Discover Airlines flight delay and cancellation compensation

Your rights on a Discover Airlines flight

Discover Airlines is the Lufthansa Group's leisure carrier, based in Germany and flying short-, medium- and long-haul holiday routes from Frankfurt and Munich. It holds a German operating licence, which makes it an EU carrier and gives EU261 its full reach:

• Departures from any EU/EEA airport are covered, whoever operates the flight
• Arrivals into the EU/EEA from outside it — including long-haul leisure routes to the Americas, Africa and the Indian Ocean — are covered because Discover holds an EU licence
• Departures from the UK, and arrivals into the UK on Discover fall under UK261, in sterling

As a group carrier, Discover operates flights sold under Lufthansa codes as well as its own, and some tickets are bought as part of a package holiday. Your compensation rights attach to the operating carrier, so it is the airline that actually flew the aircraft that is responsible, whatever code or tour operator sold the seat.

Compensation is triggered by arriving at your final destination three or more hours late, a cancellation with under 14 days' notice, or denied boarding on an oversold flight.

How much you could receive

The amount is fixed by distance, not by the fare or the package price.

• EUR 250 — routes of 1,500 km or less
• EUR 400 — intra-EU routes over 1,500 km, and any other route between 1,500 and 3,500 km
• EUR 600 — routes over 3,500 km, which covers the long-haul leisure network

UK261 claims use GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520. Each named passenger claims separately, and the cabin makes no difference. Under Article 7(2) the top figure may be halved where a long-haul re-routing arrives less than four hours late, so the difference between a 3h45 and a 4h15 arrival is worth EUR 300 per passenger.

When Discover Airlines doesn't have to pay

No compensation is due where the airline proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures — severe weather, ATC flow restrictions, airport closures, security incidents or a bird strike.

• The airline carries the burden of proof, both of the cause and of the reasonable measures it took. A generic reference to "operational disruption" does not discharge that.
• A strike by Discover's own crew is generally not extraordinary, following EU case law that treats staff disputes as inherent in running an airline. Strikes by air-traffic controllers or third-party airport staff usually are.

Routine technical faults found during ordinary maintenance normally remain the airline's responsibility. Booking a seat as part of a package holiday does not remove the EU261 right against the operating airline, though a package also carries separate protections against the tour operator.

How to claim from Discover Airlines

Keep the booking reference, boarding passes for every sector, the notification of the change, and receipts for meals or a hotel if none was offered. Note the actual arrival time at your final destination.

Response times vary between airlines and between individual claims, and lengthen after mass-disruption events. If a claim is refused without a substantiated reason, it can be escalated to Germany's conciliation body for public transport (söp), to the national enforcement body in the country of departure, or pursued in court within the local time limit.

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.