Christmas flight cancelled or delayed: what you are owed

Updated 15 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

You were flying home for Christmas, or south with the family, and the flight was cancelled or hours late. Flights are full in December, so the next free seat may be days away. You have three separate rights here: a new flight or your money back, care while you wait, and in many cases a fixed sum of compensation on top.

Three separate rights

Under Regulation 261/2004:

1. A new flight or a refund (Article 8). After a cancellation you choose: a refund of the ticket within 7 days, a new flight at the earliest opportunity, or a new flight on a later date that suits you.
2. Care while you wait (Article 9). Meals and drinks in reasonable relation to the wait, a hotel if you have to stay overnight, and transport to and from the hotel.
3. Compensation (Article 7). €250, €400 or €600 per passenger, depending on distance, if the flight was cancelled at short notice or you arrived 3 hours or more late.

The first two apply whatever the cause, snowstorm included. Only the third can be refused for extraordinary circumstances.

When the cancellation notice matters

Compensation for a cancellation depends on when the airline told you (Article 5(1)(c)):

• 14 days or more before departure: no compensation. You still choose between a refund and a new flight.
• 7 to 13 days before: no compensation only if the new flight leaves no more than 2 hours before the original time and lands less than 4 hours after the original arrival.
• Less than 7 days before: no compensation only if the new flight leaves no more than 1 hour before and lands less than 2 hours after.

The airline has to prove when you were told (Article 5(4)). If it told only the travel agent or tour operator and the message did not reach you 14 days before, the airline still pays (Krijgsman C-302/16). A flight brought forward by more than an hour counts as cancelled (Azurair C-146/20). That happens often with charter times.

The airline must look for seats, also on other airlines

In December the airline may offer only its own flight on 27 December. That is often not enough. Rerouting at the earliest opportunity can mean a flight on another airline or via another airport, unless that would be an intolerable sacrifice for the airline (LE v TAP C-74/19). Ask in writing which other flights it checked.

If you take the refund, you are not giving up the compensation. They are separate rights.

Meals and hotel, even in a snowstorm

The EU Court has said care is owed even when the cause is extraordinary, and there is no time or money limit. If the airline gave you nothing, you can claim back what was necessary, appropriate and reasonable (McDonagh v Ryanair C-12/11).

• Keep every receipt: food, drinks, hotel and taxi.
• Ask the airline first at the airport, or in writing if no one is there. Write down the time.
• Stay reasonable. A normal hotel and normal meals are refunded. Luxury is a risk.

Charter and package holidays

On a package holiday, the EU261 compensation still comes from the airline that flew you, not the tour operator. Lost holiday days are a separate claim against the tour operator. See charter flight delayed.

A family on one booking

Compensation is per passenger. Four people on a 1,500 to 3,500 km flight can be owed 4 × €400 = €1,600, and a child with a paid seat counts as an adult. One claim can cover the whole booking if it names everyone. See family and group claims.

Snow, de-icing and "extraordinary circumstances"

Winter is when airlines blame the weather most. Real airport closures can count, but routine de-icing does not, according to Germany's highest civil court. See snow and de-icing delays and extraordinary circumstances.

Deadlines

• Finland: 3 years, restarted by every written claim. Claim within 5 months to be safe with KRIL.
• Sweden: claim within a reasonable time, two months is always fine. ARN within 1 year of your first complaint.
• Denmark and Norway: 3 years from the flight. Norway's board wants the case within 1 year of your written complaint.

Details in EU261 time limits in the Nordics.

Step by step

1. At the airport: ask for the new flight options, meals and hotel. Take a photo of the departures board.
2. Afterwards: claim compensation and your costs in writing, one claim for the whole booking, with receipts attached.
3. Wait about 4 weeks in Sweden and Norway, 6 weeks in Denmark. See airline not responding.
4. If the airline says no: reply and ask it to prove its reason, then go to the board for the country where the disruption happened. See the Nordic complaint boards.

When the airline says no

The usual answers are "we told you in time", "we offered rerouting" and "bad weather". Check the date of the message, the times of the flight you were offered and whether other airlines flew. See cancelled flight compensation refused or try the rejection checker.

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

FAQ

My flight was cancelled three weeks before Christmas. Do I get anything?

No compensation if you were told 14 days or more before. You still choose between a full refund and a new flight.

The airline only offered a flight two days later. Can I book my own?

Ask the airline in writing first and ask which other flights it checked. If it offers nothing earlier, keep the receipts for any ticket you buy and claim the cost. Norway's board has made an airline pay a passenger's ferry and taxi when it failed to reroute as soon as possible.

Do I get a hotel if the cause was a snowstorm?

Yes. Care is owed whatever the cause, even when no compensation is.

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