Cancelled flight: what are your rights under EU Regulation 261/2004

Refund or alternative flight: you choose

In case of cancellation notified by the airline, you have the right to choose between a full ticket refund within 7 days and rebooking on an alternative flight to the same destination, on the most convenient terms available, even with another carrier if necessary. If the cancellation affects only part of an already-started journey, you can consult the guide on airline ticket refunds for other cases that qualify.

When you get compensation of €250 to €600

If the cancellation was notified to you less than 14 days in advance and does not result from extraordinary circumstances (extreme weather, air traffic control strikes, political instability), you are entitled to compensation ranging from €250 for routes up to 1,500 km to €600 for those over 3,500 km. A strike called by the airline's own staff, by contrast, is not considered an extraordinary circumstance by European courts and therefore does not exempt the airline from payment.

Free assistance while you wait

While awaiting your alternative flight, the airline must provide free assistance: meals and drinks proportional to the waiting time, two telephone calls or emails, and if necessary hotel accommodation with transfer included.

A reform confirmed, but not before 2027

On 7 July 2026, the European Parliament definitively approved the reform of the regulation, which introduces new protections on cabin baggage and fare transparency but confirms the current amounts and notification threshold described above, rejecting proposals that would have modified them. The new rules will become operational only in the second half of 2027, so the rules set out in this article remain valid today.

Always keep your boarding pass and written notification of cancellation: these are the evidence needed for your claim, to be submitted first to the airline and only after, if they are silent, to the competent national authority.