--- title: "Kenya Airways Flight Delay and Cancellation Compensation" url: https://flightcompensations.com/airlines/kenya-airways author: "Jaacov Sonenblick" published: 2026-09-04 updated: 2026-10-06 publisher: FlightCompensations summary: "Kenya Airways is a non-EU carrier, so EU261 and UK261 cover its Paris, Amsterdam and London departures at EUR 600 — but not arrivals from Nairobi." --- # Kenya Airways flight delay and cancellation compensation Kenya Airways is a non-EU carrier, so EU261 and UK261 cover its Paris, Amsterdam and London departures at EUR 600 — but not arrivals from Nairobi. ## Which direction of a Kenya Airways flight delay can you claim for? **Kenya Airways flight delay** compensation **pays** €600 per passenger on Paris or Amsterdam departures to Nairobi, and £520 from London Heathrow. Flights from Nairobi into Europe fall outside both regimes. You have a claim after a three-hour delay at your final destination, a cancellation with under 14 days' notice, or denied boarding. Kenya Airways, the SkyTeam flag carrier of Kenya, links its Nairobi hub with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and London Heathrow. It is neither an EU nor a UK airline, so the European rules protect its passengers in one direction only. - **Departing an EU/EEA airport** — EU261 applies, so Paris or Amsterdam to Nairobi is covered. - **Departing a UK airport** — UK261 applies to the Heathrow departure. - **Arriving into Europe from Nairobi** — **not covered**. A Nairobi to Amsterdam flight falls outside both regimes, because EU261 protects arrivals from third countries only on EU airlines, and UK261 only on UK or EU airlines. The three qualifying events are arrival at your final destination three or more hours late, a cancellation announced less than 14 days before departure, and involuntary denied boarding on an oversold flight. ## How much is a delayed Kenya Airways flight to Nairobi worth? The bands depend on great-circle distance, never on the ticket price: - **EUR 250** — up to 1,500 km - **EUR 400** — 1,500 to 3,500 km - **EUR 600** — over 3,500 km Nairobi is far more than 3,500 km from Europe, so every Kenya Airways route out of Paris, Amsterdam or London sits in the top band: **EUR 600** per passenger under EU261 and **GBP 520** under UK261's scale of GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520. If a re-routing lands you in Nairobi under four hours late, the airline may halve the amount. Onward connections within Africa on the same booking count too: the delay is measured where the booking finally ends. ## When Kenya Airways doesn't have to pay Extraordinary circumstances — severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures, security incidents — defeat a claim only when the airline proves them and shows all reasonable measures were taken. The burden of proof never shifts to you. A strike by Kenya Airways' own pilots or crew is generally not extraordinary under the case law that treats staff disputes as part of running an airline; strikes by third parties usually are. Routine technical faults, however inconvenient, remain the airline's responsibility. ## How do you claim from Kenya Airways if it sends a template refusal? Save the booking reference, boarding passes and the notifications you received, and photograph the departure board if the information on it differs from what the airline later says. Claims go to the airline first; if the answer is a template refusal, the case can go to the French, Dutch or UK enforcement body, or to court within the national deadline. We run each of those steps for you. ## Is there an upfront cost to claim from Kenya Airways? 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 Kenya Airways compensation Start with the flight itself. Our [free flight check](/claim) reads the recorded times for your Kenya 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 Kenya 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 ### Why does the Amsterdam to Nairobi direction pay but Nairobi to Amsterdam does not? EU261 attaches to departures from EU/EEA airports on any airline, and to arrivals from third countries only when the operating carrier is EU-licensed. Kenya Airways is Kenyan, so the outbound European departure is covered at EUR 600 while the inbound leg from Nairobi has no EU261 claim at all. ### I flew Paris to Mombasa via Nairobi on one Kenya Airways booking and arrived four hours late. What applies? Because the journey began in Paris on a single booking, EU261 covers it to the final destination, Mombasa. Arriving there three or more hours late qualifies for EUR 600 based on the full journey distance, even though the delay happened on the Nairobi to Mombasa leg outside Europe. ### My Kenya Airways flight was booked through KLM. Does that change anything? The claim always targets the operating carrier, so if Kenya Airways flew the aircraft the claim goes to Kenya Airways even on a KLM codeshare ticket. The reverse also holds: if KLM operated the flight, its EU licence brings arrivals into Europe within EU261 as well. ## 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/kenya-airways