If your flight to or from the Canary Islands is badly delayed or cancelled, UK and EU air-passenger rules (UK261 and EU261) can entitle you to free food, phone calls and even a hotel — and, for the longest delays and last-minute cancellations, a fixed cash payout of up to around €600 per passenger. The catch is the "extraordinary circumstances" get-out, which lets airlines off the compensation (though not the care) when the disruption was genuinely outside their control, such as bad weather or air-traffic strikes.
Do these rules even apply to my Canaries flight?
Almost certainly, yes. The protections cover:
- Any flight departing the Canaries (or anywhere in the EU/UK), on any airline.
- Any flight arriving in the UK or EU on a UK or EU airline — which covers the great majority of package and low-cost carriers flying Britons and Irish travellers to the islands.
After Brexit the UK kept the EU rules almost word for word as "UK261", so whether you flew from a UK airport or from Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote or Fuerteventura, the same two-tier system of care and compensation applies. For the wider journey picture, see our guide to getting to the Canary Islands and the Canary Islands airports guide.
Duty of care: food, calls and a bed
This is the part people forget to claim. Once a delay passes a couple of hours (the threshold depends on how far you're flying), the airline must look after you regardless of whose fault the delay is. That "duty of care" typically means:
- Food and drink appropriate to the wait — usually vouchers handed out at the gate.
- A means of communication, in practice a couple of phone calls or the modern equivalent.
- Hotel accommodation and transfers if you're kept overnight.
If the airline doesn't hand out vouchers during a long delay, buy your own reasonable meals and keep every receipt — you can claim the cost back. "Reasonable" means a sandwich and a coffee, not a bottle of champagne and a three-course dinner.
Compensation for long delays
Duty of care is separate from cash compensation. Compensation is only due when the delay is long and the airline was at fault. As a rule of thumb, you may be owed a fixed sum if you arrive at your destination three or more hours late. The amounts are set bands based on distance, and the typical figures are:
| Flight distance | Typical delay for payout | EU261 (euros) | UK261 (sterling) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km (short-haul) | 3 hours+ | €250 | £220 |
| 1,500–3,500 km (medium-haul) | 3 hours+ | €400 | £350 |
| Over 3,500 km (long-haul) | 3–4 hrs / 4 hrs+ | €300 / €600 | £260 / £520 |
UK–Canaries flights are a long journey but fall within the medium-haul band (roughly 2,700–3,100 km), so the €400 figure (or £350 on a UK261 claim) is the one most British and Irish passengers will be looking at. UK261 claims are paid in pounds at set amounts — £220, £350 and £520 by the same distance bands, with a reduced £260 for 3–4 hour delays on the longest flights — while EU261 claims are paid in euros. These are the standard bands rather than a promise for your specific flight.
Cancellations and being re-routed
If your flight is cancelled, you're entitled to your money back or a re-routing to your destination, plus the same duty of care while you wait. On top of that, fixed compensation on the bands above can apply if the airline told you less than 14 days before departure — unless they got you there close to your original times, or the cause was extraordinary.
The "extraordinary circumstances" get-out
This is the phrase that decides most claims. If the disruption was genuinely beyond the airline's control, the cash compensation doesn't apply (though the duty of care still does). Common examples include:
- Bad weather — including the occasional Saharan dust haze; see our page on the calima, which can very occasionally affect visibility.
- Air-traffic control strikes and restrictions.
- Security alerts and political instability.
A technical fault with the aircraft, crew rostering problems or overbooking are generally not extraordinary, so those usually do attract compensation. Airlines lean on this defence heavily, so don't take a first refusal as the final word.
How to claim, step by step
- Claim from the airline first. Use its online form, quote your booking reference and flight number, state the length of the delay and ask specifically for compensation under UK261/EU261.
- Keep everything — boarding passes, receipts, and any texts or emails the airline sent about the disruption.
- If they refuse or ignore you, escalate. In the UK the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) runs an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) route; most airlines belong to an approved ADR scheme, and the CAA can advise where they don't. For flights within the EU, you go to the national enforcement body in the country of departure.
- You don't need a claims company. They'll take a cut of anything you win for filling in forms you can complete yourself for free.
You generally have a long window to claim — often years rather than weeks — so a delayed submission is far better than none. Dig out those old boarding passes.
Give yourself less to claim about
The best delay is the one that never derails your holiday. Building a sensible buffer into your airport transfer, knowing your terminal and travelling with proper insurance all soften the blow when things slip. Our airports guide covers the practicalities at each island's airport, and it's worth reading alongside our travel insurance guide, since a good policy can pick up costs that the airline rules don't.
The bottom line
On UK and EU carriers flying to and from the Canaries, you're protected twice over: the airline must feed and house you during long delays whatever the cause, and on top of that owes fixed compensation — €250 to €600 under EU261, or £220 to £520 under UK261, by distance — for delays of three hours or more and for cancellations sprung on you within 14 days, unless the cause was truly extraordinary. Claim from the airline first, keep your receipts, and take it to the CAA's ADR route if they stall. It's your money, and it's straightforward to claim yourself.