Madrid MAD delay compensation

Rules on a departure

EU261

Destinations here

16

Longest route

LAX · 9,385 km

Which rules cover a flight at MAD

Leaving MAD. EU261 applies to every departure on this site's routes from here, whichever airline is operating. UK261 reaches some of them as well, depending on where the flight is going or who operates it.

Arriving at MAD. Coming the other way the rules do not line up with the airport, so this is by route: EU261 covers 8 of the 16, whatever the airline, and 8 more only on an EU airline; US DOT covers 7 of the 16, whatever the airline; UK261 covers 1 of the 16, whatever the airline, and 15 more only on a UK airline; nothing else reaches an arrival here.

The trap on an inbound flight is that EU261 and UK261 follow the airline when the flight is arriving from outside, while they follow the airport on the way out — so a return leg can be uncovered when the outbound one was covered, or covered for a reason that has nothing to do with MAD. A claim is judged on the flight you were actually on. Each route page below sets out both directions.

What that pays, by distance from MAD

Under the EU and UK rules the amount is set by the great-circle distance to the final destination, not by the fare. From MAD the routes here fall into 3 bands: 7 over 3,500 km, 2 within the EU, over 1,500 km, 7 up to 1,500 km. Compensation starts once you arrive 3 hours late at the final destination. On a flight over 3,500 km, the first hour band is reduced: €300 under EU261 and £260 under UK261 for 3 to 4 hours late, the full amount from 4 hours.

Amounts are per passenger for a delay the airline is responsible for, read off the rule's own table at this distance. Where two are shown, the first is for arriving 3 to 4 hours late and the second from 4 hours — the reduction the EU and UK rules apply over 3,500 km. This column is the flight out of MAD; the return can be covered by something else, and each route page sets out both directions.

If the airline says no

A flight out of MAD that the airline refuses to pay goes to Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA), Passenger Rights Division, the body the European Commission lists for Spain, because EU261 complaints follow the country of departure. The Spain page has its contacts and the routes it covers. Whichever body it is, it is the second step: write to the operating airline first, keep the reply, and claim for free — the fee comparison shows what a claim company would take out of the same payment.

Sources: coordinates from OurAirports country file (ES), checked 2026-10-20; amounts and thresholds from Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, its UK version, SOR/2019-150 and 14 CFR Part 260, checked 2026-10-20. General information, not legal advice.