EU261 · enforcement
Claiming against an airline in France
You have five years to claim in France. The Cour de cassation settled it in 2017: the general civil period applies, not the two-year Montreal Convention limit.
Checked against its sources
Time limit
5 years
Code civil art. 2224; Cass. 1re civ., 17 May 2017, no 16-13.352
Court route
Tribunal judiciaire (or its local chamber, the tribunal de proximité)
Used only after the airline and the regulator.
One of the longest periods in the EU, and one of the few a supreme court has confirmed for EU261 claims specifically.
The order to do it in
- Write to the airline, quoting Article 7 and the flight. Free.
- Give it a month to answer.
- Report it to the DGAC through its online passenger-rights form if the airline refuses. Free.
- Sue in the tribunal judiciaire (its local chamber where there is one) 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 DGAC handles flights that departed from France, whichever airline operated them, and flights into France 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 France. All enforcement bodies →
The time limit in detail
- Period
- Five years from the flight.
- Statutory basis
- Code civil article 2224, the general five-year period for personal actions.
- Court position
- Cour de cassation, first civil chamber, 17 May 2017, no 16-13.352: EU261 compensation claims fall under French limitation law, and the two-year Warsaw and Montreal periods do not apply.
- Safe assumption
- Five years. Separate damages claims under the Montreal Convention still have two years.
- 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 France?
Five years, under article 2224 of the Code civil. The Cour de cassation confirmed on 17 May 2017 (no 16-13.352) that the two-year Montreal limit does not apply to EU261 compensation.
Who enforces air passenger rights in France?
The DGAC (Direction générale de l'aviation civile), for flights departing from France or arriving there from outside the EU. Reporting is free and does not stop you going to court.
Which court hears flight compensation claims in France?
The tribunal judiciaire, through its local chamber (tribunal de proximité) where there is one. 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.