In short: a flight that arrives 2 hours late does not give you a right to fixed compensation under UK261 or EU261 – that starts at 3 hours’ delay at your final destination. But 2 hours is not meaningless. On a short flight (up to 1,500 km), a delay of 2 hours or more at departure means the airline must give you food, drink and a way to make two calls or send two e-mails. And because delays often grow, it pays to keep evidence from the start.
“Can I claim for a 2-hour flight delay?” is one of the most common questions UK travellers type into Google. The honest answer is “not compensation – but possibly care, and possibly compensation later if the delay keeps growing”. Here is how the rules work.
Compensation starts at 3 hours, not 2
Under both regimes – UK261 (the version of Regulation 261/2004 retained in UK law) and EU261 – fixed compensation for a delay is owed when you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late, and the cause was not an extraordinary circumstance. In the UK this rule is now written into Article 6(3) of UK261; in the EU it comes from the Court of Justice’s Sturgeon judgment.
| Distance | UK261 | EU261 |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | £220 | €250 |
| 1,500–3,500 km | £350 | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km, 3–4 hours late | £260 | €300 |
| Over 3,500 km, 4 hours or more late | £520 | €600 |
Under EU261, flights within the EU of more than 1,500 km are always in the middle band (€400).
What counts is the arrival time, not the departure time. The Court of Justice ruled in Germanwings v Henning (C-452/13) that the arrival time is the moment at least one aircraft door opens. A flight that leaves 2 hours 40 minutes late can still arrive more than 3 hours late after taxiing, a holding pattern and a wait for a stand – or it can make up time in the air and arrive 2 hours 50 minutes late, in which case nothing is owed.
So a 2-hour delay on its own is not a compensation case. Full details of the bands and exceptions are in our flight delay compensation guide.
What you are owed after 2 hours: care
The right to care (Article 9) is separate from compensation, and it depends on the distance of the flight and the expected delay at departure:
| Flight distance | Care starts when the departure is delayed by |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km (e.g. London–Amsterdam, Glasgow–Paris, Dublin–Barcelona) | 2 hours or more |
| 1,500–3,500 km (e.g. Manchester–Tenerife, London–Athens) | 3 hours or more |
| Over 3,500 km (e.g. London–New York) | 4 hours or more |
Care means:
- meals and refreshments “in a reasonable relation to the waiting time” – usually a voucher for airport food outlets;
- two telephone calls, e-mails (or, in the old wording, telex or fax messages);
- a hotel and transport to it if the new departure is the next day or later.
Care is owed whatever the cause of the delay, including bad weather or an air traffic control strike. The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says airlines usually hand out a physical or digital voucher automatically; if you get nothing, ask a member of staff at the gate or desk. If the airline still provides nothing, buy reasonable food and drink yourself and keep itemised receipts – the CAA warns that alcohol and luxury meals are unlikely to be reimbursed. Our guide to flight delay rights and the meal voucher article explain this step by step.
When 2 hours matters for compensation
There are three situations in which a 2-hour figure does affect money:
1. Cancellation with re-routing. If your flight is cancelled with less than 14 days’ notice and the airline puts you on another flight, the regulation compares the new times with the old ones. With less than 7 days’ notice, no compensation is due if the replacement leaves no more than 1 hour earlier and arrives less than 2 hours later than originally planned. Arrive 2 hours or more late and compensation is back on the table. See cancelled flight compensation.
2. The 50% reduction. Under Article 7(2), if you are re-routed after a cancellation or denied boarding and arrive within 2 hours of the original time on a flight of up to 1,500 km, the airline may halve the compensation (£110 / €125 instead of £220 / €250).
3. Denied boarding. If you are bumped from an overbooked flight, compensation is owed immediately, regardless of the length of the delay – the 2-hour figure only decides whether the full or halved amount applies. See denied boarding compensation.
A 2-hour delay that becomes a missed connection
If you booked a connecting journey on one booking (for example Edinburgh–Amsterdam–Singapore on one ticket), a 2-hour delay on the first leg can make you miss the second flight. What counts then is your arrival at the final destination. If you get there 3 hours or more late, compensation is calculated on the distance from your first departure airport to your final destination, under the rules in our missed connection guide.
If your two flights were on separate bookings, the second airline owes you nothing for the missed flight. We explain why in connecting flights on separate tickets.
What to do while you wait
- Note the times. Screenshot the departure board and any app or text notifications, with the time you received them.
- Ask for the reason. The airline does not have to give you a detailed technical explanation at the gate, but ask anyway and write down what you are told. Our article on how to find out why your flight was delayed explains what evidence helps later.
- Collect your care. Ask for a meal voucher once the threshold is reached for your distance.
- Stay near the gate. A delayed flight can be brought forward if the problem is fixed quickly, and you must still present yourself for boarding. The Court of Justice ruled in 2024 (C-474/22, Laudamotion) that a passenger who did not turn up for a delayed flight is not entitled to fixed compensation.
- Check the arrival time. When you land, note when the doors open. If it is 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival, you may have a claim.
After the flight: check whether 2 hours became 3
Many “2-hour delays” end up as 3-hour arrival delays. If yours did, the next steps are the same as for any delay claim: check the distance band, check that the airline cannot rely on extraordinary circumstances, and claim from the operating airline. Our step-by-step guide to claiming covers the letter, the evidence and the escalation route, and our checker gives you a first answer in two minutes.
In the UK you have 6 years to bring a claim in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 5 years in Scotland; elsewhere, limitation periods are set by national law (see time limits by country).
Frequently asked: “My flight is delayed 2 hours – can I get a refund?”
Not as of right. The right to abandon the journey and get the ticket price back under Article 8 applies once the delay reaches 5 hours. Before that, an airline may offer a free change as a goodwill gesture, but it is not obliged to refund you. We cover the 5-hour rule in flight delayed 5 hours: refund and return flight.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 6 (Delay), UK version – legislation.gov.uk
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 7 (Right to compensation), UK version – legislation.gov.uk
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 9 (Right to care), UK version – legislation.gov.uk
- Delays – UK Civil Aviation Authority
- Air passenger rights – Your Europe, European Union
- Press release No 116/14, Germanwings v Henning (C-452/13) – Court of Justice of the European Union
- Press release No 16/24, Laudamotion (C-474/22 and C-54/23) – Court of Justice of the European Union