EU261 · enforcement
Claiming against an airline in the Netherlands
Assume two years in the Netherlands, and assume a letter to the airline does not stop the clock. Some lawyers argue for five years, but no Supreme Court ruling backs them yet.
Checked against its sources
Time limit
2 years (contested; 5 argued)
Art. 8:1835 BW (expiry period)
Court route
Kantonrechter
Used only after the airline and the regulator.
The ILT covers every flight departing from a Dutch airport, whatever the airline.
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 ILT (online form in Dutch or English) if the airline refuses or does not answer. Free.
- Sue in the kantonrechter (sub-district court) 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 ILT handles flights that departed from the Netherlands, whichever airline operated them, and flights into the Netherlands 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 the Netherlands. All enforcement bodies →
The time limit in detail
- Period
- Two years from the flight is the period most Dutch sources apply.
- Statutory basis
- Article 8:1835 of the Civil Code (BW), a two-year period for air carriage claims modelled on Article 35 of the Montreal Convention. It is an expiry period (vervaltermijn): a letter does not interrupt it, only proceedings do.
- Counter-argument
- Some commentators argue that after Moré v KLM a Montreal-based period cannot apply, and that the ordinary five-year limitation (art. 3:307/3:310 BW), which a letter can interrupt, governs instead. We found no Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) ruling either way.
- Safe assumption
- Two years, with proceedings issued inside it.
- 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 the Netherlands?
Assume two years from the flight under article 8:1835 BW. It is an expiry period, so only starting proceedings stops it. A five-year period is argued, but no Supreme Court ruling supports it yet.
Who enforces air passenger rights in the Netherlands?
The Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (ILT), for flights departing from the Netherlands 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 the Netherlands?
The kantonrechter (sub-district court). 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.