The compensation amounts
Regulation EC 261/2004 sets three amounts, based on the flight's distance to your final destination:
- up to 1,500 km: €250
- over 1,500 km within the Union, or 1,500 to 3,500 km outside it: €400
- beyond that: €600
These amounts apply to a cancelled flight, denied boarding and, according to Your Europe, arrival at the final destination 3 hours or more late. For the €600 band, ECC Belgium states the airline may cut the amount by half if the arrival delay stays between 3 and 4 hours. These rules cover flights leaving the Union, whichever airline operates them.
What the airline owes you during the wait
Assistance starts from a 2-hour departure delay on a flight of 1,500 km or less, 3 hours on a flight of over 1,500 km within the Union or of 1,500 to 3,500 km, and 4 hours on others.
The airline must then give you food and drink in line with the wait, and two free communications. If the flight leaves the next day at the earliest, it adds a hotel and transport to the hotel.
If it does nothing, pay what is reasonable and keep all your receipts, as Your Europe provides for these costs to be refunded. From a 5-hour departure delay, you may give up the flight and get your money back.
If the flight is cancelled
You choose between three options: a refund within 7 days, another flight to your destination as soon as possible, or another flight on a date that suits you, subject to seats.
Compensation depends on when the airline told you. It owes nothing if notice comes at least two weeks before departure. Between two weeks and 7 days, it avoids compensation if the offered flight leaves no more than 2 hours early and arrives less than 4 hours late. At under 7 days, those margins fall to 1 hour and 2 hours.
It is up to the airline to prove when and how it informed you.
Strikes and extraordinary circumstances
The airline does not pay compensation if it proves extraordinary circumstances it could not avoid, even with all reasonable measures. Your Europe names weather, political instability, security risks and air traffic control decisions.
Most technical problems linked to maintenance do not count. Nor does a strike by the airline's own staff. An outside strike can count, and the airline must then prove the link with your flight.
The Skeyes controllers' strike at Charleroi in September 2026 is an example: according to Air Journal, it may fall under these circumstances. A refund or another flight, and meals, are still owed.
How to claim in Belgium
Write to the airline first, using the procedure on its website, with your receipts and booking. If it refuses or does not reply, file a complaint with the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, through its online form: servicerequest.mobilit.fgov.be/p/question/en/LV_PAXR
Attach your ticket, your exchanges with the airline and proof of your costs. An incomplete file is not processed and you will not be told. The review can take six months, and the authority does not recover the money for you.
To take the airline to court, you have two years from the flight date, according to the Belgian Mobility department. If you live in Belgium, the European Consumer Centre can also help.
If your bag arrives damaged or late
A different text covers checked bags: the airline is liable if they are lost, damaged or late, and compensation is capped at about €1,300, according to Your Europe. It owes nothing if the damage comes from a defect in the bag itself.
Write to the airline within the time limits: 7 days for a damaged or lost bag, 21 days after getting it back if it arrived late. There is no standard European form, so a letter will do.
If you are carrying more than €1,300 in value, Your Europe suggests private insurance, or higher cover requested from the airline by check-in at the latest.
Updated on 31 October 2026
