# UK261 — What Changed After Brexit

The UK kept EU261 almost word for word, just in pounds — but which flights it covers had to be redrawn from scratch once the UK stopped being a member state.

UK261 is EU261 preserved in UK domestic law after Brexit, with compensation converted to £220/£350/£520. The substance is nearly identical; what changed is scope — "departing a Member State" became "departing the UK," which quietly split some routes that used to be covered by one regulation into being covered by two, or by neither.

Work out your own number with the free [Flight delay compensation calculator](https://rulecost.com/travel/flight-delay-compensation-calculator/).

When the UK left the EU, EU261 didn't simply stop applying to British flights — it was carried over
into UK law wholesale under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018's "retained EU law" mechanism.
The result, informally called UK261, is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rather than
an EU body, but it reads almost identically to the regulation it came from.

## What's the same

Everything about how a claim is assessed:

- The same three triggers: cancellation, denied boarding, and (via the same Sturgeon-derived case
  law) a delay of 3+ hours.
- The same distance bands, just in pounds: £220, £350, £520 instead of €250, €400, €600.
- The same extraordinary-circumstances defence, with the same case law behind it — a UK court asking
  whether a technical fault excuses an airline reasons through Wallentin-Hermann exactly as an EU
  court would, since UK261 retained the underlying legal test, not just the numbers.
- The same 50% reduction mechanic for a short delay on a long-haul flight.

## What changed: who's covered

EU261 applies to a flight departing any EU/EEA/Swiss airport, on any airline. Before Brexit, that
included the UK. After Brexit, the UK is a third country like any other for EU261's purposes — so
EU261 no longer covers a flight departing London, no matter who operates it.

UK261 fills that gap with its own mirror rule: a flight departing a UK airport is covered by UK261,
on any airline. But the two regulations are no longer the same regulation wearing two names — they
apply independently, based on where each flight actually departs from, which produces routes that
are covered by one, both, or (rarely) neither:

| Route | EU261? | UK261? |
|---|---|---|
| London → New York, any airline | No | Yes (UK departure) |
| Paris → New York, any airline | Yes (EU departure) | No |
| London → Paris, British Airways | No (UK departure, non-EU carrier) | Yes (UK departure) |
| London → Paris, Air France | Yes (EU carrier arriving in the EU) | Yes (UK departure) |
| New York → London, American Airlines | No | No — US carrier, neither departure counts |

That last row surprises people: a US airline flying you from New York to London isn't covered by
either regulation, because the flight didn't depart the UK or EU, and American Airlines isn't
licensed in either. The same trip on British Airways or Air France would be covered — the airline's
home country, not just the airports, decides it once departure is outside both zones.

## Why this still matters years after Brexit

The compensation amounts track each other closely enough (£220 ≈ €250 at typical exchange rates)
that most passengers never notice a practical difference. Where it actually matters is exactly the
edge cases in the table above — a UK-departing flight on a foreign airline, or a US-departing flight
into Europe — where knowing which regulation (if either) applies changes the answer from "you're
covered" to "you're not," not just which currency the payout arrives in.

Run your own route through the [flight delay compensation calculator](/travel/flight-delay-compensation-calculator/)
to see which of the two — or both — apply to it.