RIGHT NOW
What should I do right now?
Still waiting on a late easyJet flight? These come first. The compensation comes after, once you’re home.
Food and drink start at 2 hours. easyJet owes you meals and refreshments from a 2-hour delay on flights under 1,500 km, 3 hours up to 3,500 km and 4 hours beyond, and a hotel if you can’t leave until the next day (Article 6).
Keep every receipt. If easyJet doesn’t provide them, buy reasonable meals and a hotel yourself. You can claim the cost back.
From 5 hours, you can give up the trip. A delay of 5 hours or more lets you take a full refund instead of flying, and a flight back to where you started if you’re part-way through the journey (Article 6 and Article 8).
Note the time the doors open. Compensation is measured at arrival, when the doors open at your final destination, not at take-off or touchdown. A photo with the time on it is enough.
Don’t sign for a voucher at the gate. A voucher in place of compensation needs your written agreement (Article 7(3)). Turn it down and claim the cash once you’re home.
ON OUR RADAR
Recent easyJet delays of 3+ hours
Our radar confirmed 50 easyJet arrivals 3 or more hours late in the last 30 days, on 46 flight numbers. The most recent:
- U287045h 45m lateAgadir to London
- U281503h 3m lateMilano to London
- U230233h 6m lateBelfast to Barcelona
- U281823h 5m lateAthens to London
- U229793h 38m lateNice to Rome
- U280144h 12m lateValencia to London
The radar watches 9 European airports (Barcelona Airport, Rome Fiumicino, Paris CDG, Heathrow, Frankfurt Airport, Gatwick, Schiphol, Madrid Airport, Munich Airport), so this isn’t every easyJet flight. Each flight’s page shows what we recorded. Every easyJet flight on the radar →
QUALIFY IT
Does my delayed easyJet flight qualify?
It turns on how late you arrived, and in law you arrive when the doors open (Germanwings, C-452/13). easyJet quotes on-blocks time, when the aircraft parks. On a delay recorded at 2h 50m, the taxi and the wait for a stand are the whole claim.
If your own timestamps put it at three hours (the app, a photo at the gate, a text home), claim and say so. It’s an argument that’s routinely won.
Rolling delays count in full. Several pushes that add up to 3h 05m are one 3h 05m delay.
THE MONEY
How much am I owed?
£220
Under 1,500 km
£350
1,500–3,500 km
£520
Over 3,500 km
Per person, measured on the journey’s great-circle distance.
Under 1,500 km: £220 / €250. From 1,500 to 3,500 km: £350 / €400. Over 3,500 km, such as Gatwick to Hurghada: £520 / €600. On flights over 3,500 km, an arrival 3 to 4 hours late can be paid at half: £260. From 4 hours it’s the full £520. A family of four on a late Gatwick to Tenerife flight is owed £1,400.
THE PUSHBACK
What will easyJet say to refuse my delay claim?
In summer, easyJet blames ATC slots: Gatwick and French and Spanish airspace restricted, aircraft held. When that’s genuinely the cause, it’s extraordinary and the claim is weak. But easyJet must show it applied to your flight, not just to the day.
The other refusal is knock-on delay: the incoming aircraft was late, so yours was too. That’s usually an operational cause, not an extraordinary one. easyJet can rely on it only if it proves an extraordinary event delayed the incoming aircraft and it took all reasonable measures (C-74/19). Ask what held up the incoming aircraft.
THE EDGE
What’s specific to easyJet
easyJet’s form asks for the delay length up front. Enter your arrival delay, at doors open, not the departure delay it steers you towards.
On easyJet’s UK flights, CEDR’s free arbitration is the next step after a refusal, or 8 weeks with no answer. On easyJet Europe flights within the EU, go to the enforcement body for the country you flew from.
Most easyJet routes are under 3,500 km, so £350 / €400 per person is the usual ceiling. The exceptions, such as Gatwick or Manchester to Hurghada, pay £520 / €600.
The same rules on any airline: flight delayed 3+ hours — what you’re owed.
HOW TO CLAIM
How do I claim?
Claim through easyJet’s EU261 compensation form, with the arrival time you can prove.
Attach your booking, your boarding pass and anything time-stamped from the gate or the arrival.
Ask in the claim for the recorded cause. A one-word “operational” answer is your opening for CEDR.
WHAT EASYJET OWES YOU
Check what easyJet owes you — free, two minutes. $39 only if the airline pays.
Check my flight →YOU ASK
Common questions
easyJet says the delay was 2h 55m. Is it worth claiming?
Yes, if your own evidence puts your arrival three hours late at the doors. Those five minutes are the usual fight.
I got a £5 meal voucher at the gate. Does that reduce what I’m owed?
No. Care is owed on top of compensation, not instead of it.
My delayed outbound made me miss a cruise. Can I claim the cruise?
Not under UK261 or EC261. Losses like that are a travel-insurance matter. The delay compensation is still owed.
Does an easyJet Plus or Flexi fare change anything?
No. Compensation is per person, whatever fare you paid.
How long does easyJet take to answer?
It varies. The 8-week CEDR clock runs from the date you claimed, whatever easyJet does.
The law this guide is written against: EC261 full text (EUR-Lex) · UK261 full text (legislation.gov.uk)
General information, not legal advice. Compensation depends on the facts of each disruption and the airline’s evidence. MyAirAdvocate files claims for a flat $39, charged only if the airline pays, and never takes a percentage of what you are owed.