If your Air France flight was delayed by more than 3 hours or cancelled with less than 14 days’ notice, you may be owed €250 to €600 — regardless of what the ticket cost.
Air France is registered in the EU/EEA, so EU261 applies in both directions: to flights departing EU airports and to flights into the EU from third countries.
Country of registration: France. Main hubs: Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Lyon.
Strikes by an airline’s own staff are not extraordinary circumstances under Court of Justice case law, so compensation is due. That is the decisive difference from air traffic control strikes, which do remove the entitlement.
| Flight distance | Delay 3–4 hours | Delay 4+ hours or cancellation |
|---|---|---|
| up to 1,500 km | €250 | €250 |
| 1,500 – 3,500 km | €400 | €400 |
| over 3,500 km | €300 | €600 |
Paid per passenger holding a separate ticket, children included
Only “extraordinary circumstances” release a carrier: dangerous weather, air traffic control strikes, airspace closures, security requirements, bird strikes.
These do not and compensation remains due: aircraft technical faults, strikes by the airline’s own staff, scheduling problems, late crew, overbooking.
According to the AirHelp report, roughly 52% of rejections turn out to be unjustified — carriers most often cite weather where the real cause was a technical fault. Court of Justice case law on refusals.
The fee is deducted only from the compensation recovered. No payout — no fee.
The limitation period runs from 2 to 6 years depending on jurisdiction, most often 3 years.
At arrival — from the moment the aircraft door opens at the final destination (Court of Justice, C-452/13).
Yes, the amount depends only on flight distance, not on the fare.