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How long does flight delay compensation take?

From claim to cash: what the law says about payment deadlines, typical airline response times, the 8-week rule, ADR and court timescales in the UK and EU.

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

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In short: neither UK261 nor EU261 sets a deadline for an airline to pay fixed delay or cancellation compensation (at least until 23 October 2027, when the amended EU261 introduces a 30-day deadline to pay or explain a refusal) – only ticket refunds (and downgrade refunds) must be paid within 7 days. In practice, a straightforward claim paid by the airline typically takes weeks to a few months. In the UK, if the airline has not given you a final answer after 8 weeks, you can escalate to an ADR scheme or the CAA. ADR adds roughly two months; a court claim takes longer.

“How long does it take to get compensation for a delayed flight?” sits just behind “how much” in what UK passengers ask. The answer depends less on the law than on which route your claim takes. Here is a realistic timeline for each stage.

What the law actually says about timing

Payment Legal deadline Source
Ticket refund after a cancellation, or after a delay of 5+ hours if you abandon the trip Within 7 days Article 8(1)(a)
Partial refund after a downgrade (30% / 50% / 75%) Within 7 days Article 10(2)
Fixed compensation (£220–£520 / €250–€600) No deadline in the regulation Article 7
Expenses for meals or a hotel you paid yourself No deadline in the regulation Article 9

For EU261 flights from 23 October 2027: compensation must be paid, or the refusal justified, within 30 days (Art. 7(9)); self-paid care costs within 14 days (Art. 9(4)); self-rerouting costs within 14 days (Art. 8(3)); downgrade refunds automatically within 14 days (Art. 10(2)).

So when an airline takes weeks to pay compensation, it is not breaching a specific payment deadline in the regulation. What protects you is the escalation route: in the UK, the 8-week point after which you can go to ADR or the CAA; elsewhere in Europe, the national enforcement body and the courts.

This changes for EU261 flights from 23 October 2027. Under Regulation (EU) 2026/2202, the airline must acknowledge your claim immediately and, within 30 calendar days, either pay or give you a reasoned refusal (amended Article 7(9)). Within 96 hours of your journey it must also tell you that you may be entitled to compensation and how to claim (Article 7(4)). In return, you will have to claim within nine months of departure. The regulation was published in the Official Journal on 2 October 2026; it does not change UK261. See EU261 reform 2026.

Stage 1: the airline (weeks to about 3 months)

Most claims start and end with the airline’s own claim form. Typical timescales:

  • Acknowledgement: usually automatic, within minutes or days.
  • Decision: MoneySavingExpert reports that claims typically take 4–12 weeks. Some airlines pay a clear-cut claim in a few weeks; others send a first rejection or a request for documents, which restarts the clock.
  • Payment after acceptance: usually by bank transfer. Under Article 7(3), compensation must be paid in cash, by bank transfer or by cheque – or in vouchers only if you agree in writing. If the airline offers vouchers to speed things up, read vouchers instead of cash first.

What slows stage 1 down:

  • claiming from the wrong airline (the operating carrier is liable, not the one that sold you the ticket – see booked through a travel agent);
  • missing booking references, names or bank details;
  • one claim for a group without every passenger named;
  • a disputed cause – the airline says “extraordinary circumstances”.

Your Europe advises going to the national enforcement body in the country where the incident happened if an airline has not replied within two months.

Stage 2 (UK): the 8-week rule

The CAA says that if the airline has not responded within 8 weeks, or you are unhappy with its final response, you can escalate:

  • to the airline’s ADR scheme, if it belongs to one (AviationADR or CEDR for most airlines flying from the UK); or
  • to the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT), if the airline is not in an approved ADR scheme.

AviationADR also accepts a “deadlock letter” – the airline’s final response – as a trigger, so you may not need to wait the full 8 weeks if the airline has already said no. Our ADR schemes guide lists which airline uses which scheme.

Stage 3: ADR (about 2 months, then up to 30 days to pay)

AviationADR, the largest scheme for UK flights, publishes its timescales:

Step AviationADR timescale
Decision on whether it can accept your complaint within 2 working days
Airline’s response to your complaint 28 days
Your comments on the airline’s response 21 days
Final decision (“Determination”) within 60 days of a complete file; average 38 days in 2026 to date
Your window to accept the decision 7 days
Airline pays after you accept within 30 days of AviationADR receiving your bank details

A decision binds the airline only if you accept it. If you reject it, you can still go to court. ADR is free for passengers. You must apply within 12 months of the airline’s final response.

Stage 3 alternative: the CAA (PACT)

For airlines that are not in an ADR scheme, the CAA’s PACT team gives guideline timings of about one week for an initial assessment, about four weeks for the airline’s response (plus two weeks if more information is needed), and about five weeks for a final assessment. The CAA’s own page says current times are longer. The CAA cannot force an airline to pay, and it will not take a complaint if less than a year remains before your court deadline. See complaining to the CAA.

Stage 4: court (months)

If the airline still refuses, the last step is a small claim. In England and Wales you can claim online; the court fee for a claim of up to £300 is £35, rising to £50 for £300.01–£500 and £70 for £500.01–£1,000 (GOV.UK fee table, checked November 2026). A defended claim can take several months to reach a hearing; many airlines pay once proceedings are issued, but that is not guaranteed. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own procedures – see small claims court, Scotland’s simple procedure and Ireland and Northern Ireland. For claims against airlines in another EU country, the European Small Claims Procedure is available.

Realistic total timelines

Route Typical total time from claim to money
Airline accepts the first claim a few weeks to about 3 months
Airline rejects, you go to ADR, airline pays roughly 4–7 months
Airline rejects, you go to court often 6 months or more

These are orders of magnitude based on the published timescales above, not guarantees – every case is different.

How to speed things up

  1. Claim from the operating airline with its own form, quoting your booking reference and flight number.
  2. Include everything at once: every passenger’s name, boarding passes, the delay or cancellation notice, and the bank details for payment.
  3. Cite the rule: “Under Articles 5/6 and 7 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as retained in UK law (UK261), I claim £350 per passenger.” Our complaint letter generator does this for you.
  4. Diarise the 8-week date and escalate on that day if there is no final answer.
  5. Keep expenses separate: the CAA notes that compensation and out-of-pocket expenses may need separate claims.

If you would rather not chase an airline for months, a claims agency takes over the whole process for a fee; our comparison of claiming yourself versus using an agency sets out the trade-off honestly.

Don’t let the clock run out

The limitation period for a court claim is 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 5 years in Scotland, and elsewhere it depends on national law (time limits by country). But the CAA will not handle a complaint with less than a year left, and ADR requires you to apply within 12 months of the airline’s final response, so it is wise to start early.

Sources

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