Air Canada flight delay and cancellation compensation

Air Canada flight delay compensation is usually €600 per passenger on transatlantic departures from Europe, or £520 from the UK. You qualify when you land three or more hours late, when Air Canada cancels with less than 14 days' notice, or when it denies you boarding. Flights from Canada into Europe fall outside both EU261 and UK261.

Which Air Canada flights do EU261 and UK261 cover?

Air Canada is Canada's flag carrier and a Star Alliance member, serving Europe from hubs at Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. As neither an EU nor a UK airline, its coverage attaches to the airport you departed from, not to the aircraft.

• Departing an EU/EEA airport on Air Canada — EU261 applies, so a Frankfurt, Paris or Zurich departure to Canada is covered.
• Departing a UK airport — UK261, the retained British version, applies.
• Arriving into the EU/EEA or the UK from Canada — not covered, because Air Canada is neither an EU nor a UK airline. Inbound flights need an EU airline under EU261, or a UK or EU airline under UK261. A Toronto to Munich flight sits outside both regimes.

For departures from Canada, Canada's own Air Passenger Protection Regulations may apply instead — a separate scheme with different amounts. Compensation under EU261 or UK261 is triggered by arriving three or more hours late, a cancellation with under 14 days' notice, or involuntary denied boarding.

How much you could receive

The amount is fixed by route distance, not the fare or cabin. Air Canada's European flying is almost all transatlantic and over 3,500 km, so the top band is usual:

• EUR 250 — 1,500 km or less
• EUR 400 — 1,500 to 3,500 km
• EUR 600 — over 3,500 km, covering nearly every Air Canada route out of Europe

UK261 pays GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520. Article 7(2) lets the airline halve the top figure where a re-routing lands you under four hours late. Each passenger claims separately, whatever the cabin.

When Air Canada doesn't have to pay

There is no compensation where the cause was an extraordinary circumstance unavoidable even with all reasonable measures — severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures, security alerts or a bird strike. The airline carries the burden of proof: a one-line "operational reasons" message is an assertion, not evidence. A strike by Air Canada's own crew is generally not extraordinary, whereas third-party strikes such as air-traffic controllers or airport handlers usually are, and routine technical faults from ordinary maintenance remain the airline's responsibility.

How to claim from Air Canada

Keep the booking reference, boarding passes and any notification of the change, and for a missed connection note your actual arrival time at the final destination, not the first delay. Air Canada handles claims through its own process and may ask for verification before paying; we run the submission and any appeal, and escalate to the enforcement body or court if a covered claim is wrongly refused.

What does an Air Canada claim cost?

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 Air Canada compensation

Start with the flight itself. Our free flight check reads the recorded times for your Air Canada 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 Air Canada has already refused you, the case law summary sets out what the courts have said about the usual excuses.