EU261 · enforcement
Claiming against an airline in Germany
In Germany you have three years, and the clock starts on 31 December of the year you flew, not on the flight date. A free conciliation body sits between the airline and the court.
Checked against its sources
Time limit
3 years from the end of the calendar year of the flight
BGB §195 and §199(1)
Court route
Conciliation, then the Amtsgericht
Conciliation: Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp).
The calendar-year rule works in your favour: a flight on 10 January 2024 can still be claimed until 31 December 2027.
The order to do it in
- Write to the airline, quoting Article 7 and the flight. Free.
- Give it a month to answer.
- Go to conciliation: the Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp) handles complaints against member airlines; the Federal Office of Justice runs a conciliation service for airlines that are not members. You can also report the airline to the LBA, the enforcement body.
- Sue in the Amtsgericht (local court) if conciliation 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 LBA handles flights that departed from Germany, whichever airline operated them, and flights into Germany 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 Germany. All enforcement bodies →
The time limit in detail
- Period
- Three years, starting at the end of the calendar year in which the flight took place.
- Statutory basis
- BGB §195 (regular limitation period of three years) and §199(1) (the period starts at the close of the year in which the claim arose and the claimant knew the facts).
- Safe assumption
- 31 December of the third year after the flight year.
- 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 Germany?
Three years, running from the end of the calendar year of the flight (BGB §195 and §199). A flight in 2024 can be claimed until 31 December 2027.
Who enforces air passenger rights in Germany?
The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), for flights departing from Germany 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 Germany?
The Amtsgericht (local court). Before that you can use free conciliation: the Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr, formerly söp, for member airlines.
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.