London to Paris flight delay and cancellation compensation

Compensation on the London to Paris route

London to Paris is one of the most heavily flown short-haul corridors in Europe, with services from Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and City into Charles de Gaulle and Orly throughout the day. The great-circle distance is approximately 350 km, well inside the shortest compensation band. A short flight does not mean weak rights: compensation is triggered by arriving at your final destination three or more hours late, by a cancellation announced with less than fourteen days' notice, or by involuntary denied boarding on an oversold service. The payment is fixed by distance, not fare, so it frequently exceeds the price of the ticket.

How much you could be owed

Under 1,500 km, so the entry band applies: £220 per passenger under UK261 or €250 under EU261. The Article 7(2) halving that can apply to three-to-four-hour delays is confined to flights over 3,500 km and is irrelevant here. One detail worth checking: if Paris is a connecting point on a single booking — feeding a long-haul departure from Charles de Gaulle, for example — the band is calculated to your final destination, which can lift the claim well above €250.

Which regulation applies

Departing London, UK261 governs the flight whichever airline operates it. Departing Paris, EU261 applies in exactly the same unconditional way, because France is an EU member state. Arrivals are also protected in each direction when the operating carrier is a UK or EU/EEA airline — which on this route is essentially every operator — so coverage is rarely in doubt either way. You bring one claim under whichever framework fits, and the practical difference is mainly whether the amount is expressed as £220 or €250.

Airlines flying this route

The corridor is typically served by British Airways and Air France alongside easyJet and Vueling, with the mix depending on the London airport and the Paris airport concerned. Codeshares are common, and the obligation under the regulation attaches to the airline that actually operated your flight, not to whoever sold the ticket.

How to claim

Send us the flight number and date and we confirm the regulation, the band and the likely strength of the claim. Typical causes here — late inbound aircraft, tight turnarounds, crew duty limits, and even a strike by the airline's own staff — sit within the airline's control and leave a claim intact. Severe weather, air traffic control restrictions and security incidents can be extraordinary circumstances, but the burden of proving both the event and the reasonable measures taken rests entirely on the airline. 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.