Missed connecting flight – your right to compensation and assistance
Missat anslutningsflyg – din rätt till ersättning och hjälp - Engelska
When you miss your connecting flight, you may be entitled to compensation and help from the airline. Find out how much compensation you may claim and what you can do if the airline refuses your claims.
Translated page: This text has been translated from Swedish. The text and appearance of the page may look different from the original page.
Missed connection – what you need to know
What you are entitled to depends on whether you traveled with a single booking or with separate tickets.
If you traveled with a single booking and missed the flight due to the airline, you may be entitled to rebooking, food and accommodation. You may also be entitled to financial compensation.
Find out your rights and send a claim to the airline
What you are entitled to depends on the type of ticket you have. Choose below whether you travelled with a single booking or with separate tickets.
Have you travelled with a single booking or with separate tickets?
A single booking means that you have one ticket for the entire journey, even if it includes stopovers. You usually only need to check in once.
It is usually clear when booking whether the ticket is a single booking or consists of several separate tickets.
- If you only have one booking reference, it is most likely a single booking.
- If you have several different booking references, they are most likely separate tickets.
The information below applies if the airline caused you to miss your connecting flight and you have a single booking.
Right to rebooking
The airline that caused the delay must offer you alternative transport. This means you can require the airline to rebook you on a new flight so that you reach your destination as soon as possible.
Right to meals and accommodation
The airline must arrange meals, refreshments and accommodation for you if needed.
Right to financial compensation
You may be entitled to compensation and damages.
- Compensation is meant to cover the time you have lost.
- Damages are meant to cover extra costs you have had due to the missed connecting flight.
Compensation
You may be entitled to compensation if you arrive at your final destination at least three hours late. The flight must also be covered by EU rules.
EU rules apply when you:
- fly from an airport within the EU
- fly from an airport outside the EU to an airport within the EU with an airline registered in the EU.
The rules apply in all EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands (but not the Faroe Islands).
The amount you are entitled to depends on the length of the flight:
- Flights of 1,500 km or less: EUR 250
- Flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km: EUR 400
- Flights of more than 3,500 km within the EU: EUR 400
- Flights of more than 3,500 km that are not entirely within the EU: EUR 600
The distance is calculated from your departure point to your final destination. You can use our flight calculator to estimate how much compensation you are entitled to.
In some cases, the compensation may be reduced by half.
If you are rebooked, the amount may be reduced if your new arrival time does not exceed the original arrival time by more than:
- two hours for flights of 1,500 km or less
- three hours for all flights within the EU of more than 1,500 km and for all other flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km
- four hours for all other flights covered by EU rules
Damages
You may also be entitled to damages for additional costs you have incurred. This applies regardless of whether your flight is covered by EU rules.
For example, this may include:
- meals and refreshments at the airport (if the airline did not provide them)
- a missed hotel night
- lost income.
It is important to keep your costs to a minimum. Otherwise, you may only be reimbursed for part of your costs.
You must be able to prove your costs. Therefore, keep all receipts as evidence. If you want compensation for lost income, you need a certificate from your employer.
You cannot receive financial compensation for pain and suffering.
When you travel on separate tickets, you must make sure that you have enough time between flights and that you are able to check in for your next flight. You cannot claim anything from the airline if you have not allowed sufficient time between connections.
The following information applies if the airline has caused you to miss your connecting flight and you travelled on separate tickets.
Financial compensation
You can claim compensation from the airline for costs you incurred because you missed the flight.
Examples of costs you may be compensated for include:
- food
- accommodation
- a new flight ticket you had to buy to reach your final destination
Keep all receipts. You need to be able to prove the costs you incurred.
It is not certain that you will always have a right to compensation for your additional costs. However, the Swedish National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN) has previously assessed that you should be able to claim this. Different rules may also apply in different countries.
You may also have the right to a standardised compensation amount if your flight is delayed by at least three hours and the journey is covered by EU rules.
EU rules apply when you:
- fly from an airport within the EU
- fly from an airport outside the EU to an airport within the EU with an airline that is registered in the EU.
EU rules apply to all EU Member States as well as Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands (but not the Faroe Islands).
Exceptions when you are not entitled to compensation
In the following cases, you cannot claim any compensation from the airline:
- If the airline can show that it did everything it could to ensure that you would not miss your connecting flight (see more below under “What applies if the airline refers to extraordinary circumstances or force majeure?”).
- If you have not followed the rules on minimum connection time at the airport.
If a travel agency booked the tickets
If a travel agency booked the tickets for you, you may be able to make a claim against the travel agency if they made the booking incorrectly and this caused you to miss your connecting flight.
Contact the travel agent in writing, for example by sending an email.
You can often submit your complaint to the airline through the airline’s website. If this is not possible, you can instead send an email or a letter. Explain clearly what happened and what you are claiming.
The airline’s contact details are usually available on its website, for example in the terms and conditions.
Do you want to claim compensation for costs you have incurred? Then you must include documents that show which costs you had. This can for example be receipts. You cannot claim compensation for a cost that you cannot prove.
Wait for a response from the airline
When you have submitted your complaint to the airline, you need to wait for a response from the airline. It is common that it takes a few weeks to receive a reply. If you have waited for more than 6 weeks without receiving a response, you can move forward with your case.
If the airline rejects your claim
It happens that airlines refer to extraordinary circumstances and therefore do not pay compensation. Extraordinary circumstances are also called force majeure. These are events that are outside the airline’s control and that the airline could not have avoided even if it had taken all reasonable measures.
Examples of extraordinary circumstances can be:
- political instability
- weather conditions that make it impossible to fly
- security risks
- unforeseen deficiencies in flight safety
- strikes that impact the airline’s ability to operate the flight.
Strikes among the airline's own staff are usually not considered extraordinary circumstances. Neither are technical faults on the aircraft.
Who decides whether there are extraordinary circumstances??
There are no situations that are always considered extraordinary circumstances. Each case is assessed individually. The airline assesses the event first and decides whether it will pay compensation or not.
The airline must be able to prove that it has done everything it could to avoid the delay or cancellation.
Read more under “How to have your case reviewed” if you do not agree with the airline’s assessment.
Choose the option that best fits your situation. Are you unsure? Choose “Travelled with a Swedish airline”.
Do you need help understanding what you are entitled to? You may be unsure whether your claim is reasonable or want to discuss how you can proceed. Here you will find suggestions on where to turn.
Guidance from the Swedish Consumer Agency
The Swedish Consumer Agency provides free guidance. We give you information about your rights and the options you have to move forward. We cannot assess your individual case, resolve disputes or contact companies on your behalf.
Consumer advice from your municipality
Many municipalities offer consumer advice. You can contact them for free information and support. The type of help provided varies between municipalities.
If you are resident in Sweden and the airline is registered in another EU country, Norway, Iceland or the United Kingdom, you may receive free advice from ECC Sweden. ECC Sweden is part of a network of consumer offices within the EU. In some cases, ECC Sweden can share your case with an office in another country to try to reach a solution through mediation.
How to contact ECC Sweden
To receive help with your case, you must first have submitted a claim to the airline.
You then need to send a description of the problem and documentation that shows what happened to ECC Sweden. Documentation is needed if your case is to be shared with an office in another country. Remember to keep your originals and only send copies to us.
Send your case by email to: konsumenteuropa@konsumentverket.se
Your message should include:
- your contact details and the name of the airline
- tickets or boarding passes
- a copy of your complaint and the claims you have made
- receipts
- the airline’s response.
Once you have submitted your case, you usually receive a response within a couple of weeks.
The European Consumer Centre Sweden cannot:
- Force a company to act according to the law. The work is based on the company being willing to cooperate with the ECC network to reach a solution.
- Mediate in a case if we cannot identify the trader or if the trader refuses to cooperate with the ECC network.
- Act as a legal representative or assist when the consumer has already initiated legal proceedings.
- Assist in purchases between traders or purchases between private individuals.
Do you have questions?
ECC Sweden is part of the Swedish Consumer Agency. If you need help understanding what you are entitled to or want to discuss if and how you can proceed with your case, you can contact our advisers.
Do you need help understanding what you are entitled to? You may be unsure whether your claim is reasonable or want to discuss how you can proceed. Here you will find suggestions on where to turn.
Guidance from the Swedish Consumer Agency
The Swedish Consumer Agency provides free guidance. We give you information about your rights and the options you have to move forward. We cannot assess your individual case, resolve disputes or contact companies on your behalf.
Consumer advice from your municipality
Many municipalities offer consumer advice. You can contact them for free information and support. The type of help provided varies between municipalities.
There are several different authorities that can assess your case if the airline rejects your claims. Which one depends, among other things, on the type of compensation you are claiming and the country you travelled from.
In Sweden, the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN) can review whether you are entitled to financial compensation if the airline has rejected your claim.
It costs SEK 150 to submit a case to ARN.
If the airline has rejected your claim and you travelled from a country other than Sweden, where you should send your case depends on the type of financial compensation you are claiming.
There are two types of financial compensation you may be entitled to – compensation and damages.
Compensation
Compensation is provided in the form of a sum from EUR 250 to EUR 600. The compensation aims to reimburse you for time lost due to, for example, a delayed or cancelled flight, or because you were denied boarding.
Damages
Damages are compensation for expenses incurred due to, for example, a delayed or cancelled flight, or because you were denied boarding. This may include needing to buy food at the airport, missing a hotel night or losing income.
Where to turn if you demand damages
If you demand damages, you can turn to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN). This applies if you demand damages only or if you demand both damages and compensation.
Submit a complaint on ARN's website
Where to turn to if you only demand compensation
If you only claiming compensation and/or a refund, you should contact an authority in the country you flew from or were supposed to fly from.
Below you will find a list of authorities within the EU where you can send your case. The different authorities operate in different ways and not all of them handle individual cases.
List of authorities within the EU on the European Commission website
Are you unsure which authority to turn to?
If you are unsure where to send your case, you can always contact us. We can also assist you with information about what you can do to have your case assessed or if the authority in the country you need to contact does not handle individual cases.
Proofread: 25 May 2026
The content is presented in collaboration with ECC Sweden, which is part of the ECC network and the Swedish Consumer Agency's information service. ECC Sweden is part-financed by the European Union.
The content of this website represents the views of the author only and it is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency (EISMEA) or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
