easyJet flies more passengers from UK airports than almost any other airline, so it's no surprise it also has a lot of delayed flights. If your easyJet flight arrived at its destination 3 or more hours late, you could be owed up to £520 per passenger under UK261.
Plenty of people never claim, either because they don't know they can or because easyJet tells them the delay was out of its control. Here's how it actually works.
Which easyJet flights are covered?
easyJet has a UK airline (easyJet UK) and European airlines (easyJet Europe and easyJet Switzerland). You're covered if your flight:
- Departed from a UK airport, whichever easyJet airline operated it
- Arrived in the UK on easyJet UK or easyJet Europe
- Departed from an EU airport (covered by EU261 instead)
That covers nearly every easyJet flight a UK passenger is likely to take, including the return leg of your holiday. Our guide to EU261 and UK261 explains the difference.
How much can you claim from easyJet?
Compensation depends on the flight distance and how late you arrived at your final destination:
- £220 per passenger for flights under 1,500km, such as Gatwick to Amsterdam, Edinburgh or Nice
- £350 per passenger for flights between 1,500km and 3,500km, such as Manchester to Alicante, Faro or Tenerife
- £520 per passenger for flights over 3,500km, such as Luton to Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh (£260 if you were between 3 and 4 hours late)
These amounts are per person, including children with their own seat. A family of four delayed 3 hours coming home from Tenerife could be owed £1,400.
Arrival time is what counts
The delay is measured by when you arrived, not when you took off. Specifically, it's the moment the aircraft door opened at your destination. A flight that left 2 hours 50 minutes late can still arrive more than 3 hours late, and the other way round. Keep a screenshot or note of the time the doors opened.
When easyJet doesn't have to pay
easyJet doesn't owe compensation if the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances that couldn't have been avoided, such as:
- Severe weather at the airport or on the route
- Air traffic control restrictions or strikes by air traffic controllers
- Airport staff strikes, such as security or baggage handlers not employed by easyJet
- Bird strikes, security alerts or a medical emergency on board
What doesn't normally count: technical faults, crew shortages, crew running out of hours, and strikes by easyJet's own staff. Those are part of running an airline. See our guides to technical fault delays and easyJet strikes.
Watch out for knock-on delays
easyJet aircraft fly several short trips a day, so a problem in the morning often spreads to every flight that aircraft operates afterwards. If easyJet says your evening flight was delayed by "air traffic control", it's worth asking whether that was really your flight, or an earlier one the airline didn't recover from. The airline has to show a direct link between the event and your delay, and that it took all reasonable measures to limit it. Our extraordinary circumstances explainer goes into more detail.
What easyJet has to give you at the airport
Whatever caused the delay, once you've waited 2 hours or more on a short flight (3 hours on a medium one), easyJet has to provide food and drink, and a hotel with transport if you're stuck overnight. easyJet often hands out vouchers. If it doesn't, keep your receipts and claim reasonable costs back. Our guide to hotel and meal rights explains what counts as reasonable.
How far back can you claim?
You have up to 6 years to claim in England and Wales (5 in Scotland). An easyJet delay from a summer holiday a few years ago could still be worth checking. See our guide to the 6 year time limit.
Start your claim
If your easyJet flight was delayed, check it with Klaimly. You just need your flight number and date, and we check the flight's history and whether easyJet's reason stands up. We charge a flat 5% fee, only if we win, with nothing to pay upfront. easyJet pays your compensation directly to you.
