Flight delay and cancellation compensation at Paris Charles de Gaulle

Your rights when a flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle is disrupted

Charles de Gaulle is the main international gateway for Paris and one of Europe's larger connecting hubs, which means a disruption here can affect a journey that continues well beyond France. Under EU261, arriving at your final destination three or more hours behind schedule can entitle you to a fixed payment of €250 for trips up to 1,500 km, €400 for 1,500 to 3,500 km, and €600 above 3,500 km. A cancellation announced fewer than fourteen days before departure, and being denied boarding against your will, trigger the same amounts. On long-haul flights delayed between three and four hours, Article 7(2) allows the airline to halve the €600 to €300 where it offers re-routing within defined limits.

Which rules apply at Paris Charles de Gaulle

France is in the EU, so EU261 applies to every departure from CDG whatever airline operates it — an American, Chinese or Middle Eastern carrier leaving Paris is covered exactly as Air France is. Arriving flights are covered only when the operating airline is an EU or EEA carrier. That distinction matters most on transatlantic and long-haul rotations: the outbound from Paris is protected either way, while the return may not be if a non-EU airline is flying it. Where a journey continues on a single booking through CDG, eligibility is measured against the final destination, not the intermediate stop.

What to do at the airport

Ask for the reason for the disruption and keep whatever the airline gives you in writing. Note the actual arrival time at your final destination, defined by when the doors opened, because a delay recorded as two hours fifty at the gate can become three hours ten by that measure. Duty of care begins at two hours on short routes, three on medium and four on long-haul: meals and refreshments proportionate to the wait, two phone calls or emails, and hotel accommodation with transfers if you are stranded overnight. This is owed even when the cause is outside the airline's control, and if nothing is offered you can buy reasonably and reclaim it.

Common causes of disruption

As a hub built around connecting traffic, CDG sees delays travel along aircraft and crew rotations, so an early morning problem can still be visible at night. French and wider European air traffic control restrictions, winter fog and de-icing, and summer thunderstorm activity are all recurrent causes. Air traffic control action and severe weather can qualify as extraordinary circumstances that remove compensation, but the airline has to prove it. Technical failures, crew rostering gaps, late crew positioning and most operational decisions do not qualify and leave your entitlement in place.

Claiming for a flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle

Use the free eligibility check to confirm the governing regulation, the distance band and whether any Article 7(2) reduction is arguable. We handle the correspondence with the airline, including pushing back where an extraordinary circumstances defence is asserted without evidence. There is nothing to pay while the claim is running: our fee is a fixed €39 success fee, taken only after compensation has been paid out. No win, no fee.