In short: Any flight departing from Frankfurt 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. German law, 3-year limitation period (from the end of the year); söp conciliation; enforcement body: Luftfahrt-Bundesamt.
Live at Frankfurt (FRA) today
About the airport
Frankfurt is Germany's largest airport and Lufthansa's main hub. Travellers from all over Europe connect here to North America, Asia and Africa, and a missed connection after a 30–60 minute delay on the feeder flight is one of the most common claims.
An EU airport under German law, where courts have built up a passenger-friendly body of case law.
Busiest routes from Frankfurt – and what a delay is worth
The 30 busiest routes on Eurostat’s 2024 data, with the compensation for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation in each direction.
| Destination | Passengers 2024 | Distance | From FRA | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London LHR | 1,410,787 | 654 km | €250 | £220 |
| Berlin BER | 1,167,085 | 431 km | €250 | €250 |
| Hamburg HAM | 1,083,599 | 413 km | €250 | €250 |
| Vienna VIE | 1,033,819 | 621 km | €250 | €250 |
| Munich MUC | 1,012,334 | 299 km | €250 | €250 |
| Palma de Mallorca PMI | 965,640 | 1,251 km | €250 | €250 |
| Madrid MAD | 908,421 | 1,420 km | €250 | €250 |
| Istanbul IST | 844,658 | 1,837 km | €400 | €400* |
| Barcelona BCN | 808,807 | 1,093 km | €250 | €250 |
| Lisbon LIS | 733,217 | 1,873 km | €400 | €400 |
| Paris CDG | 731,207 | 448 km | €250 | €250 |
| Athens ATH | 716,448 | 1,816 km | €400 | €400 |
| Antalya AYT | 664,475 | 2,298 km | €400 | €400* |
| Amsterdam AMS | 658,604 | 366 km | €250 | €250 |
| Zurich ZRH | 610,719 | 286 km | €250 | €250 |
| Rome FCO | 595,501 | 958 km | €250 | €250 |
| Dublin DUB | 554,743 | 1,086 km | €250 | €250 |
| Copenhagen CPH | 532,714 | 680 km | €250 | €250 |
| Warsaw WAW | 527,543 | 897 km | €250 | €250 |
| Stockholm ARN | 520,802 | 1,224 km | €250 | €250 |
| Brussels BRU | 513,124 | 304 km | €250 | €250 |
| Milan LIN | 495,729 | 512 km | €250 | €250 |
| Budapest BUD | 482,651 | 836 km | €250 | €250 |
| Helsinki HEL | 474,699 | 1,539 km | €400 | €400 |
| Istanbul SAW | 443,269 | 1,901 km | €400 | €400* |
| Oslo OSL | 441,910 | 1,142 km | €250 | €250 |
| Prague PRG | 438,753 | 407 km | €250 | €250 |
| Bucharest OTP | 391,436 | 1,451 km | €250 | €250 |
| Kraków KRK | 390,537 | 801 km | €250 | €250 |
| Venice VCE | 377,837 | 577 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 Frankfurt am Main (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, 230,160 flights arrived at FRA; 10,386 of them were held back this way, 4,854 by more than 15 minutes – an average of 0.95 minutes per arrival.
What caused the ATFM delay
Average ATFM delay per arrival by month (min)
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
Worst days: 27 July 2025 – 13,020 minutes, mostly weather; 25 July 2025 – 9,943 minutes, mostly weather; 15 June 2025 – 8,581 minutes, mostly weather.
2026 so far (to 30 September 2026): 166,844 arrivals, 0.59 minutes of ATFM delay per arrival (better than 2025), mainly weather (94%) and aerodrome capacity (3%).
Check what happened at FRA on your travel day →
What this means for a claim: ATFM delays come from weather (82% here), air traffic control capacity and staffing (16%) 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 Frankfurt Airport
- Connections: the minimum connecting times sold at Frankfurt are tight for the size of its terminals.
- Strikes by Lufthansa staff and by ground staff in 2022–2024 – not extraordinary circumstances for the airline.
- Winter snow and de-icing – extraordinary circumstances if they exceed the airport's capacity.
Airlines you are likely to fly with here
Check your flight from Frankfurt
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Local information
- The German conciliation body söp (Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr) offers free dispute resolution, and most German airlines are members.
- For a missed connection, compensation is based on the distance from your first departure airport to your final destination (for example Madrid–Frankfurt–New York: €600).
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim compensation for a flight departing from Frankfurt Airport?
Yes. FRA 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 Frankfurt 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
- Flight delay compensation
- Missed connection compensation
- National enforcement bodies and ADR
- All airports
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
- Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
- 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.