Which Tunisair flight delay does EU261 cover?
Tunisair flight delay compensation pays €250 or €400 per passenger under EU261 when your flight left an EU airport and you landed three or more hours late. A departure from Tunis for Europe is not covered, because Tunisair holds no EU licence. On that leg, the Montreal Convention can still cover proven costs.
Tunisair flies from Tunis, Djerba and Monastir to France, Italy, Germany and beyond. It is a Tunisian airline and it does not hold an EU operating licence.
That splits your rights by direction, and the direction is what passengers often get wrong.
What a delayed flight pays
Amounts are per passenger, not per booking. A delay of 3–4 hours over 3,500 km may be reduced by half under Article 7(2).
Which leg of a Tunisair return trip does EU261 cover?
| Tunisair flight | EU261 | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Leaving Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Rome or any EU airport | Applies in full: €250 from Paris to Tunis | The flight departed the EU |
| Leaving Tunis for Europe | Does not apply | Tunisair is not an EU airline, and the flight left a non-EU airport |
So the outbound and the return leg of one trip can sit under different rules. Paris to Tunis is 1,465 to 1,488 km, depending on the Paris airport, so the same three-hour delay is worth €250 in one direction and nothing under EU261 in the other.
Where the regulation does apply, the sums are €250 up to 1,500 km and €400 between 1,500 and 3,500 km. Most routes between Tunisia and Europe fall in those two bands.
Why is my Tunis departure not covered?
Because EU261 reaches an arrival into Europe only when an EU airline operates it. Tunisair is licensed in Tunisia, so the inbound leg falls outside.
It is still worth writing. The airline's own conditions of carriage, and the Montreal Convention for proven costs, can carry a claim the regulation cannot. Keep the boarding pass and every receipt.
How do you claim Tunisair flight delay compensation?
Start with the flight itself. Our free flight check reads the recorded departure and arrival times and tells you which band your Tunisair flight falls in.
A Tunisair compensation claim turns on two things: the arrival time, and the reason the airline gives.
For a late arrival, read the flight delay compensation guide. For a flight that never flew, read the cancellation compensation guide. It covers Tunisair cancellation compensation too. Has the airline said no? The case law summary sets out what the courts make of the usual excuses.
Check what you're owed
What you need to claim
- Your flight number and date
- The airports you flew between
- Roughly how late you arrived
- Your booking reference, if you still have it
No boarding pass? We can usually work from the flight number and date alone.