Flight distance: the number your compensation depends on

A few kilometres can decide between £220 and £350. The distance used is the great circle between airports, not the route the aircraft flew.

Great-circle distance

1,496 km

EU261 from 3 h€250 · up to 1,500 km
UK261 from 3 h£220 · up to 1,500 km

Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · law as of October 22, 2026 · 4,008 airports (OurAirports)

Under Article 7 of EU261 and UK261 the amount of compensation depends only on distance, and Article 7(4) says how it is measured: by the great-circle route method, the shortest line between the departure and arrival airports over the Earth’s surface. Holding patterns, detours around closed airspace and the airways actually flown do not count. The calculator above uses the coordinates of 4,008 airports from a public-domain database and a sphere of 6,371 km radius. Up to 1,500 km the compensation is €250 or £220, up to 3,500 km €400 or £350, beyond that €600 or £520. Two special rules: within the EU every flight over 1,500 km stays at €400, even Frankfurt to Réunion; and on a connection booked as one journey, the distance runs from the first departure airport to the final destination, not the sum of the legs. UK261 uses the same method with £220, £350 and £520. Close to a boundary, check the figure the airline gives you.

Great circle: the shortest line on a globe

On a flat map, London to New York looks like an arc curving north. On a globe that arc is the shortest route, the great circle. The calculator above works it out from the latitude and longitude of both airports with the haversine formula on a sphere of 6,371 km. The coordinates come from the public-domain OurAirports data, 4,008 airports. The route actually flown is longer, but for EU261 and UK261 that does not matter: Article 7(4) points to the great-circle method.

UK routes and their bands

Compensation under UK261 for a four-hour delay, by great-circle distance
RouteGreat-circle distanceUK261 at 4 h late
London Heathrow to Palma1,348 km£220
Edinburgh to Málaga2,145 km£350
Manchester to Tenerife3,048 km£350
London Gatwick to Gran Canaria2,879 km£350
London Heathrow to Dubai5,498 km£520
London Heathrow to New York5,540 km£520

Type the kilometres, see the band

EU261 today (up to 1,500 km)

€250

UK261£220
Long haul, 3 to 4 h late–

Borderline cases from Germany

The calculator default is Munich to Madrid, 1,496 km, just inside the first band, while Munich to Athens, 1,518 km, just crosses into the second. Marsa Alam in Egypt is 3,518 km from Frankfurt, enough for the top band, but only 3,220 km from Munich. These are the cases where a sloppy distance figure costs you money.

Connections: the whole journey is measured

On a single booking the great circle runs from the first departure to the final destination. Manchester via a Gulf hub to Bangkok counts as 9,631 km, not the sum of the legs. See missed connecting flight.

The intra-EU cap

Article 7(1)(b) of EU261 gives €400 for every intra-Community flight over 1,500 km; the third band applies only when one end is outside the EU. Frankfurt to Réunion, 9,136 km, is further than London to New York but still pays €400. The calculator treats the Canaries, Madeira, the Azores and the French overseas regions as EU, and Iceland, Norway and Switzerland as within the regulation’s scope.

Common questions

The airline quotes a different distance. Who is right?

Small differences come from the shape of the Earth: we use a sphere, some systems an ellipsoid, and airport coordinates can differ by a few hundred metres. For most routes that does not change the band. If your route sits within a few kilometres of 1,500 or 3,500 km, ask the airline for its method and coordinates, and quote Article 7(4).

Is a return trip measured as one distance?

No. Outbound and return are separate flights, each with its own distance and its own claim. If only the return was late, only the return counts. If both were three hours late, you have two claims in their respective bands, even though you bought both flights in one booking.

Which UK routes sit close to a band boundary?

Short-haul routes from Scotland and the north of England to southern Spain and the Canaries cluster around 1,500 to 3,000 km, so the first boundary matters most. London to Palma is well inside the first band; Manchester to Tenerife is comfortably in the second. Enter your own airports in the calculator to see exactly where you fall.

Why does Gran Canaria only pay €400 from Germany but £350 from the UK?

Both are the middle band, for different reasons. From Germany the flight is intra-EU and over 1,500 km, so the EU text caps it at the middle band whatever the distance. From the UK the route is simply between 1,500 and 3,500 km. A UK flight over 3,500 km, for instance to the Gulf, reaches £520.

Does a diversion change the distance?

No. The booked destination counts. If fog sends the aircraft to another airport and the airline buses you on, the distance stays that of the booked route. Note the time you finally reached your booked destination, since the delay is worked out from it.

Keep going

Missed connection

Connections on one booking: delay counted at the final destination, distance from first departure to last arrival.

EU261 compensation

Which flights EU261 covers, which airline pays, and what Articles 4 to 10 give you.

Munich Airport

Flights between Munich and the UK: which rules cover each direction, amounts in euros and pounds, the Erding court.

Frankfurt Airport

Long-haul departures and connections through FRA: what you can claim and where.

Flight delayed 3 hours

When the three hours are reached, how arrival is timed, and what changes in 2027.

Official sources for this page

Prepared by

Independent publisher of air passenger rights calculators under EU261, UK261 and Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations

Data as of · Editorial policy · Contact

Law as of 2026, checked against the official texts on