Your flight was cancelled and the airline refused compensation

Updated 13 October 2026

Your flight was cancelled, you claimed compensation, and the airline said no. It may say you were told in time, that it offered you another flight, or that the cancellation was outside its control. There is a clear rule for each of these, and in each case the airline has to prove its side.

What the refusal usually means

Most refusals rest on one of these:

• "We told you in time." The airline says the notice came early enough.
• "We offered you rerouting." The airline says the replacement flight was close enough to the original.
• "You booked via an agent." The airline says it informed the travel agent or booking site.
• Extraordinary circumstances. Weather, air traffic control, a strike or "safety reasons".

What the rules say about notice

Under Article 5 of Regulation 261/2004, you get compensation for a cancellation unless the airline informed you:

• at least 14 days before departure; or
• 7 to 13 days before, and offered rerouting that departs no more than 2 hours before the original time and arrives less than 4 hours after the original arrival; or
• less than 7 days before, and offered rerouting that departs no more than 1 hour before and arrives less than 2 hours after.

Under Article 5(4), it is the airline that has to prove that you were informed, and when.

Booked via an agent. If the airline told only the agent and the notice did not reach you at least 14 days before, the airline still owes compensation (Krijgsman C-302/16). Norway's Transportklagenemnda applied this against SAS in case 2019-04083. The booking site never passed on the notice, and the passenger won €600.

Flight moved earlier. A flight brought forward by more than 1 hour counts as cancelled (Azurair and Others C-146/20). The notice rules above then apply.

"We offered rerouting"

Check the times the airline actually offered you, rather than how it describes them in its refusal. Compare the new departure and arrival with the windows above.

If you flew on the replacement and arrived within 2, 3 or 4 hours of the original arrival, depending on distance, the airline may halve the compensation (Article 7(2)). It can reduce the amount, but it cannot refuse to pay on that ground.

Extraordinary circumstances

Article 5(3) lets the airline off only if the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The EU Court reads this narrowly, and the burden of proof is on the airline (Wallentin-Hermann C-549/07).

• Technical faults are part of normal operations (C-549/07). See technical fault.
• A strike by the airline's own staff is not extraordinary (Airhelp v SAS C-28/20). See strike cancellation.
• Weather and ATC are often accepted as events, but the airline must show how they hit your flight and what it did. See extraordinary circumstances.

Refund and compensation are separate

After a cancellation you choose between a refund of the ticket within 7 days and rerouting (Article 8). That is separate from the fixed compensation of €250, €400 or €600 (Article 7). Taking a refund does not mean you have given up the compensation.

What evidence to ask for

• the date, time and channel of the cancellation notice, and a copy of the message
• who it was sent to: you, or the agent
• the exact departure and arrival times of the rerouting offered
• the cause of the cancellation, with delay codes, weather data or technical log entries

Step by step

1. Reply to the airline in writing. Say which rule the refusal misses and ask for the evidence above.
2. Wait for the answer. Typical waiting periods before you can escalate: about 4 weeks in Sweden and Norway, 6 weeks in Denmark.
3. Go to the board for the country where the disruption happened. Finland: KRIL, after KKV or ECC Finland; EU261 cases can be filed in English. Sweden: ARN, 150 kr. Denmark: Trafikstyrelsen with MitID. Norway: Transportklagenemnda via www.reiselivsforum.no, Norwegian or English. See the Nordic complaint boards.

Deadlines differ by country. See EU261 time limits in the Nordics.

When it is worth it, and when it is not

Usually worth it: the notice came less than 14 days before, the airline only told your agent, the flight was moved more than an hour earlier, or the rerouting fell outside the windows.

Harder: you have a message dated 14 days or more before departure, or the cause was a documented strike by air traffic controllers or airport staff and the airline rerouted you quickly.

Appeal My Flight writes the reply to the airline and the board complaint for €29 per booking. You send it yourself and keep the payout. We cannot promise an outcome.

FAQ

The airline refunded my ticket. Can I still claim compensation?

Yes. The refund (Article 8) and the compensation (Article 7) are separate rights.

I only heard about the cancellation from the booking site. Does that count as notice?

It counts from the day it reached you. If that was less than 14 days before departure, the airline cannot rely on the notice it gave the agent.

The airline offered a voucher instead. Do I have to take it?

No. Compensation is paid in money unless you agree in writing. See voucher instead of compensation.

Got the airline's reply? Paste it into the rejection checker and see what EU court rulings say about their excuse.