage if it was delayed. If you carry expensive items, consider private travel insurance or ask the airline in advance, at the latest when you check in, for a higher compensation limit for a fee.

Exceptions

Compensation is not due if the carrier can prove the cancellation or delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The airline has to prove this with evidence such as logbook extracts or incident reports, and should give this evidence to the relevant national enforcement body as well as to the passengers concerned.

You may also be denied boarding for reasons such as safety, security or health, if you do not have the correct travel documents, if you did not take the outbound flight of a reservation that included a return flight, if you did not take other flights in a reservation with consecutive flights, or if your pet does not have the relevant documentation. In those cases, the usual compensation rules do not apply.

What is not yet confirmed

EU air passenger rights rules are being updated. On 7 July 2026, MEPs confirmed changes agreed with the Council of the EU in the Conciliation Committee by 646 votes to 12 and three abstentions. Under the third reading procedure, the provisional agreement had to be confirmed by Council by the beginning of August 2026. The updated rules would enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU, and from that moment EU countries and companies would have one year to prepare for their implementation.

That means the new rules are not yet in force, and the exact start date is not confirmed. The changes reported include maintaining the three-hour delay threshold for compensation, keeping compensation levels by distance, allowing airlines to reduce compensation by 50% for their longest journeys if passengers are offered re-routing or the arrival delay does not last more than four hours, an open list of extraordinary circumstances including natural disasters, war, weather conditions, unruly passengers, and airport, air navigation or ground handling service provider strikes, refreshments every two hours of waiting time, a meal after three hours, and overnight accommodation for up to three nights if the disruption is beyond the airline's control. Passengers would have nine months to file a compensation request, and airlines 30 days to pay or invoke extraordinary circumstances. Check the official EU page for the current position before you travel.

Practical reminders

Keep your claim factual and in writing. Say what happened, give your flight numbers and booking reference, and ask for the specific remedy you want. If the airline says the disruption was beyond its control, ask for the evidence it is relying on. If you are not satisfied, contact the national enforcement body for the country concerned. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and it does not tell you how to get around any rule.