EU261 · LH
Lufthansa flight compensation
Lufthansa owes €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance when you arrive three hours or more late, or your flight is cancelled at short notice, for a reason within its control. Claim on its online compensation form first; if it refuses, Lufthansa is a member of the German conciliation body Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr, and the enforcement body of the departure country is free too.
Checked against its sources
Typical amounts
€250 · €400 · €600
£220 · £350 · £520 under UK261. On a flight over 3,500 km outside the EU the amount can be halved if you arrive no more than four hours late, Art 7(2)(c).
Regulator
Where you departed
Home regulator: Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) (competent for flights departing Germany). Otherwise complain to the body where your flight departed, or for a flight into the EU from outside, the arrival country: see enforcement bodies.
Registered in
Germany
An EU carrier, so EU261 also covers its flights into the EU from outside, including long-haul arrivals Art 3(1)(b).
Where to send it
- Claim first
- Use Lufthansa’s compensation and reimbursement form.
- UK flights
- Lufthansa belongs to Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr, which the CAA has approved for UK flights. A refused claim on a UK flight goes there, free.
- Germany
- Lufthansa is on the member list of Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp), the German conciliation body, dated 1 July 2026.
- Anywhere else
- The enforcement body of the country you departed from, or for a flight into the EU from outside, the arrival country Art 16. Free to use.
Before you accept a refusal
Our advice, not a description of how Lufthansa handles claims.
- On long-haul offers, check the arithmetic: the 50% reduction in Art 7(2) applies only where the arrival delay is within the limit for the distance (four hours on flights over 3,500 km).
- On a connecting itinerary booked as one ticket, compensation turns on the delay at your final destination, not on each leg (Air France v Folkerts, C-11/11).
- If the refusal cites air traffic control restrictions, a strike or weather, ask which event affected your flight and how. Under Art 5(3) the airline has to show the circumstance was extraordinary and could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures.
- A strike by the airline’s own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance under current law (Airhelp v SAS, C-28/20).
- The deadline for going to court is set by the country whose courts hear the claim, not by the airline: see time limits by country.
Claim it yourself first
- Write to Lufthansa quoting the article. “I am claiming under Article 7 for a delayed arrival on [flight] on [date].” Free, and you keep the whole amount. Use the template.
- Give them 28 days and diary the deadline.
- Refuse a voucher offered in place of cash.
- Escalate free to Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr or to the enforcement body of the country you departed from, if they refuse.
- Only then consider a claims service.
Doing it yourself costs nothing and keeps the full amount.
Questions
How much compensation can I claim from Lufthansa?
The amount depends on flight distance, not on the airline or your fare: €250, €400 or €600 under Article 7(1), or £220, £350 or £520 under UK261. Lufthansa flies long-haul, so all three bands occur; on flights over 3,500 km the amount can be halved where the arrival delay is no more than four hours.
How do I claim compensation from Lufthansa?
Use Lufthansa's online compensation form, quoting Article 7 and your flight number, and allow 28 days. If it refuses, Schlichtung Reise und Verkehr, the German conciliation body Lufthansa belongs to, is free, as is the enforcement body of the country you departed from.
Which regulator covers Lufthansa?
It depends on where the flight departed, not on the airline. Germany's Luftfahrt-Bundesamt handles flights departing Germany; for a flight from another EU country, complain to that country's body, and for a flight into the EU from outside, to the arrival country's body (Article 16).