Compensation is due if your flight arrives 3 hours or more late, unless there are extraordinary circumstances (arrival time: when at least one aircraft door is opened). Amounts: €250 up to 1,500 km, €400 from 1,500 to 3,500 km and for intra-EU flights over 1,500 km, €600 beyond. Delay of 3 to 4 hours on flights over 3,500 km: possible 50% reduction (€300). Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 7; CJEU Sturgeon (C-402/07) and Germanwings (C-452/13).
A long delay on arrival gives you the right to fixed compensation, whatever cause the airline gives — unless a genuinely proven extraordinary circumstance applies. This right stems from the Sturgeon judgment (CJEU, 2009), which extended Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 to delays. VolClaim checks your eligibility free of charge and handles your entire claim. You pay nothing upfront, and you only pay if we obtain your compensation.
In short: a flight arriving 3 hours or more late entitles each passenger to €250 (flights up to 1 500 km), €400 (flights within the EU over 1 500 km and other flights of 1 500 to 3 500 km) or €600 (over 3 500 km), unless there are extraordinary circumstances. The delay is measured when the aircraft doors open on arrival; for a delay of 3 to 4 hours on flights over 3 500 km, the amount may be halved (€300). VolClaim handles the whole claim: 25 % commission incl. VAT, only if successful, nothing to pay otherwise. If court action becomes necessary, our total fee is capped at 50% incl. VAT. It covers all procedural costs (court fees, lawyer, judicial officer), which we advance and bear. If the proceedings fail, you pay nothing. Procedural costs awarded against the airline (legal costs, Article 700 of the French Code of Civil Procedure) are retained by us.
✓ Content checked by the VolClaim editorial team · Last checked: 16 September 2026 · Sources: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, UK261, CJEU case law (Sturgeon judgment)
Threshold set by the Sturgeon case law (CJEU, 2009): from 3 hours' delay on arrival compared with the scheduled time, the right to compensation applies, whatever cause the airline declares.
For any flight of 1,500 km or less with a delay of 3 hours or more on arrival.
For intra-EU flights over 1,500 km, and for other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, with a delay of 3 hours or more.
For flights over 3,500 km outside the European Union, with a delay of 3 hours or more on arrival.
The airline may be exempted from paying compensation if it proves that the delay was caused by an extraordinary circumstance that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. The following are generally recognised as such: weather conditions making the flight impossible, strikes by air traffic control or airport staff (excluding, in some cases, an internal strike by the airline itself), security risks, air traffic management restrictions, or the discovery of a hidden manufacturing defect affecting flight safety.
Conversely, the Court of Justice of the European Union has made clear on several occasions that a common technical problem linked to the normal maintenance of the aircraft (breakdown, part failure) is in principle not an extraordinary circumstance, because it is inherent in the normal exercise of an air carrier's activity. This is one of the most frequent points of dispute between passengers and airlines — and one that VolClaim systematically checks before accepting an airline's reply.
€250 for a flight of up to 1,500 km, €400 for a flight of 1,500 to 3,500 km or an intra-EU flight over 1,500 km, and €600 beyond 3,500 km, if the aircraft arrives 3 hours or more late, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. The arrival time is when at least one aircraft door is opened (CJEU, Germanwings judgment, C-452/13). For a delay of 3 to 4 hours on flights over 3,500 km, the amount may be reduced by 50% (€300).
From 3 hours' delay on arrival compared with the scheduled time, on the basis of the Sturgeon case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (2009), which extended the right to compensation under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 to long delays.
Between €250 and €600 depending on the flight distance: €250 up to 1,500 km, €400 between 1,500 and 3,500 km (or any intra-EU flight over 1,500 km), and €600 beyond 3,500 km outside the EU.
Events beyond the airline's actual control: extreme weather conditions, air traffic control strikes, security risks, air traffic restrictions. On the other hand, a recurring technical fault or a maintenance defect is generally NOT an extraordinary circumstance under CJEU case law. VolClaim systematically checks whether the reason given by the airline is genuinely justified.
Free check, no obligation.