A cancellation gives you a choice under Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004: a refund within seven days, or re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, under comparable transport conditions. Earliest means the earliest seat available. The Commission’s guidelines say that can mean another airline, at no additional cost to you.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Customer Relations / Claims
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Re-routing under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Booking reference [Booking reference]
Passengers [Number of passengers]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I was a confirmed passenger on flight [Flight number], from
[Departure airport] to [Final destination airport], on [Flight date],
booking reference [Booking reference]. My flight was
[cancelled / overbooked and I was denied boarding].
Article 5(1)(a) applies Article 8 to a cancellation, and Article 4(3)
applies it to denied boarding. Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC)
No 261/2004 requires you to offer re-routing, under comparable transport
conditions, to my final destination at the earliest opportunity. The
only re-routing you offered
me departed at [Alternative flight departure time] and would have
arrived at [Alternative flight arrival time]. Seats to the same
destination were available sooner on other carriers on the same day.
The European Commission's Interpretative Guidelines on the Regulation
(Commission Notice C/2024/5687, OJ C, 25.9.2024, section 4.2) state that re-routing should be
offered at no additional cost to the passenger, including where the
passenger is re-routed with another air carrier, on a different mode of
transport, or in a higher class. Offering only a much later flight of
your own, or a refund in place of re-routing, does not discharge the
obligation in Article 8(1)(b).
Because you did not provide the re-routing you owed, I arranged it
myself. I attach the receipt and the itinerary. I claim the cost of that
replacement journey, being [Currency] [Amount].
Please pay [Currency] [Amount] within 14 days to: [Payment details]. If
you consider the sum is not due, please state in writing which
re-routing you say you offered, at what times, and on what basis you
regard it as the earliest opportunity.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Ask at the desk, in these words: re-routing to my final destination at the earliest opportunity under Article 8.
- If they refuse, screenshot the other airlines’ availability for that day before you buy anything.
- Buy the reasonable replacement — same destination, comparable class, sensible price. Not the most expensive seat available.
- Attach the receipt, the boarding passes and the screenshots, and send it through the airline’s own claim route.
- Compensation under Article 7 is a separate claim. Send that letter too if the flight qualifies.
Taking the refund can close the door on re-routing. Article 8(1) gives you a choice between reimbursement and re-routing, and airlines present the refund button as the easy one. Once you accept the refund and buy your own ticket, you are arguing about a choice you made rather than a right they denied. Ask for re-routing first, in writing, and leave the refund alone until they answer.
Does a five-hour delay give me this right?
Not this one. Article 6(1)(c)(iii) gives a passenger delayed five hours or more the assistance in Article 8(1)(a) — reimbursement, and where relevant a return flight to the first point of departure. The re-routing limb in Article 8(1)(b) comes with a cancellation or denied boarding.
Does the airline really have to put me on a competitor?
The Regulation says re-routing at the earliest opportunity, under comparable conditions. The Commission’s Interpretative Guidelines (2024 Notice, section 4.2) state re-routing should be at no additional cost even where the passenger is re-routed with another carrier, on a different mode of transport, or in a higher class. Airlines dispute how far that goes; the guidelines are the text to quote.
What can I actually recover if I buy my own ticket?
The reasonable cost of getting to the same final destination at the earliest opportunity. Keep it proportionate — a comparable class on a comparable route. A last-minute business-class fare when economy was available on the same flight invites a partial refusal, and partial is what you will get.
Do I still get compensation as well?
Yes, if the cancellation or delay qualifies on its own. Re-routing and care under Articles 8 and 9 are separate from the fixed sum under Article 7. See the amounts table and the cancellation letter.
Article 9 care runs alongside all of this — meals, and a hotel with transport where an overnight stay becomes necessary — so claim those receipts with the expenses letter. If the airline refuses in writing, that refusal is exactly what your enforcement body or ADR scheme needs: see what to do when the airline refuses.