A Qatar Airways flight out of an EU or EEA airport is covered by EU261, and one out of a UK airport by UK261: €250, €400 or €600 by distance, or £220, £350 or £520. The flight home from Doha is covered by neither, because Article 3(1)(b) reaches an arriving flight only when an EU-licensed carrier operates it.
Which rules apply to your Qatar Airways flight
| The disrupted flight | What applies |
|---|---|
| Departs an EU or EEA airport (Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Copenhagen, Athens…) or a UK airport | EU261 on an EU/EEA departure, UK261 on a UK departure — the fixed sum by distance band, plus rerouting and care. The Montreal Convention runs alongside for baggage and proven loss. |
| Departs Doha, or any other airport outside the EU, EEA and UK | Neither regulation. Only the Montreal Convention — proven loss, no fixed sums. |
Article 3(1)(a) covers “passengers departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member State” whoever operates the flight. Article 3(1)(b) covers a flight into the EU from a third country only “if the operating air carrier of the flight concerned is a Community carrier”, which Article 2(c) defines as a carrier licensed by a Member State. The UK retained regulation uses the same test with “a Community carrier or a UK air carrier”. Qatar Airways holds a Qatari licence, so it is outside both inbound tests and inside both outbound ones.
Amounts and the band boundaries are in the EU261 and UK261 amounts table; the directional rule applied across carriers is in does EU261 cover non-EU airlines.
Where a European Qatar Airways route lands
The band is set by great-circle distance to your final destination on that booking. Using the airport coordinates this site ships:
| Route | Great-circle | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Athens – Doha | 2,958 km | €400 |
| Vienna – Doha | 3,969 km | €600 |
| Frankfurt – Doha | 4,588 km | €600 |
| Copenhagen – Doha | 4,610 km | €600 |
| Paris CDG – Doha | 4,969 km | €600 |
| London Heathrow – Doha | 5,241 km | £520 under UK261 |
| Madrid – Doha | 5,331 km | €600 |
Doha sits far enough from Europe that almost every departure is the top band; Athens and the eastern Mediterranean are the exception that stays at €400. On a through booking to Asia or Australasia the distance is measured to that final airport, so the band does not change — but the delay is measured on arrival there, not at Doha. Check your own pair in the compensation calculator.
A through ticket via Doha is one journey to you and two flights to the Regulation. Madrid to Doha to Bangkok on one booking departs an EU airport, so the whole itinerary is covered and the clock runs to Bangkok. Bangkok to Doha to Madrid on the same ticket departs a third country on a Qatari carrier, and nothing in EU261 reaches it. The direction of the leg you are on decides the answer, every time.
What you can claim on the flight back from Doha
The Montreal Convention applies to international carriage between states party to it, whichever airline operates the flight.
- Article 19 makes the carrier liable for damage caused by delay. It pays receipted loss, not a tariff, and the carrier escapes by proving it “took all measures that could reasonably be required to avoid the damage”.
- Article 17(2) and Article 22(2) cover checked baggage, limited to 1,519 SDR per passenger since 28 December 2024 (ICAO).
- Article 31(2) allows 7 days to complain in writing about damaged baggage and 21 days about delayed baggage. Article 35 extinguishes the whole claim two years after arrival, or after the date the aircraft should have arrived.
The practical difference between the two systems — fixed sum against proven loss — is set out in EU261 versus the Montreal Convention.
Does Qatar have its own passenger compensation rule?
We could not verify one. The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority site opened on 6 September 2026 and offers a “Passenger’s Complaints” e-service, but it published no passenger-rights regulation setting compensation amounts that we could read. So there is a complaints channel for a flight out of Doha and, as far as we can source it, no fixed-sum entitlement behind it. Do not rely on a Qatari compensation figure quoted by a claim agency.
Where does a Qatar Airways claim go if it refuses?
To the enforcement body of the country the flight departed from, from the Commission’s list. For a UK departure that is the CAA route: Qatar Airways is on neither CAA-approved ADR scheme’s member list (AviationADR and CEDR, read on 6 September 2026), which leaves CAA PACT, and PACT cannot make a binding decision. We could not open the airline’s own claim page on 6 September 2026, so no claim URL is published here — find the current form from its help pages, keep the reference number, and send the same letter by email as well.
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.