If your flight is cancelled, EU Regulation 261/2004 always gives you the right to choose between getting the ticket price refunded and being re-routed to your destination. On top of that, you may be entitled to a fixed compensation of €250, €400 or €600 — roughly SEK 2,800, 4,500 or 6,800 — but only if the airline gave notice less than 14 days before departure and the cause was within its control. This page sorts out both parts, and at the top there is a checklist for anyone standing at the airport right now.
Contents
- What do I do now? A checklist for anyone stuck
- Compensation is not a refund
- Your three choices when a flight is cancelled
- The 14-day rule — when compensation actually applies
- The amounts: €250, €400 and €600
- When the cause blocks the claim — extraordinary circumstances
- The duty of care — meals, drinks and a hotel
- How to take your claim forward
The 14-day rule decides whether a cancelled flight gives a right to fixed compensation.
What do I do now? A checklist for anyone stuck {#what-do-i-do-now}
If the flight has just been cancelled and you are standing in the terminal, take this first, calmly and in order:
- Go to the airline's desk or contact its customer service. It is the airline — not the travel agent or the airport — that is responsible for sorting the situation out.
- Ask for re-routing to your destination as soon as possible — or for a refund, if you would rather drop the trip. The choice is yours.
- Do not accept a voucher or points instead of money. You have the right to demand a real refund in cash or back to your card.
- Do not sign anything you have not read. Turn down any paper that "settles" the case or waives your rights.
- Demand food, drinks and, if needed, a hotel. If you have to wait a long time or overnight, the airline must cover it. If it does not, pay for what is reasonable yourself and keep every receipt.
- Document everything. Photograph the departures board showing "Cancelled", save emails and texts, note the times and what the staff told you.
- Wait before claiming the compensation. You do not settle the fixed compensation at the airport — you ask the airline for it calmly afterwards. There is no rush; in Sweden you have ten years.
One thing to watch especially closely, and it is worth underlining: if you accept a refund of the ticket, you are at the same time turning down re-routing. The moment you do, the airline's duty to get you onward and to cover meals and a hotel ends. It can be the right decision — but make it deliberately, not in a panic at the desk.
Compensation is not a refund {#compensation-is-not-a-refund}
This is the most common misunderstanding on the topic, and with a cancelled flight the two terms get mixed up the most.
A refund means you get the money for your ticket back. That is the ticket price, no more and no less.
Compensation is something else: a fixed flat-rate amount — €250 to €600 — for the disruption of having the flight cancelled. It has nothing to do with what the ticket cost.
The point: when a flight is cancelled, you may be entitled to both. You can get the ticket price back and the fixed compensation for the disruption. So the airline paying back the ticket does not mean the matter is closed — these are two separate rights with separate rules. If the airline offers a refund and makes it sound like a settlement, you still keep your right to claim the compensation separately.
Your three choices when a flight is cancelled {#your-three-choices}
When a flight is cancelled, EU 261 requires the airline to offer you a choice between three things:
- A refund of the ticket price for the part of the journey you do not complete — and, if you have already started the trip and it has become pointless, for legs already flown as well.
- Re-routing to your destination at the earliest opportunity, under comparable transport conditions.
- Re-routing at a later date that suits you, subject to seat availability.
You have this choice regardless of why the flight was cancelled — even in extreme weather or an air traffic control strike. The choice between a refund and re-routing is therefore entirely separate from the question of the fixed compensation, which we turn to next.
The 14-day rule — when compensation actually applies {#the-14-day-rule}
This is the question that decides whether you get the fixed compensation, and it is simpler than many people think. It all hangs on when the airline told you the flight was cancelled.
| When did the notice come? | Fixed compensation? | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| At least 14 days before departure | No | — |
| 7–13 days before departure | Yes, unless the re-routing kept you close to schedule | New departure no more than 2 h earlier, arrival no more than 4 h later |
| Less than 7 days before departure | Yes, unless the re-routing kept you close to schedule | New departure no more than 1 h earlier, arrival no more than 2 h later |
Read it like this: if the airline gives notice of the cancellation at least 14 days ahead, the fixed compensation falls away entirely. You keep the right to choose between a refund and re-routing — but no cash compensation.
If the notice comes later than 14 days before departure, compensation can apply. How well the re-routing on offer kept you close to your original schedule then also matters: if the airline re-books you so that you arrive at roughly the planned time, the compensation can be reduced or fall away, while a re-routing that throws your times off badly gives the full amount.
This answers a question that comes up constantly — "the flight was cancelled more than 14 days in advance, am I entitled to anything?". The answer is: the right to choose a refund or re-routing, yes. The right to the fixed compensation, no.
The amounts: €250, €400 and €600 {#the-amounts}
If you are entitled to the fixed compensation, the size is set by how long the flight is — not by what the ticket cost.
| Flight distance | Compensation | Roughly in SEK |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 | ≈ SEK 2,800 |
| Within the EU over 1,500 km | €400 | ≈ SEK 4,500 |
| Other flights 1,500–3,500 km | €400 | ≈ SEK 4,500 |
| Flights outside the EU over 3,500 km | €600 | ≈ SEK 6,800 |
EUR is the legal unit — the amounts are fixed in euros. The SEK figures are approximate and move with the exchange rate, so treat them as a guide. If the airline gets you to your destination on a re-routing with limited delay, the amount can in some cases be halved. To see what level your trip lands on, use our walkthrough on how to calculate flight compensation. We cover what applies with denied boarding in a section of its own.
A checklist for anyone standing at the airport when a flight is cancelled.
When the cause blocks the claim — extraordinary circumstances {#when-the-cause-blocks-the-claim}
Even if the notice came late, the fixed compensation can fall away — if the airline can show that the flight was cancelled because of extraordinary circumstances. These are events outside the airline's control that it could not have prevented even with all reasonable measures.
| Cause | Within the airline's control? | Compensation normally? |
|---|---|---|
| Technical fault on the aircraft | Yes | Yes |
| Crew missing or arriving late | Yes | Yes |
| The airline's own staff strike | Yes | Yes |
| Too few bookings, an unprofitable flight | Yes | Yes |
| Extreme weather | No | No |
| Air traffic control strike, security decision | No | No |
Keep two things in mind. First: a "technical fault" is not automatically an extraordinary circumstance — faults that belong to the normal operation of an aircraft fall within the airline's responsibility. Second: it is the airline that must be able to prove an extraordinary circumstance actually existed. The burden is not on you to disprove a vague answer.
If you want to dig deeper into the question of cause, read our full walkthrough of extraordinary circumstances. If you are unsure which category your case falls into, start with our step-by-step eligibility walkthrough.
The duty of care — meals, drinks and a hotel {#the-duty-of-care}
Alongside the compensation there is the duty of care, and it is important to know about with cancelled flights because the wait is often long. The duty of care is tied to the waiting time itself — not to the cause — and therefore never falls away, not even when the flight was cancelled because of extreme weather.
While you wait for a re-routing, the airline must offer:
- meals and drinks in reasonable proportion to the wait,
- two phone calls or equivalent contact,
- a hotel and transport to and from it if you have to wait overnight.
If the airline offers nothing — buy reasonable food and book a reasonable hotel, and keep the receipts so you can claim the costs back afterwards. An important link back to the checklist above: the duty of care applies as long as you are waiting for a re-routing. If you instead choose a refund of the ticket, it ends — you have then turned down having the airline take you onward. There is more on the limits on the page about the right to meals and a hotel during a flight delay.
How to take your claim forward {#how-to-take-your-claim-forward}
This page is about what you are entitled to when a flight is cancelled. How you actually collect the compensation — what you write, where the claim goes, what you do if the airline says no — we have gathered on the page about claiming flight compensation yourself. The short version: it costs nothing to submit the claim directly to the airline, and if the airline refuses you can turn free of charge to ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden — the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes). The whole case can be handled on your own.
If you would rather skip the paperwork, you can use a passenger-rights service. A service of that kind — AirHelp is one of the larger ones — pursues the claim for you and in return takes a commission on the amount, usually around a quarter, if it succeeds. If the claim does not go through, you pay nothing. It is a question of convenience: you trade part of the compensation for not having to do the work yourself. Read more in flight delay compensation .
If you want to hand your case over, you can <a href="/go/airhelp" rel="nofollow sponsored noopener">start a free check with AirHelp</a>. This is an affiliate link — if your claim goes through, we may receive a fee, without affecting your commission. We explain openly how it works on our affiliate disclosure page. If you would rather do everything yourself, that route is free — start with claiming compensation on your own.
Was your flight delayed rather than cancelled? Then different thresholds apply — read flight delay and compensation. If it is about denied boarding or overbooking, see denied boarding compensation. If you missed a connecting flight because of the cancellation, see missed connection compensation. For a broader picture, the walkthrough of EU 261 passenger rights covers the ground.
This is not legal advice
This page is based on published and institutional sources — expert review has not yet been carried out. For advice on your individual case, turn to ARN (Allmänna reklamationsnämnden — the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) or Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency), which is the supervisory authority for air passenger rights in Sweden.
Frequently asked questions
cancelled flight compensation
Am I entitled to compensation if the flight was cancelled more than 14 days in advance?
No. If the airline gives notice of the cancellation at least 14 days before scheduled departure, the fixed compensation of €250–600 falls away. You always keep the right to choose between getting the ticket price refunded and being re-routed to your destination.
What is the difference between compensation and a refund for a cancelled flight?
A refund means you get the ticket price back. Compensation is a fixed amount of €250–600 for the disruption caused by the cancellation. These are two separate rights. When a flight is cancelled you may be entitled to both at once — taking the refund does not cancel the right to compensation.
What should I do right away when my flight is cancelled?
Ask the airline for re-routing or a refund, photograph the departures board, and keep everything in writing. Do not accept a voucher instead of money, and do not sign anything that waives your rights. If you need food or a hotel because of the wait, the airline must pay for it — if it does not, pay yourself and keep the receipts.
Do I still get compensation if I accept a re-routing?
Yes, accepting a re-routing does not automatically cancel the right to compensation. The fixed compensation can still apply if notice came less than 14 days before departure and the cause was within the airline's control — though the amount can be affected by how far the new flight departs from the original schedule.
Why should I not accept a refund straight away at the airport?
If you choose a refund of the ticket, it means you are turning down a re-routing — the airline's duty to get you to your destination and to cover meals and a hotel then ends. It may be the right choice, but make it deliberately. The refund does not affect your separate right to the fixed compensation.
Sources and further reading
- EUR-Lex — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 , Article 5 (cancellations) and Article 7 (compensation)
- Court of Justice of the EU — Sturgeon and Others, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07
- Transportstyrelsen — Passenger rights (the Swedish Transport Agency, supervisory authority in Sweden)
- Konsumentverket — Delayed and cancelled flights (the Swedish Consumer Agency)
- ARN — Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes) — settles disputes at no cost to the consumer
Last reviewed: 17 May 2026.
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