Cork flight delay and cancellation compensation

What are you owed for a Cork flight delay or cancellation?

Cork serves Ireland's south, with a compact schedule to the UK, mainland Europe and a handful of holiday destinations. Aer Lingus and Ryanair carry most of it.

Ireland is in the EU, so EU261 covers every flight out of Cork. Land three or more hours late at your final destination and the airline owes a fixed sum of €250, €400 or €600 per passenger, set by distance rather than by fare.

Which flights at Cork does EU261 cover?

Ireland is in the EU, so EU261 covers every departure from Cork, whoever flies it. A non-European airline leaving here is bound on the same terms as a European one.

An arrival into Cork is narrower. It is covered only when an EU or EEA airline operates the flight. A flight in from outside Europe on a non-European airline falls outside the rules, even though it lands in the EU.

The sums are fixed by distance, never by the fare:

Flight distance	Compensation per passenger	Journeys from Cork
Up to 1,500 km	€250	Cork to London
1,500 to 3,500 km	€400	—
Over 3,500 km	€600 (€400 if the flight is within the EU)	A transatlantic connection on one booking

A cancellation inside fourteen days pays the same, and so does denied boarding.

My connection was through Dublin. Where is the delay measured?

At your final destination, if both flights were on one booking.

That matters more here than at a bigger airport, because much of Cork's traffic connects onward. A ninety-minute delay out of Cork that costs you a transatlantic connection can be worth €600, not €250.

Two separately booked tickets are two journeys, and the connection is not protected.

What goes wrong at Cork, and which causes pay?

Atlantic weather, low cloud and wind all feature, and a late inbound aircraft is a common cause of a late departure.

Technical faults, crews running out of hours and commercial cancellations of thin routes are the airline's own doing, so the money still stands.

How do you claim Cork flight delay compensation?

Start with the flight itself. Our free flight check reads the recorded departure and arrival times for your flight from Cork and tells you which band it falls in.

Your Cork 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 Cork cancellation compensation too. Has the airline said no? The case law summary sets out what the courts make of the usual excuses.