Flight Delayed: What You're Owed and When

A delay is frustrating, but it is not just dead time at the gate. If your flight is covered by UK law, the airline has real duties towards you while you wait, and a long enough delay can turn into money back or compensation. Knowing the thresholds keeps you calm and stops you accepting less than you should.

While you wait: the airline must look after you

Once a delay stretches on, the airline has to care for you, and this applies whatever caused the delay, even bad weather. That means food and drink appropriate to the length of the wait, and if you are kept overnight, a hotel and transport to and from it. If the airline does not arrange this on the spot, keep your receipts for reasonable costs and claim them back. Reasonable is the key word: a sandwich and a phone call, not a five-course dinner.

The three-hour line: when a delay becomes compensation

Care is one thing, compensation is another. You may be entitled to a fixed sum if you arrive at your destination three or more hours late and the cause was within the airline's control. The amount depends on distance: £220 for shorter flights, £350 for medium ones, and up to £520 for long-haul. On long-haul over 3,500km, a delay between three and four hours may be paid at half, around £260. As with cancellations, if the delay was caused by an extraordinary circumstance, such as severe weather or an air traffic control problem, compensation is not due, though the care still is.

The five-hour option: walk away and get a refund

If a delay reaches five hours or more, you do not have to travel at all. You can choose to abandon the journey and claim a refund for the parts of the ticket you have not used. For a connecting trip where the delay has already made the rest pointless, you can also be flown back to where you started. This is worth remembering when a long delay would make you miss the very thing you were travelling for.

The long-haul point for diaspora travellers

The same outbound and return distinction applies as with cancellations. A delay on a flight leaving a UK airport is covered whatever the airline. On the way home, the protection depends on the carrier: a flight into the UK on a UK or European airline is covered, while one departing from somewhere like Lagos on a non-UK or non-European airline often is not. If a delayed return could throw out work, ministry or school, that is worth weighing when you book.

Where a delay gets complicated

A delay rarely sits on its own. It eats into connection times, puts separate tickets at risk, and leaves families spread across different bookings unsure whether to wait or rebook. The decisions you make in the moment, whether to hold, switch or claim, are where a delay either stays a nuisance or becomes a very expensive day.

At MAJ Travel Concierge, this is the kind of moment we are built for. We help you read the situation quickly, deal with the airline and keep your trip on track, with flights always booked in the traveller's own name. Members have this support built in. If you are not a member and you are caught in a live delay, our Disruption Advisory is there.

This is general guidance. Your exact rights depend on the airline and the cause, and the CAA is the place to confirm them.