Aer Lingus flight delay and cancellation compensation

Aer Lingus flight delay and cancellation claims pay €250 to €600 per passenger under EU261, or £220 to £520 under UK261. You qualify if you reach your final destination three or more hours late, if Aer Lingus cancels with under 14 days' notice, or if it denies you boarding. Inbound flights from North America count too.

Does EU261 cover an Aer Lingus flight delay from the US?

Aer Lingus is Ireland's flag carrier, based at Dublin with a growing transatlantic programme. It holds an Irish operating licence, which makes it an EU carrier, so EU261 reaches both directions:

• Departures from any EU/EEA airport — covered whoever operates the flight
• Arrivals into the EU/EEA from a third country — covered because Aer Lingus is an EU airline, which brings its North American inbound flights inside the regulation
• UK routes — UK261 applies to departures from the UK and to arrivals into the UK on Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus is part of International Airlines Group, but that does not shift responsibility: the claim follows the operating carrier that actually flew the aircraft.

How much does Aer Lingus pay per passenger?

Compensation is due when you arrive at your final destination three or more hours late, when a flight is cancelled with less than 14 days' notice, or when you are denied boarding on an oversold flight after checking in on time.

• EUR 250 — routes of 1,500 km or less, such as Dublin to Manchester
• EUR 400 — intra-EU routes over 1,500 km and other routes of 1,500 to 3,500 km
• EUR 600 — routes over 3,500 km, covering the North Atlantic network to Boston, New York and Chicago

Under Article 7(2) the airline may halve the EUR 600 figure where a re-routed long-haul flight lands under four hours late. UK261 uses GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520. The amount is fixed by distance, not the fare, and every named passenger claims separately.

When Aer Lingus doesn't have to pay

There is no compensation where the airline proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures — severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures, security incidents or bird strikes.

The burden of proof rests with the airline, not with you. A one-line rejection citing "operational reasons" is an assertion, not evidence. A strike by Aer Lingus's own pilots or cabin crew is generally not extraordinary, whereas strikes by air-traffic controllers or third-party airport staff usually are, and routine technical faults found in ordinary maintenance normally remain the airline's responsibility.

What do you need to claim from Aer Lingus?

Keep the booking reference, boarding passes, the disruption notice, and receipts for anything you paid for yourself. Note the actual arrival time at your final destination.

Response times vary and lengthen after mass-disruption events. If a claim is refused without proper substantiation, it can be escalated to the Irish Aviation Authority for Irish departures, to the enforcement body of the departure state elsewhere in the EU, or to the courts within the local limitation period.

What it costs

The eligibility check is free. If we recover your compensation we charge a fixed EUR 39 success fee — the same whether you're owed EUR 250 or EUR 600 — and the airline's payment goes to you. No win, no fee.

How to claim Aer Lingus compensation

Start with the flight itself. Our free flight check reads the recorded times for your Aer Lingus flight and tells you which band it falls in, in about two minutes.

For the law behind the figure, the flight delay compensation guide covers arrival delays and the cancellation compensation guide covers a flight that never operated. If Aer Lingus has already refused you, the case law summary sets out what the courts have said about the usual excuses.