Delays at Berlin Brandenburg Airport: what is owed from BER
From Berlin many flights are short and cheap. A €250 payment often exceeds the fare, which is exactly why it is worth claiming.
Your compensation · BER · Berlin → BCN · Barcelona
€400
per passenger, no deduction · owed
- EU Regulation 261/2004€400 · owed
Three hours or more late at the final destination: full compensation (CJEU, Sturgeon).
- Great-circle distance
- 1,502 km
- Distance band
- 1,500 to 3,500 km
- Time limit in Germany (BGB s. 195, 199)
- 31 December 2029
Write the claim letter to the airline
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · law as of October 22, 2026 · 4,008 airports (OurAirports)
Since Tegel closed in November 2020, all scheduled flights serving the German capital use Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schönefeld. Every departure from there is covered by EU Regulation 261/2004: if the flight reaches its final destination three hours or more late, or is cancelled less than 14 days ahead, each passenger is owed €250, €400 or €600 depending on distance, whatever the ticket cost. On a city break to London, Barcelona or Rome bought for €40, that is several times the fare. A typical Berlin case is the late evening flight that can no longer leave because of the night restriction between midnight and 5 a.m. and is moved to the next morning. The restriction itself does not excuse the airline: what matters is why the flight was running so late in the first place. Court claims about flights from or to BER go to the local court of Königs Wusterhausen, in whose district the airport lies.
Eight routes from Berlin
The table assumes an arrival delay of three hours and twenty minutes for a reason the airline is responsible for. For London the return flight under UK law is shown as well.
| Destination | Distance | From BER (EU261) | Back from London (UK261) |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Gatwick Airport (LGW) | 950 km | €250 | £220 |
| Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) | 1,502 km | €400 | – |
| Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) | 1,178 km | €250 | – |
| Copenhagen Kastrup Airport (CPH) | 366 km | €250 | – |
| Vienna International Airport (VIE) | 521 km | €250 | – |
| Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) | 2,303 km | €400 | – |
| Tenerife Sur Airport (TFS) | 3,669 km | €400 | – |
| Hamad International Airport (DOH) | 4,382 km | €300 | – |
The Canaries show the intra-EU rule: Tenerife is 3,669 km away, more than 3,500 km, yet stays at €400 because the flight never leaves the Union. Barcelona, at 1,502 km, sits just over the 1,500 km line and therefore pays €400 rather than €250. Doha, by contrast, reaches the top band, and for an arrival between three and four hours late the airline may reduce it to €300.
From Berlin: pick a destination
EU261 today
€250
| Distance | 950 km |
| UK261 | £220 |
Late in the evening: when the curfew bites
Between midnight and 5 a.m. there are, as a rule, no scheduled take-offs or landings at BER. A flight due to leave at 10 p.m. that is not ready by 11.30 p.m. because of a fault is often moved to the morning, and an hour and a half becomes ten or twelve. Compensation counts the arrival at destination, and the cause is the fault, not the operating hours. If instead a thunderstorm in the afternoon pushed the flight into the evening and then into the curfew, the airline is likely to escape payment if it shows it did everything reasonable afterwards. The causes that excuse an airline are covered in strikes and extraordinary circumstances.
Berlin: evening flight moved to the morning
EU261 today
€250
| EU261 from 23 Oct 2027 | €250 |
| UK261 | £220 |
If the airline does not pay
When the airline refuses or does not answer, arbitration under section 57 of the German Aviation Act is the next step, for most airlines through the söp. If an airline belongs to no private arbitration body, the Federal Aviation Office handles it. After that, a claim at the Königs Wusterhausen local court remains. The route is set out in arbitration and court.