Everybody hates flight delays, but the blow is definitely softened by the compensation guaranteed under EU law.
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Under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, passengers get €250 back for flights under 1,500 kilometres delayed for more than two hours, €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres delayed for more than three hours, and €600 for all other flights delayed for more than four hours.
In theory, it’s great, but actually getting an airline to pay out what you’re owed isn’t always the quickest, or easiest, process in the world.
While you can make the claim yourself, you can also go through companies such as AirAdvisor which specialise in flight and baggage compensation claims.
Between January and June 2026, AirAdvisor helped make 68,283 claims from 59 airlines. Now, they’ve used this data to create a ranking by looking at the claim resolution rate as well as the number that were sent to court after being rejected or ignored.
The best European airlines for compensation claims
Based on this, the most honest airline in Europe is TAP Air Portugal, with a claim resolution rate of 88.7%, and a court referral rate of just 0.6%. The average time you’ll have to wait for your pay out is just 10 days, too.
LOT Polish Airlines came out second, with no claims sent to court, and a successful claim rate of 82.8%.
Third place went to Wizz Air, with a resolution rate of 72.4% and a court referral rate of 1.2%.
The top five was rounded out by Iberia in fourth, with a resolution rate of 67.3%, and Brussels Airlines, which had no cases sent to court.
Air France came sixth, followed by Aegean Airlines in seventh, KLM in eighth, ITA Airways in ninth, and SAS in 10th.
The worst European airlines for compensation claims
On the other end of the scale, the most difficult company to get a compensation claim sorted with is TAROM, Romania’s flag carrier, according to the AirAdvisor data.
Of 122 claims, just 3.3% have been successful to date, with 46.7% sent to court. The average time you’ll have to wait for payment is a whopping 110 days, too.
Next up is Aeroitalia, with a claim resolution rate of 0.6%. Some 28.2% of claims have been sent to court.
Third place went to Europe’s biggest airline, Ryanair. Of 991 qualified claims, just 2.1% have been successfully resolved, with 17.8% sent to court.
It should be noted that the data used comes from claims made through AirAdvisor, and so the wider claim resolution rates and number of cases sent to court will differ. Only airlines with more than 100 claims submitted were included in the ranking, amounting to 22 carriers. You can see all the data on the AirAdvisor website.
