London to Amsterdam flight delay and cancellation compensation

Compensation on the London to Amsterdam route

London to Amsterdam is among the busiest international city pairs in Europe, flown many times a day from Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Stansted and Luton into Schiphol. The distance is approximately 370 km, which places the route firmly in the shortest compensation band. The trigger is the same as on any route: an arrival at your final destination three or more hours late, a cancellation notified with less than fourteen days' warning, or being denied boarding against your will. On a sector scheduled at around an hour, a three-hour arrival delay points to a significant operational failure rather than ordinary congestion.

How much you could be owed

Well under 1,500 km, so the entry band: £220 per passenger under UK261 or €250 under EU261. There is no Article 7(2) reduction to consider — that halving is limited to flights over 3,500 km. What can change the figure is a connection: Schiphol is a major hub, and if your Amsterdam arrival fed an onward flight on the same booking, eligibility and the band are both measured against your final destination. A delayed London to Amsterdam leg that costs you an intercontinental connection can support a €600 claim.

Which regulation applies

Leaving London, UK261 applies to every operating airline because the departure is from a UK airport. Leaving Amsterdam, EU261 applies in the same unconditional way. Arrivals are additionally protected in each direction where the operating carrier is a UK or EU/EEA airline, which on this route is effectively always the case, so the route is covered both ways. You claim once under whichever framework fits, and the main practical difference is the currency of the payment.

Airlines flying this route

The corridor is typically served by British Airways, KLM and easyJet, with the mix depending on the London airport. Frequencies are high enough that airlines often rebook disrupted passengers onto a later service the same day — helpful for the journey, but it does not remove a claim if you still arrived three or more hours late.

How to claim

Give us the flight number and date and we confirm the governing regulation, the band and whether an onward connection lifts the claim. Common causes on this pair — late inbound aircraft, tight turnarounds, crew duty limits and flow restrictions over the North Sea — normally sit within the airline's control, and a strike by the airline's own crew is generally treated the same way. Severe weather, air traffic control restrictions and security incidents can be extraordinary circumstances, but the airline must prove them with evidence, not assertion. The eligibility check is free. If we recover your compensation we charge a fixed €39 success fee — the same whether you're owed €250 or €600. No win, no fee.