British Airways owes £220, £350 or £520 under UK261 — €250, €400 or €600 under EU261 — for a three-hour arrival delay, a cancellation with under 14 days’ notice, or denied boarding. It is UK-licensed, so UK261 covers its UK departures and arrivals, EU261 its EU departures. After a refusal the claim goes to CEDR.
Which figure applies is set by distance to your final destination, not by your fare — the bands are in the amounts table.
Which regime applies to your British Airways flight
| Your flight | Regime |
|---|---|
| Departs a UK airport, or arrives in the UK from outside on British Airways | UK261 — sterling amounts, CAA route and CEDR |
| Departs an EU airport | EU261 — euro amounts, enforcement body of the country you left |
| Arrives in the EU from outside the EU on British Airways | Neither — BA holds a UK licence, so it is not a Community carrier for the inbound test |
That last row is the one people get wrong. Article 3(1)(b) extends EU261 to flights into the EU only when a Community carrier operates them. A UK licence is not an EU licence, so a New York–Paris flight on BA is outside EU261, while New York–London on BA is inside UK261.
British Airways went to the Court of Justice to kill the three-hour rule
In Nelson and TUI Travel the Court decided two references together. In the second, C-629/10, the applicants were TUI Travel plc, British Airways plc, easyJet Airline Company Ltd and IATA, and they asked the English court to declare that the Civil Aviation Authority could not enforce compensation for long delays. On 23 October 2012 the Court held that passengers who lose three hours or more are entitled to the Article 7 sum, and that the rule is compatible with the Montreal Convention and with legal certainty.
If a BA refusal implies that Article 7 covers only cancellation and denied boarding, that is the case to name: BA argued exactly that, at the Court of Justice, and the argument failed.
We could not confirm a claim URL
We do not publish an airline link we could not open. On 6 September 2026 britishairways.com answered our automated check with a “noindex” information-page interstitial instead of the claim form, so no claim URL is listed for BA in our carrier file. Start from BA’s own help and contacts pages in a browser, keep the reference it gives you, and if nothing works, put the claim in writing and escalate on the date you set.
BA CityFlyer and BA EuroFlyer are separate airlines
CEDR lists British Airways, BA CityFlyer and BA EuroFlyer as separate members of its aviation scheme. Under Article 2(b) the money is owed by the carrier that operated your flight, so a claim sent to the wrong group company comes back on a technicality rather than on the merits. Check the “operated by” line on the booking — see which airline actually owes you.
Which band you are actually in
The top band — £520, or €600 on an EU departure — needs a flight of more than 3,500 km, so it is the long-haul sectors that reach it; short-haul out of Heathrow, Gatwick and London City sits at £220 or £350. Under EU261 a flight with both ends inside the EU is capped at €400 by Article 7(1)(b) however far it goes. On a single booking the band is measured over the whole journey to your final destination, not the leg that went wrong.
Where a BA claim goes after a refusal
BA’s approved scheme is CEDR. A CAA-approved ADR decision binds the airline, and you apply within 12 months of BA’s final response; it is free to you, and you can still decline the outcome and go to court. Airlines outside a scheme fall to CAA PACT, which cannot make a binding decision — BA is not in that position. For an EU departure, use the enforcement body of the country you left. More in if the airline refuses.
Get the cause in writing before you accept a “no”. Article 5(3) puts the burden on the airline to prove the event and the reasonable measures it took. “Air traffic control” or “weather” with no date, no restriction and no aircraft is an assertion, not a defence. Ask for specifics, then check them against extraordinary circumstances.
Does British Airways have to pay cash rather than Avios?
Yes, unless you choose otherwise. Article 7(3) pays compensation in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank order or cheque, and allows a travel voucher only with your signed agreement. Avios or an eVoucher offered as a gesture does not discharge the claim unless you accept it in place of the money.
My BA flight was late because the inbound aircraft was late. Is that extraordinary?
Not on its own. A knock-on delay carries the earlier event with it only if the airline proves the causal link and that it still took the reasonable measures open to it, including re-routing you (LE v TAP, C-74/19, 11 June 2020). Ask what happened on the earlier rotation.
How long do I have to claim against British Airways?
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, six years (Limitation Act 1980, section 9); in Scotland, five (Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, section 6). The CEDR window is much shorter: 12 months from BA’s final response.
Rules in force today
This is the law that applies to a flight you take today. A revision of Regulation 261/2004 was adopted in July 2026 — the Parliament approved the conciliation text on 7 July 2026 and the Council gave final approval on 13 July 2026 — and it is not yet in force: it applies 12 months after it enters into force following publication in the Official Journal, and the final text sets the details. See what the 2026 EU261 reform changes.