Tenerife South flight delay and cancellation compensation

Tenerife South flight delay and cancellation: your rights

Tenerife South handles almost all the island's holiday traffic, and it peaks hardest in the northern European winter — the reverse of most Mediterranean airports.

Spain is in the EU, so EU261 covers every flight out of Tenerife South. Land three or more hours late at your final destination and the airline owes you a fixed sum. UK and northern European routes from Tenerife run about 2,900 km, which puts them in the €400 band.

Which rules apply at Tenerife South

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

An arrival into Tenerife South 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:

• €250 on routes up to 1,500 km
• €400 between 1,500 and 3,500 km
• €600 beyond 3,500 km

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

Is a cheap holiday fare worth claiming on?

Yes, and this is where people talk themselves out of money they are owed.

The sum is set by the distance flown. It has nothing to do with what you paid. A seat bought in a sale, or as part of a package, carries exactly the same figure as a flexible one.

On a family booking it multiplies. Four passengers on a delayed Canaries route are owed €1,600 between them, which is often more than the holiday's flights cost.

What goes wrong at Tenerife South

Holiday flying runs on tight turnarounds, so a delay early in an aircraft's day often lasts to its last rotation. Late inbound aircraft are the most common cause of a late departure here.

Mediterranean and Atlantic weather cuts the landing rate at times, and European flow limits on busy weekends do the rest. Weather can be an extraordinary circumstance and take the money away. Even then the airline must prove it for your flight.

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

How to claim Tenerife South flight delay compensation

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

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