Overview of EU and UK rules
While the UK was a member of the EU, if your flight was cancelled, delayed or overbooked, most of your rights were under the European Community Regulation EC 261/2004 (EU rules).
On 31 December 2020 when the Brexit Transition Period came to an end, the EC Reg became incorporated directly into UK law, but with amendments made by the Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licencing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (UK rules).
Basically, you have the same rights as before. If your flight is covered by both regulations, you need to choose one as you can't claim twice for the same flight. Note that if you're forced to take further action (e.g. a court claim), you can only do so under the EU rules in the EU and under the UK rules in the UK. Therefore, if you are resident in the UK, you would always choose the UK rules.
The EU rules will be applicable to your flight if you:
- depart from the EU (on any airline); or,
- arrive in the EU with an EU airline.
The UK rules will apply to your flight if you:
- depart from the UK (on any airline);
- arrive in the UK with either an EU or UK airline; or
- arrive in the EU with a UK airline.
Note that airports located in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are regarded as EU airports for these purposes. To check if an airport is an EU airport, see the list.
The table below gives you a more detailed picture:
Departure | Arrival | UK airline | EU airline | Other airline |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
UK |
UK rules |
N/A |
N/A |
UK |
EU |
UK rules |
UK & EU rules |
UK rules |
UK |
Other |
UK rules |
UK rules |
UK rules |
EU |
EU |
N/A |
EU rules |
EU rules |
EU |
UK |
UK & EU rules |
UK & EU rules |
EU rules |
EU |
Other |
UK & EU rules |
EU rules |
EU rules |
Other |
Other |
N/A |
N/A |
None |
Other |
UK |
UK rules |
UK rules |
None |
Other |
EU |
UK rules |
EU rules |
None |
What is the law guide
The Desktop Lawyer law guide aims to present the law to you in a comprehensive yet jargon-free and easy-to-read format. Our law guide is constantly kept up to date with changes in business and family law by our team of in house solicitors, and includes information across all the legal jurisdictions in the UK.
Our law guide is free to use. Where we provide documents related to this area of law, or where they may help you with any legal issue in this area, they will be listed to the right of this message.