easyJet Flight Delayed or Cancelled? Claim €250–€600

easyJet Flight Delayed or Cancelled? Your €250–€600 Claim

easyJet carries tens of millions of passengers a year across Europe — and when their tightly-wound schedule unravels, it unravels fast. The good news: whether your flight is covered by EU261 or UK261, you're looking at €250–€600 in cash compensation for a 3+ hour delay or cancellation. Here's the full playbook for claiming from easyJet.

easyJet's disruption pattern

easyJet's model is high frequency on short European hops, concentrated at slot-constrained airports like London Gatwick, Luton, and Amsterdam. That concentration is the vulnerability: when Gatwick has ATC restrictions or morning fog, easyJet doesn't have spare aircraft sitting around — delays ripple through the whole day's program. The airline has also suffered high-profile IT failures that grounded or delayed large numbers of flights at once, plus periodic crew shortages during peak summer when demand outstrips their staffing. Their customer service during mass disruption has historically been slow, with long phone queues and delayed rebooking — which is exactly when knowing your rights matters most.

How EU261/UK261 applies to easyJet

easyJet is a UK carrier. For flights departing the UK (or arriving in the UK), UK261 applies — identical amounts to EU261, paid in pounds.
For flights departing the EU on easyJet (e.g., Amsterdam–Barcelona), EU261 applies regardless of the airline's nationality.
For flights arriving in the EU from outside on easyJet, EU261 does not apply (non-EU carrier on inbound) — but UK261 covers arrivals into the UK.
Covers delays of 3+ hours at arrival, cancellations, and denied boarding.

How much you're owed

Flight distance	Compensation
Up to 1,500 km	€250
1,500 – 3,500 km	€400
Over 3,500 km	€600

Almost all easyJet routes are short-haul, so €250 is the standard figure (or the pound equivalent under UK261).

How to claim from easyJet

Use easyJet's online disruption claim form at easyjet.com (Help → Flight disruption → Claim compensation). Have your booking reference ready.
State the regulation explicitly — EU261 or UK261 depending on your route — plus flight number, date, and arrival delay.
Keep everything: boarding passes, receipts for food/hotels, screenshots of delay notifications. easyJet must also reimburse reasonable care costs on top of compensation.
Don't accept the first "no." easyJet has been criticized by regulators and courts for slow or reluctant payouts. A second letter citing case law frequently succeeds where the first failed.
Escalate free: in the UK, to the CAA or an approved ADR provider; in the EU, to the National Enforcement Body of the departure country. See our claim-rejected guide.

easyJet's favorite rejection excuses — and why they usually fail

"Extraordinary circumstances" (ATC / weather). Sometimes genuine — but easyJet must prove the disruption was both extraordinary and unavoidable. Knock-on delays from an earlier "extraordinary" event don't automatically count; the airline must show it took all reasonable measures to avoid the impact on your flight.
Crew shortage / crew out of hours. Staffing is the airline's responsibility. Crew timing out because of earlier delays is an operational issue, not an extraordinary circumstance.
IT failure. easyJet's own systems failing is squarely within the airline's control — not extraordinary.
"The delay was under 3 hours." Check your arrival time (doors open), not departure. The Sturgeon ruling measures at arrival, and airlines sometimes quote the smaller departure figure hoping you won't check.
Voucher instead of cash. Compensation must be monetary unless you explicitly choose a voucher. Don't let a "travel voucher" email substitute for the €250 you're owed.

The honest part: easyJet processes huge volumes of these claims and their first response is often a template rejection. But UK261/EU261 are strict-liability regimes — once you show a qualifying delay on a covered route, the burden shifts to them to prove extraordinary circumstances with evidence. Most passengers who push past the first "no" with a proper second letter get paid. Our claim letter guide gives you the exact wording.

Don't give away 35%

Our free eligibility checker tells you in 60 seconds whether EU261 or UK261 covers your easyJet flight and what you're owed. The $29 AirClaimKit writes the claim letter, builds your evidence pack, and walks you through escalation — you keep 100% of the compensation. AirHelp would take up to €210 of a €600 claim for doing the same paperwork.

Figures per Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 and the UK261 retained regime, via CJEU case law (Sturgeon, Wallentin-Hermann). easyJet claim procedures described as published on easyjet.com. Last verified October 2026.