EU261 · VY
Vueling flight compensation
Vueling owes €250 or €400 on most routes when you arrive three hours or more late, or your flight is cancelled at short notice, for a reason within its control. Claim through its help centre first; if it refuses a flight from Spain, AESA’s procedure is free and its decision binds the airline.
Checked against its sources
Typical amounts
€250 or €400 on most routes
£220 or £350 under UK261. €600 (£520) is owed only on a flight of more than 3,500 km that is not within the EU, Art 7(1).
Regulator
Where you departed
Home regulator: AESA (Spain) (competent for flights departing Spain). 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
Spain
An EU carrier, so EU261 also covers its flights into the EU from outside the EU Art 3(1)(b).
Where to send it
- Claim first
- Start from Vueling’s claims and refunds help page and check it for the current compensation request route.
- UK flights
- Vueling is not on the CAA’s list of airlines in an approved ADR scheme, so on a UK flight the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team may help (its view is not binding).
- Germany
- Vueling is not on the member list of Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp) 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 Vueling handles claims.
- For a flight departing Spain, an AESA decision in your favour binds the airline, which can challenge it only in court; it does not bind you. Apply within a year of your complaint to the airline (Orden TMA/201/2022).
- 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.
- If your aircraft was late coming in from an earlier flight, ask what delayed that flight. A knock-on delay excuses the airline only if the original cause was itself extraordinary and it is what made you late.
- You can insist on money. Art 7(3) allows travel vouchers only with your signed agreement.
- 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 Vueling 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 AESA for a flight from Spain, otherwise 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 Vueling?
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. Most Vueling routes fall in the €250 or €400 band.
How do I claim compensation from Vueling?
Claim through Vueling's help centre, quoting Article 7 and your flight number, and allow 28 days. If it refuses, escalate free to the enforcement body of the country you departed from; for flights from Spain that is AESA, whose decision binds the airline.
Which regulator covers Vueling?
It depends on where the flight departed, not on the airline. Spain's AESA handles flights departing Spain; 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).