Israir flight delay and cancellation compensation

Israir flight delay and cancellation: your rights

Israir is an Israeli airline flying from Tel Aviv to Europe, and it does not hold an EU operating licence. That single fact splits your rights in two, and it is the thing most passengers get wrong.

• Leaving an EU or EEA airport on Israir — EU261 applies in full, whoever operates the flight.
• Arriving in Israel from Europe — EU261 still applies, because the flight departed the EU.
• Leaving Tel Aviv for Europe — EU261 does not apply, because Israir is not an EU carrier and the flight left a non-EU airport.

The outbound leg and the return leg of the same trip can therefore sit under different regimes. A delay on the way out may be worth €400 under EU261 while the identical delay coming home is not, and the answer changes with the direction rather than the airline.

What Israel's own law adds

Israel's Aviation Services Law fills much of that gap. It applies to flights landing in Israel or departing from it, whoever operates them, and it gives assistance from two hours of delay and money from eight hours or on a cancellation.

So a Tel Aviv departure that EU261 cannot reach is often still claimable — under a different law, in shekels, on a different timetable. Our Aviation Services Law guide sets out the thresholds.

How much an Israir claim is worth

Under EU261 distance fixes the amount, never the fare:

• €250 for routes up to 1,500 km
• €400 for routes between 1,500 and 3,500 km, which covers most Tel Aviv–Europe flying
• €600 beyond 3,500 km

The airline owes the figure per passenger, so a family of four multiplies it. Three things trigger it: arriving three or more hours late at your final destination, a cancellation the airline announced with less than fourteen days' notice, or an oversold flight that leaves you at the gate.

What to do

Ask for the reason in writing before you leave the airport, keep the boarding pass, and photograph the board. Then check the flight itself: the direction of travel decides which law applies, and the record settles that rather than argument.

How to claim Israir flight delay compensation

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

A Israir compensation claim turns on the arrival time and on the reason the airline gives, so read both before you write. The flight delay compensation guide sets out the bands, and the cancellation compensation guide covers Israir cancellation compensation for a flight that never operated. If the airline refuses, the case law summary sets out what the courts have accepted as an excuse and what they have thrown out.