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Bremen Airport (BRE): flight delays and compensation

Bremen Airport. As an EU airport, every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004. Here is what to expect if your flight was delayed or cancelled here, or you were stranded.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: Reading time: 6 min How we write our guides

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In short: Any flight departing from Bremen Airport that arrives 3 or more hours late, is cancelled less than 14 days before departure, or is overbooked can give €250–600 per passenger. Departures: EU261 with any airline.

About the airport

Bremen Airport (BRE) serves Bremen, Germany. On the routes Eurostat reports, 1,756,363 passengers flew to or from it in 2024, the 148th-highest among the 397 European airports we cover. Its busiest connections were to Munich, Frankfurt, Palma de Mallorca, Amsterdam.

Every flight departing from here is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline. Flights arriving here are covered if they depart from the EU, or if an EU airline operates them from outside the EU.

Busiest routes from Bremen – and what a delay is worth

The 16 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.

DestinationPassengers 2024DistanceFrom BREReturn
Munich MUC359,547563 km€250€250
Frankfurt FRA283,477336 km€250€250
Palma de Mallorca PMI214,2191,570 km€400€400
Amsterdam AMS171,630283 km€250€250
Antalya AYT158,4542,475 km€400€400*
London STN156,682593 km€250£220
Istanbul IST131,3781,985 km€400€400*
Alicante ALC44,3631,792 km€400€400
Málaga AGP38,1342,092 km€400€400
Skopje SKP36,3521,560 km€400€400*
Zurich ZRH33,266622 km€250€250
Izmir ADB30,0842,162 km€400€400*
Stuttgart STR28,958485 km€250€250
Crete HER27,9032,351 km€400€400
Fuerteventura FUE21,2883,304 km€400€400
Vienna VIE20,628776 km€250€250

* only with an EU (or UK) airline. Passengers: Eurostat, both directions, routes reported by EU/EEA airports.

Air traffic flow delays at Bremen (2025)

EUROCONTROL records the delay imposed on arriving flights when the airport or the airspace around it cannot take more traffic (air traffic flow management, “ATFM”). In 2025, 12,424 flights arrived at BRE; 2 of them were held back this way, 2 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.01 minutes per arrival.

What caused the ATFM delay

  • accident/incident100%

Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)

  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D

Worst days: 26 February 2025 – 107 minutes, mostly accident/incident.

2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 8,487 arrivals, 0.00 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly weather (100%).

Check what happened at BRE on your travel day →

What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (0% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (0%) or airport limits – causes airlines often cite as extraordinary circumstances. They are only part of the story: most long delays come from the airline’s own operation (technical faults, crew, late inbound aircraft), which this data does not show. Source: EUROCONTROL.

Typical delay causes at Bremen Airport

  • EUROCONTROL recorded 12,424 arrivals at BRE in 2025; 2 were held by air traffic flow restrictions, 2 of them by more than 15 minutes.
  • The largest single cause of this flow delay was accident/incident (100%).
  • The worst day was 26 February 2025, with 107 minutes of flow delay, mostly accident/incident.
  • Most long delays that earn compensation are not flow delays but airline problems – technical faults, crew shortages and late inbound aircraft – which do not count as extraordinary circumstances.

Airlines you are likely to fly with here

    Check your flight from Bremen

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    What happened?Step 1 of 4

    What happened to your flight?
    Where did you fly from and to?

    With a connection, enter your first departure and your final destination – compensation is based on the total distance.

    How late did you arrive at your final destination?

    What counts is when the aircraft doors opened at your destination – not the departure delay.

    When were you told about the cancellation?
    When did you arrive on the replacement flight?
    Which airline operated the flight?
    When was the flight?

    How many passengers were on the booking?

    1 passenger

    Every passenger gets their own compensation, children too. Infants under 2 without their own seat do not count.

    • Free, no sign-up
    • Fee only if successful (35%)
    • AirHelp: Trustpilot 4.5/5

    Rather skip the questions? Start a claim with AirHelp straight away

    Local information

    • Ask the airline staff at the gate for the reason for the delay or cancellation and write it down; take a photo of the departure board.
    • From 2 hours’ delay (depending on distance) the airline must give you meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight – keep the receipts if you had to pay yourself.
    • If the airline rejects your claim, complain to the national enforcement body of the country where the flight departed (or arrived, for flights from outside the EU), or go to court.

    Frequently asked questions

    Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Bremen Airport?

    Yes. BRE is an EU airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004, whatever the airline and wherever it is based.

    Can I claim compensation for a flight arriving at Bremen Airport?

    If the flight departed from an EU airport: yes, with any airline. If it departed from the UK: yes, under UK261, with any airline. If it departed from elsewhere: only if an EU airline operated it.

    How is the length of the delay measured?

    By your arrival time at your final destination – more precisely, the moment the aircraft door opens at the gate. It must be at least 3 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

    Related guides

    Information only, not legal advice. Passenger figures are approximate and based on the airports' published statistics; punctuality figures are from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. We earn a commission when a claim submitted through our partner links is successful.

    Sources

    1. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
    2. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL

    We check every rule against the sources above. Spotted an error? Tell us – see our editorial policy.