Smartwings flight delay and cancellation compensation

Your rights on a Smartwings flight

Smartwings is a Czech leisure airline based at Prague, flying holiday charters and scheduled services across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It holds a Czech operating licence, so it is an EU carrier and EU261 reaches both directions:

• Departures from any EU/EEA airport, whoever operates the flight
• Arrivals into the EU/EEA from outside it, because the operating carrier is an EU airline — its Egyptian, Turkish and other returns qualify
• Departures from the UK, and arrivals into the UK on Smartwings fall under UK261

Compensation is triggered by arriving at your final destination three or more hours late, a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice, or denied boarding on an oversold flight after checking in on time. The amount is fixed by the route distance, not by the price of the ticket or the holiday package.

How much you could receive

• EUR 250 — routes of 1,500 km or less, such as Prague to Rome
• EUR 400 — intra-EU routes over 1,500 km and other routes of 1,500 to 3,500 km, which covers most of the Mediterranean and North African leisure network
• EUR 600 — the small number of routes beyond 3,500 km

UK261 claims use the sterling bands GBP 220 / GBP 350 / GBP 520. Article 7(2) allows the top figure to be halved where a long-haul re-routing lands under four hours late. Cabin and fare make no difference, and every passenger with a confirmed reservation claims separately.

When Smartwings doesn't have to pay

There is no compensation where Smartwings 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 burden of proof lies with the airline: a one-line message citing "operational reasons" or "weather" is an assertion, not evidence, and should be tested against the day's recorded conditions. A strike by the airline's own crew is generally not extraordinary, whereas an ATC strike or a walkout by third-party ground staff usually is. Routine technical faults found during ordinary maintenance normally remain the airline's responsibility.

How to claim from Smartwings

Keep the booking reference, boarding passes, the notification message, and receipts for anything you paid for yourself, and note the actual arrival time at your destination. Smartwings wants claims through its own process and may ask for verification before releasing money.

If a claim is refused without proper substantiation, it can be escalated to the Czech enforcement body (the Civil Aviation Authority of the Czech Republic) for departures from Czech airports, to the enforcement body of the departure state elsewhere in the EU, or to court within the applicable limitation period.

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.