Check compensationCheck

Flight compensation in Germany: delays, cancellations and how to claim

By passengers on routes within Europe in Eurostat’s 2024 data, Germany’s busiest airports were Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin Brandenburg, Düsseldorf and Hamburg. German airlines include Lufthansa (hubs Frankfurt and Munich), Eurowings, Condor and Discover Airlines. EU261 covers every departure from Germany, whatever the airline, and flights to Germany from outside the EU, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland when an airline licensed in one of those countries operates them.

By the EU261 Flight Delay editorial team Last reviewed: How we write our guides

Check compensation or start a claim with AirHelp straight away

In short: Every flight departing from Germany is covered by EU261, whatever the airline: €250–€600 per passenger for a delay of 3 hours or more at arrival, a cancellation with less than 14 days’ notice or denied boarding – unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. Flights into Germany from outside the EU are covered only on EU airlines. Complain to the airline first, then to Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) – National Enforcement Body Air Passenger Rights or an ADR body, and if needed go to court.

Which flights are covered

Your flightRulesWhich airlines
From Germany to anywhereEU261Any airline
From another EU/EEA country or Switzerland to GermanyEU261Any airline
From the UK to GermanyUK261 (EU261 too on an EU airline)Any airline
From outside Europe to GermanyEU261EU airlines only

Whatever the cause, from 2 hours’ delay the airline must also provide meals and drinks, and a hotel if you are stuck overnight; after a cancellation or a 5-hour delay you can choose a refund. Care and refunds.

Check your flight from Germany

Two minutes, free, no sign-up.

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

How much: example routes from Germany

Compensation per passenger for a 3-hour-plus delay or a late cancellation on the busiest international routes (Eurostat 2024):

RouteDistanceOutboundReturn
Düsseldorf – Palma de Mallorca1,342 km€250€250
Düsseldorf – Antalya2,479 km€400€400 (an EU airline)
Frankfurt – Vienna621 km€250€250
Cologne – Antalya2,432 km€400€400 (an EU airline)
Hamburg – Palma de Mallorca1,659 km€400€400
Cologne – Palma de Mallorca1,304 km€250€250
Frankfurt – Palma de Mallorca1,251 km€250€250
Frankfurt – Madrid Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas1,420 km€250€250
Munich – Madrid Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas1,496 km€250€250
Berlin – Palma de Mallorca1,646 km€400€400

How to claim in Germany

  1. Claim from the airline in writing – its online form or a letter (complaint letter generator). Keep your booking, boarding pass and receipts.
  2. National enforcement body: Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) – National Enforcement Body Air Passenger Rights – Online complaint forms in German and English. It deals with flights departing from Germany, and flights arriving there from outside the EU.
  3. Alternative dispute resolution: Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp) for airlines that are members – free for consumers, ending in a non-binding recommendation. For airlines that are not members of a private scheme, the Federal Office of Justice’s Schlichtungsstelle Luftverkehr: usually free for the passenger, but you must claim from the airline first and wait two months (unless it rejects the claim sooner); its proposal is not binding.
  4. Court: the local court for the departure or arrival airport, or – for cross-border cases – the European Small Claims Procedure.
  5. Time limit: 3 years, running from the end of the year in which the claim arose (BGB §§ 195, 199) – so a flight in March 2024 can be claimed until 31 December 2027. The Federal Court of Justice confirmed this applies to EU261 claims, including package-holiday flights (BGH X ZR 62/23, 4 June 2024).

Prefer not to do it yourself? A claims company does the work for a share of the compensation – see claim companies compared.

Airlines from Germany

Customer service: Lufthansa.

Airports in Germany

Delay causes, busiest routes and seasonal patterns: flights to Germany · European delay statistics.

Strikes in Germany

  • 2026-11-15: Lufthansa pilots (Vereinigung Cockpit) – Lufthansa (watch)

Germany has no fixed notice period for strikes: Verdi warning strikes at airports, and Lufthansa crew strikes, are often announced only one or two days ahead. There is no statutory minimum service. Strikes are only lawful during open disputes, because a collective agreement carries a peace obligation – for ground handling, an April 2025 arbitration result rules out strikes until March 2027.

Strike days at Germany’s airports since 2024

EUROCONTROL attributes every arrival flow restriction to a cause. These are the days on which restrictions at Germany’s airports were put down to industrial action, from January 2024 to 30 September 2026 – 1 in 2024.

DateATC strike delay (min)Other strike delay (min)Airports
6 March 2024–40CGN

Only restrictions on arriving flights at the airports themselves are counted; strikes by air traffic controllers elsewhere (for example in France, affecting overflights) and by airline staff do not appear here. A strike by air traffic controllers or airport staff is usually an extraordinary circumstance; a strike by the airline’s own staff is not. Source: EUROCONTROL. Check a specific day: delay cause checker.

Good to know

  • German strikes come at short notice, so make sure your phone number and e-mail are in your booking.
  • A strike by Lufthansa’s own pilots or cabin crew usually means compensation is due; a Verdi strike by airport or security staff usually does not – but care and a refund or re-routing are owed either way.
  • If the airline is not in the private conciliation scheme, the Federal Office of Justice’s conciliation body requires you to wait two months after claiming from the airline before applying.
  • German limitation runs to 31 December three years after the year of the flight, which makes older flights easy to check.
  • In EUROCONTROL’s 2025 data Frankfurt had the highest average arrival flow-control delay of Germany’s airports, mostly weather-related, peaking in July.

Frequently asked questions

How much compensation can I get for a delayed flight in Germany?

Under EU261, €250 for flights up to 1,500 km, €400 for 1,500–3,500 km (and for every flight within the EU over 1,500 km) and €600 for longer flights (€300 if a long-haul flight arrives 3–4 hours late), per passenger, if you arrive 3 hours or more late and the airline cannot prove extraordinary circumstances. It does not matter where you live – only where you flew from, where to, and with which airline.

Where do I complain in Germany if the airline refuses to pay?

To Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) – National Enforcement Body Air Passenger Rights, the national enforcement body for Germany (Online complaint forms in German and English). It handles complaints about flights departing from Germany and flights arriving there from outside the EU. Alternative dispute resolution: Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp) for airlines that are members – free for consumers, ending in a non-binding recommendation. For airlines that are not members of a private scheme, the Federal Office of Justice’s Schlichtungsstelle Luftverkehr: usually free for the passenger, but you must claim from the airline first and wait two months (unless it rejects the claim sooner); its proposal is not binding.

How long do I have to claim in Germany?

3 years, running from the end of the year in which the claim arose (BGB §§ 195, 199) – so a flight in March 2024 can be claimed until 31 December 2027. The Federal Court of Justice confirmed this applies to EU261 claims, including package-holiday flights (BGH X ZR 62/23, 4 June 2024).

I live in Germany but my flight left from another country. Where can I claim?

Your rights depend on the flight, not on where you live. For a flight between two EU countries you can sue in the courts for the place of departure or the place of arrival (CJEU C-204/08 Rehder); for cross-border cases the European Small Claims Procedure works by post and online. The enforcement body to complain to is the one in the country where the incident happened.

Information only, not legal advice. Enforcement bodies and dispute schemes as listed by the European Commission, checked November 2026.

Sources

  1. National enforcement bodies under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (updated 13 October 2026) – European Commission
  2. Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr – Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr e.V.
  3. Schlichtungsstelle Luftverkehr – Fragen und Antworten – Bundesamt für Justiz
  4. BGB § 195 – regular limitation period – Bundesministerium der Justiz
  5. BGH X ZR 62/23: kurze Verjährung gilt nicht für Fluggastrechte – beck-aktuell
  6. Tarifstreit: Weitere Flughafenstreiks wird es bis März 2027 nicht geben (29 April 2025) – Handelsblatt
  7. One-day strike at 13 German airports brings most flights to a halt (10 March 2025) – AP via WUNC
  8. Judgment C-28/20 Airhelp v SAS (23 March 2021) – strikes by the airline’s own staff – Court of Justice of the EU
  9. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – full text (Article 3: scope; recital 15: air traffic management decisions) – EUR-Lex
  10. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it applies in the UK (UK261) – Article 3, scope – legislation.gov.uk
  11. UK flight punctuality statistics 2025 (flights by destination from UK airports) – UK Civil Aviation Authority
  12. Airport arrival ATFM (flow-control) delay data, 2024–2025 – EUROCONTROL Aviation Intelligence Unit
  13. Air passenger transport by reporting airport (avia_par), 2024 – Eurostat
  14. Eurostat – air passenger transport routes between partner airports and main airports (2024) – Eurostat
  15. EUROCONTROL – airport arrival ATFM delays (open performance data) – EUROCONTROL
  16. C-204/08 Rehder v Air Baltic (jurisdiction: place of departure or arrival) – EUR-Lex

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