EU261 · enforcement
Claiming against an airline in Belgium
In Belgium you should assume one year from the flight. The Court of Cassation has opened a five-year route in some cases, but it depends on the airline’s conduct and is no basis for waiting.
Checked against its sources
Time limit
1 year (5 years only in narrow cases)
Law of 25 August 1891, art. 9(4); Cass. 11 June 2021, C.20.0185.N
Court route
Justice de paix / vredegerecht
Used only after the airline and the regulator.
One year is the shortest period on this site, alongside Poland. A claim from a Belgian departure should go to the airline within weeks of the flight.
The order to do it in
- Write to the airline, quoting Article 7 and the flight. Free.
- Give it a month to answer.
- Complain to the FPS Mobility and Transport (online form in Dutch, French or English) if the airline refuses or does not answer. Free.
- Sue in the justice de paix / vredegerecht if that fails. If you live in a different EU country from the court, the European Small Claims Procedure (Regulation 861/2007) handles claims up to €5,000 with a standard form, usually without a hearing.
- A claims service only once the free routes are exhausted.
Which body: the FPS Mobility handles flights that departed from Belgium, whichever airline operated them, and flights into Belgium from outside the EU, which the Regulation covers when an EU airline operates them (Articles 3 and 16). A flight from another EU country goes to that country’s body, even if the airline is based in Belgium. All enforcement bodies →
The time limit in detail
- Period
- One year from the flight.
- Statutory basis
- Article 9(4) of the Law of 25 August 1891 on the contract of carriage: actions arising from a passenger carriage contract are time-barred after one year. Commentators report it is now carried in article X.49 of the Code of Economic Law.
- Court position
- Court of Cassation, 11 June 2021, C.20.0185.N: EU261 claims arise from the carriage contract, so the one-year rule applies. Where the airline wrongfully refuses a timely claim, the refusal can be an offence under the 1937 aviation law, and the five-year limitation for offences then applies. Not every non-payment qualifies.
- Safe assumption
- One year. Treat the five-year route as a fallback for a lawyer to argue, not a deadline.
- Why national law
- Regulation 261 sets no time limit. The Court of Justice held in Moré v KLM (C-139/11, 22 November 2012) that each Member State’s limitation rules apply, and that the two-year Montreal Convention period does not.
- From 23 Oct 2027
- Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 adds a new Article 7(9): passengers must submit a request for compensation to the airline within nine months of the actual departure date on the ticket. It is a deadline for asking the airline, not for going to court, and the text does not say how it interacts with the national period above. Until it applies, the national period is the limit. What the reform changes →
Every country side by side: time limits by country.
Questions
How long do I have to claim flight compensation in Belgium?
One year from the flight, under article 9(4) of the Law of 25 August 1891. The Court of Cassation (11 June 2021) allows five years where the airline's refusal amounts to an offence, but that is narrow: plan on one year.
Who enforces air passenger rights in Belgium?
The FPS Mobility and Transport (SPF Mobilité et Transports / FOD Mobiliteit en Vervoer), for flights departing from Belgium or arriving there from outside the EU. Complaining is free and does not stop you going to court.
Which court hears flight compensation claims in Belgium?
The justice de paix (vredegerecht). Cross-border claims up to €5,000 can use the European Small Claims Procedure.
Does the 2026 EU reform change the deadline?
Not yet. From 23 October 2027, Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 requires passengers to submit a compensation request to the airline within nine months of the departure date. How that interacts with the national limitation period is not settled by the text.