Delayed flight - your right to compensation and assistance

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If your flight is delayed, you may be entitled to compensation and help from the airline. Find out how much compensation you can demand and what to do if the airline denies your demands.

Translated page: This text has been translated from Swedish. The text and appearance of the page may look different from the original page.

Your rights when the flight is delayed

  • In the EU there are specific rules for flights. These rules can give you the right to seek assistance and compensation when a flight is delayed.

  • Use our flight calculator to find out what applies in your situation, for example how much compensation you are entitled to.

Find out your rights and make a claim

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When your flight is delayed or cancelled, you may be entitled to assistance and compensation from the airline. Feel free to use our free tool, the Flight Calculator. By answering questions, you will find out what rights you have, such as whether and how much compensation you are entitled to.

Send your claim to the airline

Always contact the airline to make your claims. If you have bought your ticket from a travel agency you should still contact the airline.

If your booking includes several flights with different airlines, you should contact the airline that is responsible for the cancelled flight.

If you are claiming compensation for costs that occurred because of the cancelled flight, you need to send proof of the costs, for example receipts. You should send your claims within 2 months from the incident.

Wait for a response from the airline

Once you have sent your claim to the airline, you need to wait for an answer. It usually takes a few weeks to get an answer, but if you have waited more than 6 weeks without getting an answer, you can take the next step with your case.

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You can use our tool, the Flight Calculator, to find out what rights you have.

Here you can also find more detailed information about your rights:

Within the EU there are specific rules for air travel that can give you the right to assistance when your flight is delayed or cancelled. You may also be entitled to compensation. EU rules apply when you:

  • fly from an airport within the EU
  • fly from an airport outside the EU to an airport within the EU with an airline that is registered in the EU.

The rules also apply to Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands (but not the Faroe Islands) in the same way as for all EU countries. Similar rules also apply in the United Kingdom.

If the airline has reason to believe that your departure time will be delayed by at least 2 hours, it must offer you free food and drinks in reasonable proportion to the waiting time and the length of the flight. The airline must also inform you about your rights as a passenger.

If the airline does not offer you food and drinks, you can claim compensation for expenses that have been necessary, appropriate and reasonable.

Right to free hotel accommodation in case of an overnight delay

The airline must also arrange hotel accommodation if you are delayed by one or more nights. The airline must pay for transport between the hotel and the airport.

If the airline does not offer free accommodation, you can claim compensation for expenses that have been necessary, appropriate and reasonable.

Right to a refund in case of a delay of more than 5 hours

The airline must offer you a refund if your departure time is delayed by more than 5 hours. You are entitled to get back the ticket price for the part of the journey that you have not been able to use.

Have you already used part of the journey but it no longer serves any purpose? In that case, you are entitled to a full refund of the ticket price. You also have the right to a return flight to the first point of departure as soon as possible.

If you accept a refund, you cannot at the same time request that the airline flies you on to your destination free of charge.

How and when should you receive a refund?

Airlines must refund the ticket price within 7 days. The refund must be made in the same way that you paid for the ticket. If you agree, the refund can be made through vouchers or in another way.

You may be entitled to compensation and damages when your flight is delayed.

  • Compensation is meant to cover the time you have lost.
  • Damages are meant to cover extra costs you have had.

Choose the type of compensation you want to read more about

If the airline rejects your claims

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The airline is not obliged to pay financial compensation if the delayed or cancelled flight is due to extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary circumstances (also called force majeure) mean events that are beyond the airline’s control and cannot be avoided even if all reasonable steps are taken.

Examples of circumstances that may be extraordinary:

  • political instability
  • weather conditions that make it impossible to fly
  • security risks
  • unforeseen deficiencies in flight safety
  • when a strike happens that affects the operations of the airline.

Strikes among the airline's own staff are usually not considered extraordinary circumstances. Neither are technical faults on the aircraft.

Who determines if it is an extraordinary circumstance?

There are no defined situations that are always considered to be extraordinary. This must be assessed case by case.

It is up to the airline to prove that the delayed or cancelled flight was due to an extraordinary circumstance. The airline must also be able to prove that they did everything they could to avoid the flight being delayed or cancelled.

Read further under the heading "Have your case reviewed" if you do not agree with the airline's assessment.

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Choose the option that best fits your situation. Are you unsure? Choose “Travelled with a Swedish airline”.

Do you need help understanding what you are entitled to? You may be unsure whether your claim is reasonable or want to discuss how you can proceed. Here you will find suggestions on where to turn.

Guidance from the Swedish Consumer Agency

The Swedish Consumer Agency provides free guidance. We give you information about your rights and the options you have to move forward. We cannot assess your individual case, resolve disputes or contact companies on your behalf.

Contact us

Consumer advice from your municipality

Many municipalities offer consumer advice. You can contact them for free information and support. The type of help provided varies between municipalities.

If you are resident in Sweden and the airline is registered in another EU country, Norway, Iceland or the United Kingdom, you may receive free advice from ECC Sweden. ECC Sweden is part of a network of consumer offices within the EU. In some cases, ECC Sweden can share your case with an office in another country to try to reach a solution through mediation.

How to contact ECC Sweden

To receive help with your case, you must first have submitted a claim to the airline.

You then need to send a description of the problem and documentation that shows what happened to ECC Sweden. Documentation is needed if your case is to be shared with an office in another country. Remember to keep your originals and only send copies to us.

Send your case by email to: konsumenteuropa@konsumentverket.se

Your message should include:

  • your contact details and the name of the airline
  • tickets or boarding passes
  • a copy of your complaint and the claims you have made
  • receipts
  • the airline’s response.

Once you have submitted your case, you usually receive a response within a couple of weeks.

The European Consumer Centre Sweden cannot:
  • Force a company to act according to the law. The work is based on the company being willing to cooperate with the ECC network to reach a solution.
  • Mediate in a case if we cannot identify the trader or if the trader refuses to cooperate with the ECC network.
  • Act as a legal representative or assist when the consumer has already initiated legal proceedings.
  • Assist in purchases between traders or purchases between private individuals.
Do you have questions?

ECC Sweden is part of the Swedish Consumer Agency. If you need help understanding what you are entitled to or want to discuss if and how you can proceed with your case, you can contact our advisers.

Contact us

Do you need help understanding what you are entitled to? You may be unsure whether your claim is reasonable or want to discuss how you can proceed. Here you will find suggestions on where to turn.

Guidance from the Swedish Consumer Agency

The Swedish Consumer Agency provides free guidance. We give you information about your rights and the options you have to move forward. We cannot assess your individual case, resolve disputes or contact companies on your behalf.

Contact us

Consumer advice from your municipality

Many municipalities offer consumer advice. You can contact them for free information and support. The type of help provided varies between municipalities.

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There are several different authorities that can assess your case if the airline rejects your claims. Which one depends, among other things, on the type of compensation you are claiming and the country you travelled from.

Which country did you travel from?

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If you believe the airline is breaking the rules, please file a report to the Swedish Consumer Agency. Examples of such situations:

  • The airline has not offered you a refund or rebooking.
  • You have not received your refund in a timely manner.
  • The airline has not informed you about your rights.

The Swedish Consumer Agency does not investigate or decide on individual cases, but reports are important for their supervisory work. We ensures that companies follow the rules and can take action against those that do not.

Report to the Swedish Consumer Agency

Proofread: 2 June 2025

The content is presented in collaboration with ECC Sweden, which is part of the ECC network and the Swedish Consumer Agency's information service. ECC Sweden is part-financed by the European Union.

The content of this website represents the views of the author only and it is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

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