What to Do If Your Flight Is Cancelled: A Practical Guide for Travellers

Because the moment your flight disappears from the departure board, the decisions you make next actually matter.

Last updated: 3 August 2026

Quick answer: If your flight is cancelled, check the airline app, contact the airline or your travel management company, request reimbursement or rerouting, document the stated reason for the cancellation and keep every receipt. Under EU Regulation 261/2004, you may also qualify for compensation of €250, €400 or €600, depending on the circumstances and flight distance.

A cancelled flight rarely announces itself politely. It usually appears as a red word on a departure board, a push notification or a gate agent’s apologetic expression.

What you do next can determine whether you are rebooked within the hour or spend several hours waiting at an airport service desk.

This guide explains what to do immediately, what your rights are under EU Regulation 261/2004, commonly known as EU261, and how business travellers can reduce the wider impact of a flight cancellation.

What Should You Do Immediately After Your Flight Is Cancelled?

Before joining the queue at the airline’s service desk, take the following steps:

1. Check the airline app or website. Rebooking options may become available digitally before airport staff can process them manually.
2. Contact the airline or your travel management company. Use more than one available channel instead of relying solely on the physical airport queue.
3. Document the cancellation. Take a photograph of the departure board and save all notifications, emails and written notices from the airline.
4. Ask for the specific reason for the cancellation. The cause determines whether you may be entitled to financial compensation in addition to reimbursement or rerouting.
5. Keep every receipt. Keep itemised receipts for reasonable meals, refreshments, accommodation and transport required because of the disruption.
6. Review the rest of your itinerary. Check whether the cancellation affects connecting flights, hotel reservations, transfers, meetings or vessel-joining arrangements.

If you are travelling on a managed corporate itinerary, contact your travel management company as soon as possible. Its team may be able to review alternative flights and the wider impact on your journey while you communicate with the airline.

Who Is Protected by EU261?

EU261 generally applies when:

• Your flight departs from an EU airport, regardless of the airline’s nationality.
• Your flight arrives in the EU from a non-EU country and is operated by an EU airline.
• Your flight operates entirely within the EU.

The rules also apply in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland under related arrangements.

Flights arriving in the EU from outside the EU on a non-EU airline are generally not covered by EU261. However, other national passenger-rights rules may apply.

What Are Your Rights When a Flight Is Cancelled?

If EU261 applies and your flight is cancelled, the airline must offer you a choice between:

• Reimbursement of your ticket and, when relevant, a return flight to your original departure airport at the earliest opportunity.
• Rerouting to your final destination at the earliest opportunity under comparable transport conditions.
• Rerouting to your final destination at a later date of your choosing, subject to seat availability and comparable transport conditions.

Once you select one of these options, you generally lose the right to choose one of the other alternatives.

If you choose rerouting at the earliest opportunity, the airline must also provide appropriate assistance while you wait.

What Assistance Must the Airline Provide?

Depending on the length of the disruption, the airline must provide reasonable care and assistance, including:

• Meals and refreshments proportionate to the waiting time.
• Two telephone calls, emails or other suitable means of communication.
• Hotel accommodation when an overnight stay becomes necessary.
• Transport between the airport and the accommodation.

If the airline does not provide the required assistance, you may purchase necessary and reasonable services yourself and request reimbursement afterward.

Avoid unnecessary or excessive expenses, and keep itemised receipts for everything you purchase.

Can You Book Your Own Alternative Flight?

The airline is responsible for offering rerouting to your destination at the earliest opportunity under comparable transport conditions.

If the airline fails to offer suitable rerouting, you may be able to arrange reasonable alternative transport and request reimbursement. However, there is no general rule allowing every passenger to book any replacement flight automatically after three hours.

Before making your own booking:

• Ask the airline to provide rerouting.
• Document the options offered or the airline’s failure to assist.
• Confirm that the alternative is reasonable and comparable.
• Keep evidence of the available fares and every receipt.
• Contact your travel management company, if applicable.

Independent rebooking can involve financial risk if the airline later argues that it had offered a reasonable alternative or that the replacement cost was excessive.

How Much Compensation Could You Receive?

Financial compensation is separate from your right to reimbursement, rerouting and assistance.

Depending on the flight distance, compensation may be:

• €250 for flights of 1,500 kilometres or less.
• €400 for flights within the EU of more than 1,500 kilometres and for other covered flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres.
• €600 for other covered flights of more than 3,500 kilometres.

If the airline reroutes you and you arrive within specified time limits after your original arrival time, the compensation may be reduced by 50%.

When Are You Entitled to Compensation?

You may be entitled to compensation when:

• Your flight falls within the scope of EU261.
• The airline informed you of the cancellation less than 14 days before departure.
• The airline did not offer suitable rerouting within the relevant EU261 time limits.
• The cancellation was not caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if the airline had taken all reasonable measures.

Being informed less than 14 days before departure does not automatically guarantee compensation. The timing of the notice and the alternative journey offered by the airline must also be considered.

When Is Compensation Not Payable?

Compensation may not be payable if:

• You were informed of the cancellation at least 14 days before departure.
• You were informed between 7 and 14 days before departure and were offered rerouting that departed no more than 2 hours before the original departure time and arrived less than 4 hours after the original arrival time.
• You were informed fewer than 7 days before departure and were offered rerouting that departed no more than 1 hour before the original departure time and arrived less than 2 hours after the original arrival time.
• The airline proves that extraordinary circumstances directly caused the cancellation and that it took all reasonable measures to avoid it.

Your rights to reimbursement, rerouting and appropriate assistance can still apply even when financial compensation is not payable.

What Counts as an Extraordinary Circumstance?

Extraordinary circumstances are events outside the airline’s effective control that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

Examples may include:

• Severe weather conditions.
• Air traffic management restrictions.
• Security risks.
• Political instability.
• Certain external strikes.
• Airport or airspace closures.

Not every technical fault or operational problem is automatically an extraordinary circumstance. Similarly, strikes must be assessed individually; a strike involving the airline’s own staff is not automatically considered extraordinary.

If the airline rejects your claim on this basis, ask it to explain:

• What specifically caused the cancellation?
• When did the event occur?
• How did it directly affect your flight?
• What reasonable measures did the airline take to avoid the cancellation?

A vague reference to “operational reasons” does not, by itself, establish extraordinary circumstances. The airline carries the burden of proving that the exemption applies.

What Changed in EU Air Passenger Rights in 2026?

In July 2026, the Council of the European Union gave final approval to updated EU air passenger-rights legislation following an agreement with the European Parliament.

However, the new rules do not apply immediately. They are expected to enter into force 12 months and 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Until then, travellers should rely on the EU261 rules currently in force.

The updated framework:

• Maintains the three-hour delay threshold for compensation.
• Maintains compensation levels of €250, €400 and €600.
• Introduces clearer passenger information and claims procedures.
• Strengthens rerouting and assistance requirements.
• Requires greater fare transparency regarding hand-baggage allowances.
• Prevents airlines from cancelling a return flight solely because the passenger did not take the outbound flight.
• Requires clearer explanations when extraordinary circumstances are used to reject a claim.

Travellers should check the implementation date before relying on any of the newly adopted provisions.

What Should Business Travellers Do Differently?

For a leisure traveller, a cancelled flight is a major inconvenience. For a business traveller, it can also mean a missed meeting, a delayed vessel boarding or a disrupted multi-leg itinerary in which one cancelled flight affects every service that follows.

Business travellers should take several additional steps:

Request commercially relevant alternatives

Do not focus only on the next flight offered automatically. If the purpose of the journey cannot be moved, ask about earlier alternatives, including appropriate services operated by partner airlines.

Review the entire itinerary

Check connecting flights, transfers, hotels, rail services, meetings and return arrangements. Fixing the cancelled sector alone may not solve the wider disruption.

Notify the relevant contacts

Inform the person expecting you, your company’s travel coordinator or the vessel operator as early as possible. A short warning allows alternative arrangements to begin.

Keep all documentation

Retain receipts, cancellation notices, boarding passes, booking confirmations and written communications with the airline.

Contact your travel management company early

Your travel management company should be one of your first points of contact, particularly when the cancellation affects a complex corporate or marine itinerary.

How Does Antaeus Travel Group Help During Flight Cancellations?

Antaeus Travel Group is a corporate, marine and leisure travel management company operating since 1989.

Once a cancellation is identified or reported, our team can begin reviewing:

• Alternative flights and rerouting options.
• Connecting flights and onward travel.
• Meetings, transfers and accommodation affected by the disruption.
• Crew changes and vessel-joining requirements.
• Airline communication and ticket servicing.
• Duty-of-care requirements.

Through Synopsis, our proprietary crew and corporate travel management platform, itinerary information and disruptions can be monitored centrally, helping travel managers maintain visibility over affected travellers and the actions being taken.

With offices in Athens, Basel, Limassol, Manila and Miami, Antaeus Travel Group supports travellers and corporate clients across multiple international time zones.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do first if my flight is cancelled?

Check the airline app for immediate rebooking options while contacting the airline or your travel management company. Save the cancellation notice, ask for the specific reason and keep all related receipts.

Is the airline required to refund a cancelled flight?

Yes. If EU261 applies, the airline must offer you a choice between reimbursement and rerouting. You do not have to accept a voucher instead of a monetary refund unless you voluntarily agree to it.

Am I entitled to compensation if my flight is cancelled?

You may be entitled to compensation of €250, €400 or €600 if you were informed less than 14 days before departure, the airline did not provide qualifying rerouting and the cancellation was not caused by extraordinary circumstances.

Can I receive compensation and a ticket refund?

Potentially, yes. Financial compensation is separate from the choice between reimbursement and rerouting. Eligibility depends on when you were informed, the reason for the cancellation and any alternative journey offered.

What expenses can I claim?

You may request reimbursement for necessary, reasonable and appropriate expenses such as meals, refreshments, accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel when the airline fails to provide the required assistance. Keep itemised receipts.

Can I book another flight myself?

You may be able to do so if the airline fails to offer suitable rerouting at the earliest opportunity. Request assistance first, document the airline’s response and ensure that the replacement option and cost are reasonable.

What counts as an extraordinary circumstance?

Severe weather, security risks, air traffic management restrictions and certain external strikes may qualify. The airline must demonstrate that the event directly caused the cancellation and could not have been avoided despite all reasonable measures.

Are the EU261 rules changing?

Updated legislation received final approval in July 2026, but the new provisions will not apply immediately. The current rules remain applicable until the updated framework enters into force.

How can a travel management company help?

A travel management company can communicate with the airline, identify alternative routes, review the effect on the rest of the itinerary and coordinate the wider response to the disruption.

Final Checklist

If your flight is cancelled:

• Check the airline app.
• Contact the airline or your travel management company.
• Ask for reimbursement or rerouting.
• Request the specific reason for the cancellation.
• Save all notifications and booking documents.
• Photograph the departure board when possible.
• Keep every receipt.
• Review the rest of your itinerary.
• Submit any eligible reimbursement or compensation claim in writing.

Antaeus Travel Group provides corporate, marine and leisure travel management through five international offices. We monitor developments in aviation and passenger-rights regulation to help our clients manage travel disruption with greater visibility, speed and control.

This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Passenger rights depend on the itinerary, operating carrier, reason for the disruption and individual circumstances.

Official Sources

• European Union
• Council of the European Union
• European Parliament