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Missed flight and missed connection
Missing a flight is not always your fault. When a late first flight makes you miss a connection on the same booking, you can be treated as if you were delayed on the whole journey.
Connecting flights on one booking
If your connecting flights were booked together on a single booking reference, the law looks at the whole journey. What matters is how late you arrived at your final destination. If that was 3 hours or more after the scheduled arrival time, you may be owed compensation under UK261 or EU261 even though the first flight alone was only slightly late. The amount is set by the great-circle distance from your first departure airport to your final destination. See the amounts on our delayed flight page.
Example. Your flight from Manchester to Dubai lands late, you miss the connection to Bangkok on the same booking, and you reach Bangkok 6 hours late. The delay is measured at Bangkok, and the distance used is Manchester to Bangkok.
Separate tickets are different
If you bought the flights as separate bookings, for example two different tickets bought independently, the airline of the first flight is generally not responsible for the second flight you missed. You may still have a claim if one of the flights was itself delayed 3 hours or more or cancelled. Booking details matter, so keep every confirmation.
When you are not covered
- You arrived late for check-in or the boarding gate, so you missed the flight yourself.
- You did not have a confirmed reservation or the correct travel documents.
- You missed a flight because of a delay that was caused by an extraordinary circumstance (see extraordinary circumstances).
What the airline must still do
Even where compensation is not due, an airline that stranded you by a delay or cancellation must offer re-routing or a refund, and care such as meals and a hotel while you wait. Keep your receipts and boarding passes.
Related guides
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This page is general information about UK261 and EU261. It is not legal advice. FlightPayout is not a law firm and cannot guarantee that an airline will pay. The amounts and time limits shown are those in force when this page was written; both regulations are under political review, so check the latest position before you rely on them.