DOES EU261 COVER FLIGHTS FROM UK AIRPORTS AFTER BREXIT?

The short answer is no -- not directly. After the UK left the EU, flights departing from UK airports are no longer covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. But your rights did not disappear. The UK government transposed EU261 into domestic law almost word for word. It came into force on 1 January 2021, and it covers you in the same way for the same disruptions.

Passengers stuck at Heathrow or Gatwick often search for "EU261" because that is what they have heard of. The correct regulation for a UK departure is UK261 -- officially the Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The compensation amounts are slightly lower in pounds than in euros, and the enforcement body is the Civil Aviation Authority rather than an EU regulator. Everything else works the same.

Am I eligible?

Which regulation covers your flight depends on your departure airport, not your nationality and not which airline you are on.

Flights departing UK airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh, and all others): UK261 applies. This includes every airline flying from UK soil -- British Airways, Ryanair, Lufthansa, American Airlines, any carrier. If Lufthansa delayed your London Heathrow to Frankfurt flight, UK261 is what you claim under.

Flights departing EU airports (Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Dublin, and all others): EU261 applies. Any airline flying from an EU airport is covered. A Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to London falls under EU261 on departure.

Under either regulation, you are owed compensation if:

• Your flight arrived at your final destination 3 or more hours late
• Your flight was cancelled with less than 14 days notice
• You were denied boarding because the flight was overbooked

Your nationality makes no difference. An American passenger departing Heathrow on any airline is covered by UK261. A British passenger departing Frankfurt on Lufthansa is covered by EU261.

If your route crossed both regimes -- for example a UK departure to an EU airport -- UK261 governs the claim because the departure is what triggers entitlement. EU261's inbound-arrival rule can apply where the operating carrier is EU-registered, but it is simpler to claim under the departure-country rule that unambiguously applies.

How much am I owed?

Both regulations use the same three distance tiers. The amounts are nearly identical, just in different currencies.

Under EU261, for flights departing EU airports:

Route distance	Compensation
Up to 1,500 km	EUR 250
1,501 to 3,500 km	EUR 400
Over 3,500 km	EUR 600

Under UK261, for flights departing UK airports:

Route distance	Compensation
Up to 1,500 km	GBP 220
1,501 to 3,500 km	GBP 350
Over 3,500 km	GBP 520

These are fixed statutory amounts under Article 7(1) of each regulation. A 50% reduction applies only if the airline re-routed you and delivered you within 2 hours of your original arrival time on short routes, or 4 hours on long routes.

For delays over 2 hours, both EU261 and UK261 also entitle you to right to care: meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation if you are stranded overnight, and transport to and from the hotel. This applies even when the airline claims extraordinary circumstances.

Step by step -- how to claim

Confirm your departure airport. UK departure means UK261. EU departure means EU261. This sets the amounts and the currency.

Calculate your route distance. Confirm whether your flight was under 1,500 km, 1,501 to 3,500 km, or over 3,500 km using any online map. That gives you the compensation tier.

Verify your arrival delay. Both regulations measure delay at the final destination when the aircraft doors open, not at departure. The CJEU confirmed this in Sturgeon v Condor (C-402/07), and UK courts apply the same rule. A flight delayed 90 minutes on departure that arrives 4 hours late is a qualifying delay.

Gather your documents. You need your booking confirmation, flight number, date, and departure and arrival airports. Any email from the airline about the disruption is useful evidence. Keep your boarding pass if you have it.

Establish the cause if you can. If the airline told you the disruption was a technical fault or maintenance issue, that works in your favour. Under Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07), the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that technical faults are a normal part of running an airline, not extraordinary circumstances. UK courts follow this reasoning under UK261.

Submit your claim directly to the airline. File through their claims portal and cite the regulation that applies -- UK261 for UK departures, EU261 for EU departures. State your actual arrival delay at your final destination, not the departure delay. Check your eligibility free first if you want to confirm which regulation applies to your specific flight.

Set a 14-day deadline. If the airline does not respond within two weeks, escalate immediately.

Escalate if needed. For UK departures, file a complaint with the Civil Aviation Authority at caa.co.uk/passengers. For EU departures, contact the national enforcement body in the departure country -- Luftfahrt-Bundesamt in Germany, DGAC in France, AESA in Spain. NEB complaints are free and airlines respond to them.

What if they say no?

Airlines use the same rejection scripts whether the claim is under EU261 or UK261.

"Extraordinary circumstances." This is the most common rejection. The extraordinary circumstances exemption is narrow under both regulations: genuine severe weather, ATC strikes, security incidents outside airline control. Technical faults, crew scheduling, and maintenance issues do not qualify. Ask the airline in writing to specify exactly what the extraordinary circumstance was and why it could not have been avoided. Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) is binding on this point and UK261 applies the same standard.

"Brexit means the old regulation no longer applies." Some airlines have tried this with passengers who mention EU261 on a UK departure. It is incorrect. UK261 came into force on 1 January 2021 under the Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Your rights are intact -- just under UK law rather than EU law. Correct the airline in writing and cite UK261 directly.

"Your delay was under 3 hours." If the airline is calculating departure delay rather than arrival delay, correct them. Both EU261 and UK261 are triggered by arrival delay at your final destination. Sturgeon v Condor (C-402/07) settled this, and it applies under UK261 as much as EU261.

How GetMyFlightCash can help

Working out which regulation applies, calculating the right distance tier, and writing a letter that cites the correct cases is manageable but takes time. getmyflightcash.com does this automatically based on your departure airport and generates a complete claim package for a flat 12.99 euros -- the demand letter, the airline portal URL, a day-14 follow-up, and a pre-written NEB or CAA complaint. No commission. Whatever the airline pays, you keep it.

What you are actually owed

Brexit changed the name of the regulation that covers UK departures. It did not change what you are owed or how you get it. If you flew from a UK airport and your flight was delayed or cancelled, UK261 protects you in the same way EU261 always did.

Check your eligibility free →

Confirm in two minutes whether your flight qualifies and exactly how much you are owed.