EU261 · enforcement
Claiming against an airline in Poland
You have one year from the flight to claim in Poland. The Supreme Court fixed it in 2017 by applying the Civil Code’s one-year rule for carriage contracts.
Checked against its sources
Time limit
1 year
Kodeks cywilny art. 778; SN, III CZP 111/16 (17 March 2017)
Court route
Sąd rejonowy (district court)
Used only after the airline and the regulator.
One year is the shortest period on this site, alongside Belgium. A claim from a Polish departure should go to the airline within weeks, not months.
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 Passengers’ Rights Ombudsman at the ULC (form in Polish or English) if the airline refuses or does not answer. Free.
- Sue in the sąd rejonowy if that fails, inside the year. 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 ULC handles flights that departed from Poland, whichever airline operated them, and flights into Poland 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 Poland. All enforcement bodies →
The time limit in detail
- Period
- One year from the date of the flight, or the date it was scheduled if it never flew.
- Statutory basis
- Article 778 of the Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny): claims arising from a contract of carriage are time-barred after one year.
- Court position
- Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), resolution of 17 March 2017, III CZP 111/16: EU261 compensation claims are subject to the one-year period of art. 778, not the two-year Montreal period or the general periods. The administrative courts have held that a complaint to the ULC is not subject to that limit (NSA, I OSK 2714/15), but that concerns the regulator’s procedure, not a court claim.
- Safe assumption
- One year, and issue proceedings 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 Poland?
One year from the flight. The Supreme Court held in resolution III CZP 111/16 (17 March 2017) that the one-year period in article 778 of the Civil Code applies to EU261 claims.
Who enforces air passenger rights in Poland?
The Civil Aviation Authority (ULC), through its Passengers' Rights Ombudsman, for flights departing from Poland 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 Poland?
The sąd rejonowy (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.