Free escalation
National enforcement bodies
Complain to the enforcement body of the country your flight departed from, or, for a flight into the EU from outside it, the country you landed in. The airline’s home country does not decide it. It costs nothing, so use it before you hand anyone a percentage.
Checked against its sources
Airline gone quiet? Find the departure country in the table below. Where a country has a binding ADR scheme, that is usually the faster route to money.
| Country | Enforcement body | ADR / conciliation | Court route |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) | AviationADR or CEDR, binding on member airlines; CAA’s PACT for the rest (not binding) | Money Claim Online (England and Wales); simple procedure (Scotland) |
| Spain | AESA — Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea | AESA itself: for flights from 2 June 2023 its decision binds the airline (not the passenger); apply within a year of your airline complaint | Juicio verbal |
| Germany | Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) | Schlichtung Reise & Verkehr (formerly söp) for member airlines; Federal Office of Justice for others | Amtsgericht |
| France | DGAC — Direction générale de l’aviation civile | — | Tribunal judiciaire / tribunal de proximité |
| Italy | ENAC — Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile | ART ConciliaWeb (ENAC complaints do not obtain compensation) | Giudice di pace |
| Netherlands | Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport (ILT) | — | Kantonrechter |
| Ireland | Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) | — | District Court small claims procedure |
| Poland | Civil Aviation Authority (ULC) — Passengers’ Rights Ombudsman | The Ombudsman handles passenger complaints; the ULC President enforces | Sąd rejonowy |
| Belgium | FPS Mobility and Transport (SPF Mobilité / FOD Mobiliteit) | — | Justice de paix / vredegerecht |
| Portugal | ANAC — Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil | — | Julgado de paz or civil courts |
| Austria | apf — Agentur für Passagier- und Fahrgastrechte | apf itself: free conciliation | Bezirksgericht |
| Greece | Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) | — | Magistrates’ court (Eirinodikeio) |
Names and pages from the Commission’s official list of national enforcement bodies (PDF), updated 27 August 2026. Other EU and EEA countries, and Switzerland, are on the same list.
Which body is the right one
Article 16(1) of Regulation 261 makes each country’s body responsible for “flights from airports situated on its territory and flights from a third country to such airports”. In practice:
- Flight from an EU airport: the body of the departure country. A Ryanair flight from Madrid goes to Spain’s AESA, not to Ireland.
- Flight into the EU from outside: the body of the arrival country, where the Regulation applies to that flight (an EU airline).
- Flight from or to the UK: UK261 has its own Article 16. The CAA covers flights from UK airports, and flights into the UK on a UK or EU airline, which UK261 also covers.
Article 16(2) also lets a passenger complain to any designated body about an infringement at an airport in a Member State, but the departure-country body is the one with responsibility for that flight. Starting there saves time.
What they can and cannot do
Enforcement bodies police the Regulation. Several do not settle individual claims: Italy’s ENAC states that its complaints serve enforcement only and do not obtain compensation, and points passengers to the Transport Regulation Authority’s ConciliaWeb instead. Spain’s AESA (whose decision binds the airline but not the passenger) and Austria’s apf do resolve individual disputes, and in the UK an approved ADR scheme’s decision binds the airline. Whatever the body, complaining does not stop you going to court, and in most countries it does not stop the limitation clock either: check the time limit before you wait on a regulator.