Reimbursement and Compensation: British Airways

While airlines like British Airways make every effort to stick to their advertised schedules, flight delays do happen. The good news for travellers is that air passenger rights exist to protect you and your journey if you get caught out by British Airways flight delays.

Under both UK and EU law, if an airline causes passengers to arrive at their destination 3 or more hours late, those passengers could be entitled to up to £520 in compensation (€600 in the EU).

You should note, there are some extraordinary circumstances which may excuse airlines from paying this compensation. Those include situations like bad weather or issues at the airport. But if the delay is a result of technical issues or an airline staff strike, you're still likely to be owed compensation.

What's more, you generally have up to 3 years to make a flight delay compensation British Airways claim. All you have to do is type in your flight details and our easy-to-use flight delay compensation calculator will tell you if you are eligible for cash compensation, and our expert team are on hand to help you get it.

If you had a British Airways flight cancellation and you were due to depart the UK or EU, air passenger rights laws are clear: British Airways must offer you alternative transport to your destination, or a refund if that's what you'd prefer.

In addition, if you were told about the cancellation less than 14 days before you were due to depart you may also be able to claim up to £520 per person in compensation.

Generally speaking, when British Airways cancels flights, they'll attempt to rebook passengers straight away onto another flight at no additional charge. You can request further changes if the alternative flight doesn’t work for you, or if you no longer wish to travel that route.

If British Airways can book you onto a new flight that lands at a similar time to your original they won't have to pay you compensation. This is fair, as you'll get to your destination with minimum disruption to your plans. However in a lot of cases, passengers whose flights are cancelled at the last minute have valid claims to British Airways cancelled flight compensation.

That's unless the cancellation was caused by an event British Airways can't be expected to control — something like bad weather conditions, or an incident at the airport. These events are referred to as extraordinary circumstances.

You can learn more about flight cancellation compensation here.

Because British Airways has its headquarters within the EU, almost all the flights they offer are protected by EC 261, one of the world's most comprehensive air passenger rights laws. Additionally, you may be covered by the equivalent UK passenger rights law, so called "UK 261", depending on the flight.

The EC 261 regulation gives passengers the right to claim for compensation when they have suffered delayed, cancelled or overbooked flights, which are no fault of their own. Passengers are also entitled to claim for past flights — often you can still claim for flights in the past 3 years.

Which British Airways Flights are Covered by EC 261?

Table shows values in € as specified in EC 261. Distances and amounts are similar under UK law.

There are exceptions and special circumstances which may impact how much compensation British Airways owes in your case. The easiest way to find out what you’re owed is to use our free compensation check.

British Airways PLC is the world's largest international airline. It is based at London Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest international airport, and operates a global network of flights through partners such as USAir in the United States, Qantas in Australia and TAT European Airlines in France. Through its operations and those of its partners, British Airways serves 95 million passengers a year using 441 airports in 86 countries and more than 1,000 aircraft.