Lufthansa: delays, cancellations & compensation claims — the travel agent's guide
Your client's Lufthansa flight just went wrong. Here's what qualifies, what they're owed, how you file it under your agency's name — and what this airline is actually like to claim against.
- TOP AMOUNT
- €600 / pax
- CLAIM WINDOW
- 3 years
- ESCALATION
- söp (Schlichtungsstelle öffentlicher Personenverkehr)
- CARRIER TYPE
- EU carrier
Which Lufthansa flights qualify
Territory and carrier nationality decide everything. For Lufthansa:
| Departing the UK (any destination) | QUALIFIES | Departure territory controls — every carrier is covered. |
| Departing the EU/EEA (any destination) | QUALIFIES | Same rule on the EU side. |
| Arriving INTO the UK from outside | QUALIFIES | Lufthansa is an EU carrier — UK261 covers EU/UK carriers inbound. |
| Arriving INTO the EU from outside | QUALIFIES | Lufthansa is an EU carrier — inbound flights qualify. |
| Flights wholly outside Europe | NO | Out of scope for both regimes. |
AMOUNTS — PER PASSENGER, BY FLIGHT DISTANCE
€250
under 1,500 km
€400
1,500–3,500 km
€600
over 3,500 km
Per passenger, not per booking — a family of four multiplies by four.
What Lufthansa is like to claim against
The parts no regulation tells you.
Germany’s 3-year clock (from year-end) is the sharpest deadline among the majors — the retro window on Lufthansa closes 3 years earlier than on BA. Prioritize old LH bookings in any back-catalogue check.
söp conciliation is the escalation lever: free, credible, and Lufthansa engages with it. Reference söp in the rebuttal the way you’d reference CEDR with BA.
Group itineraries via Frankfurt/Munich hubs create Sturgeon connecting-claims: a short first leg delay that cascades into a missed long-haul makes the WHOLE journey’s arrival delay claimable at the long-haul band (€600).
Lufthansa Group siblings (Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings) each file separately — claim against the operating carrier on the disrupted leg, not the group.
The four calls you'll get — and the verdict on each
"Lufthansa cancelled my flight"
Verdict first: compensation is due unless the airline told your client 14+ days out, or offered re-routing tight enough to fit Article 5(1)(c)'s windows. Pin down two facts before filing: when the client was told, and what re-routing was offered.
| NOTICE | RE-ROUTING OFFERED | VERDICT |
|---|---|---|
| 14+ days | — | Exempt — no compensation (care/re-routing rights only) |
| 7–13 days | Departs ≤2h early, arrives <4h late | Exempt |
| 7–13 days | Outside those windows, or none | Claim — €250–€600/pax |
| Under 7 days | Departs ≤1h early, arrives <2h late | Exempt |
| Under 7 days | Outside those windows, or none | Claim — the strongest posture |
Either way, your client also holds Article 8 re-routing rights (earliest opportunity, including on other carriers) and Article 9 care (meals, hotel if overnight) — those apply even when compensation doesn't.
"We landed three hours late"
Verdict first: 3+ hours late at final-destination arrival (doors open — Germanwings v Henning) = same compensation as a cancellation, per Sturgeon/Nelson. The departure delay is irrelevant; the arrival clock is everything.
Connections count as one journey when booked together: a 40-minute feeder delay that blows the connection and lands your client 5 hours late at the final stop claims at the full-journey distance band. The airline's out is "extraordinary circumstances" (genuine weather, ATC strikes) — but crew shortages, rotation knock-ons, and technical faults are on the airline, and clear-weather telemetry defeats the reflex weather defence.
"They wouldn't let my client board"
Verdict first: involuntary denied boarding (oversell, aircraft swap) pays immediately and carries no extraordinary-circumstances defence at all — Article 4 is strict. If your client didn't volunteer, the money is owed, full stop.
Watch the disguises: "the flight was overweight," "documentation issues" that evaporate on inspection, downgrades (a downgrade triggers a 30–75% fare reimbursement under Article 10 instead). Get the gate agent's stated reason in your client's words while it's fresh.
"Lufthansa moved the flight — months from now"
Verdict first: a schedule change is legally a cancellation of the original flight — the same Article 5(1)(c) notice grid above applies. Told 14+ days out (the usual case): no compensation, but your client can accept the new time, take re-routing, or refund. Told inside 14 days, or the "change" strands them hours off schedule: run the grid.
The operational risk is the silent retime that breaks a connection booked separately — which is a monitoring problem, not a legal one.
Filing as the agent of record
The questions only agents have, answered for Lufthansa:
→Lufthansa corresponds in English without issue; file as correspondent with the passengers named.
→For connecting itineraries, claim on the arrival delay at the FINAL destination — cite Wegener/České aerolinie if the disrupted leg was the feeder.
→Compensation is paid to the passenger, not the agency — your value is the catch, the preparation, and the follow-through. Position it that way with clients and the relationship credit is yours.
Deadlines & escalation
THE CLAIM WINDOW
3 years
Germany’s 3-year limitation runs from the END of the year of the flight — a December 2023 disruption is claimable until 31 Dec 2026. Shorter than the UK; retro-check Lufthansa bookings sooner.
WHEN LUFTHANSA SAYS NO — OR NOTHING
Lufthansa participates in Germany’s söp scheme — free conciliation after the airline refuses or stalls, before any court step. Airlines get up to eight weeks by convention; date your letter, calendar the deadline, escalate on it.
WHERE TO FILE
Lufthansa routes claims through Lufthansa feedback & compensation web form — airlines move these constantly, so verify the current entry point on the airline's site before sending. (On our Agency plan, our claims team files and chases Lufthansa for you, current channel included.)
Agents ask
Can a travel agent file an EC261/UK261 claim with Lufthansa on a client's behalf?
Yes — for the initial claim you can file as correspondent with your client named as claimant. Compensation is paid to the passenger; a signed authority becomes important at the escalation stage.
How long do we have to claim against Lufthansa?
Germany’s 3-year limitation runs from the END of the year of the flight — a December 2023 disruption is claimable until 31 Dec 2026. Shorter than the UK; retro-check Lufthansa bookings sooner. Old bookings are worth checking — a disruption from years ago can still be live money.
What if Lufthansa refuses or ignores the claim?
Lufthansa participates in Germany’s söp scheme — free conciliation after the airline refuses or stalls, before any court step. The eight-week mark is the conventional trigger: refusal or silence past it justifies escalation, and saying so in the original letter changes how it's handled.
My client’s 40-minute FRA feeder delay caused a missed connection and a 5-hour late arrival — what’s claimable?
The full journey. Under the CJEU’s connecting-flight doctrine, arrival delay at the final destination controls: 5 hours late on a long-haul itinerary = €600 per passenger, even though the feeder’s own delay was minor.
Or skip all of it: forward the confirmation, and this is prepared for you.
MyAirAdvocate watches every booking you forward, detects Lufthansa disruptions automatically, and prepares the claim — evidence, letter, deadlines — before you've heard from the client.
Guide by Nathan Zarcaro, founder of MyAirAdvocate. General information for travel professionals, not legal advice — regulations and airline processes change; the scope matrix reflects EC 261/2004 and UK261 as retained. Amounts are per passenger.