Art 3; Sturgeon
You missed a connecting flight
This is the claim most people wrongly assume they've lost. What matters is the delay at your final destination, not which individual flight was late.
The short answer
On a single booking, if a delay on the first leg made you arrive 3+ hours late overall, you can claim — even if the connecting flight itself ran on time.
The one thing to know: One booking is the key condition. If both flights were on the same reservation, the arrival delay at the end of the journey is what counts.
How it actually works
- One booking, one journey
- Where both legs are on a single reservation, the Court treats the whole journey as one. A 40-minute delay on the first leg that makes you miss the connection and land four hours late is a claim.
- Separate bookings
- If you booked the two flights separately, you generally cannot combine them — the missed connection is treated as your risk, not the airline's. This is the single biggest reason to book connections on one ticket.
- The amount
- Set by the total distance of the journey to your final destination, not by the leg that was delayed.
Claiming yourself is free. For long-haul or anything likely to be litigated, AirHelp runs legal teams in around 30 countries.
What to do now
- Photograph the evidence — the departure board, the app before it updates, the arrival time when the door opens. The full checklist →
- Write to the airline, quoting the article and the flight. Use the template →
- Give them 28 days, then escalate free to the national enforcement body.
- Check your time limit — it ranges from one year to six by country. See yours →
Questions
You missed a connecting flight: am I owed compensation?
On a single booking, if a delay on the first leg made you arrive 3+ hours late overall, you can claim — even if the connecting flight itself ran on time.
How do I claim it?
Write to the airline first, quoting the article and flight, and allow 28 days. It is free and you keep the whole amount. Escalate to the national enforcement body if refused.