--- title: "ITA Airways Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation" url: https://flightcompensations.com/airlines/ita-airways author: "Jaacov Sonenblick" published: 2026-09-04 updated: 2026-10-06 publisher: FlightCompensations summary: "ITA Airways is Italy's flag carrier and an EU airline, so EU261 covers Rome departures and long-haul arrivals alike — up to EUR 600 per passenger." --- # ITA Airways flight delay and cancellation compensation ITA Airways is Italy's flag carrier and an EU airline, so EU261 covers Rome departures and long-haul arrivals alike — up to EUR 600 per passenger. **ITA Airways flight delay** and cancellation claims **pay** €250 to €600 per passenger under EU261, or £220 to £520 under UK261. You qualify if you land three or more hours late at your final destination, if ITA cancels with under 14 days' notice, or if it denies you boarding. Old Alitalia flights remain Alitalia's liability, not ITA's. ## Does EU261 cover an ITA Airways flight delay, and what about Alitalia? ITA Airways is Italy's flag carrier, hubbed at **Rome Fiumicino**, and the successor airline to Alitalia. Lufthansa has taken a stake in it as part of the group. ITA holds an Italian 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 ITA is an EU airline, which brings its North and South American inbound flights inside the regulation - **UK routes** — UK261 applies to departures from the UK and to arrivals into the UK on ITA One point matters specifically here: ITA is a **separate legal entity from Alitalia**, so a disruption on an old Alitalia flight is a claim against Alitalia in liquidation, while ITA is responsible only for flights it actually operated. ## How much does ITA Airways 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 Rome to Milan - **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 intercontinental network from Rome **Article 7(2)** allows the top band to be halved where a re-routed long-haul flight arrives under four hours late. UK261 uses **GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520**. The amount is fixed by distance, not the fare, and each passenger on the booking claims separately. ## When ITA Airways 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, air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures, security incidents or bird strikes. The **burden of proof is on the airline**, and an unevidenced line about "operational reasons" is not a defence. A strike by ITA's own pilots or cabin crew is generally not extraordinary, whereas 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. ## How to claim from ITA Airways 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 Italy's civil aviation authority (ENAC) for departures from Italian airports, to the enforcement body of the departure state elsewhere in the EU, or taken to court. ## 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 ITA Airways compensation Start with the flight itself. Our [free flight check](/claim) reads the recorded times for your ITA Airways flight and tells you which band it falls in, in about two minutes. For the law behind the figure, the [flight delay compensation guide](/flight-delay-compensation) covers arrival delays and the [cancellation compensation guide](/flight-cancellation-compensation) covers a flight that never operated. If ITA Airways has already refused you, the [case law summary](/passenger-rights/case-law) sets out what the courts have said about the usual excuses. ## Frequently asked questions ### My old flight was with Alitalia. Can I claim from ITA Airways? Generally no. ITA Airways is a separate legal entity from Alitalia, which entered liquidation, so a claim arising from an Alitalia-operated flight has to be pursued against Alitalia in that process rather than against ITA. ITA is responsible for the flights it has itself operated since it began flying. ### Is an ITA flight from South America into Rome covered by EU261? Yes. Arrivals into the EU/EEA from a third country are covered when the operating airline holds an EU licence, and ITA is Italian. A delayed flight from, for example, Buenos Aires or São Paulo into Rome therefore carries the same entitlement as a departure from Rome would, up to EUR 600 for the distance involved. ### Does it matter that Lufthansa has taken a stake in ITA? Not for liability. EU261 places the obligation on the operating carrier, so a flight flown by ITA is claimed against ITA regardless of who holds shares in it. The claim follows whichever airline actually operated your sector. ## Sources - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32004R0261 - https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/ - https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-402/07 - https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-549/07 - https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-195/17 - https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?num=C-452/13 Read the full page with the claim check at https://flightcompensations.com/airlines/ita-airways