Delayed or cancelled flight from Luton: what you are owed

Three in four Luton departures run to time: in 2025, 75.0% left within 15 minutes of schedule, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, and only 131 were cancelled, 0.25% of those planned and the joint-lowest cancellation rate of the London airports. Long delays are the bigger risk: 259 departures (0.50%) left more than three hours late, the highest share of the five London airports.

Causes that usually pay compensation: a technical fault with the aircraft, crew shortages, a strike by the airline's own staff, and knock-on delays from the airline's own earlier problems. Causes that usually do not: weather that makes flying unsafe, air traffic control restrictions and strikes (including strikes elsewhere in Europe that hold your flight on the ground), security alerts, bird strikes and failures at the airport.

The burden is on the airline: it must prove the extraordinary circumstance and that it could not have avoided the delay with all reasonable measures. Ask for the reason in writing, or screenshot what the app says, before you leave the airport.

Care comes from the airline that operates your flight, not from the airport, so ask at its desk or in its app. Luton has one terminal, and Sainsbury's Local is open 24 hours on both sides of security, useful if you end up buying your own food and drink late at night (keep the receipt).

If the flight is cancelled, you choose between a refund within seven days and a new flight at the earliest opportunity, and the airline should look at other airlines too if they would get you there sooner. You keep the right to compensation as well, unless you were told at least 14 days ahead or offered a close alternative.

Stuck overnight, the airport lists five hotels close by: Hampton by Hilton, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Ibis and Courtyard by Marriott. None is joined to the terminal. Ask the airline to book you in; if it will not, a reasonably priced room and the transport to it can be claimed back with receipts. If you would rather go home, the DART, Thameslink and the coaches run through the night.

Claim yourself, free. Use the airline's own claim form with your booking reference and flight number, and ask to be paid in money: you do not have to accept vouchers. If the airline says no, or has not replied after 8 weeks, take it to the airline's CAA-approved dispute scheme, which is also free: easyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair and TUI Airways all use AviationADR; other airlines name their scheme on their website. Apply within 12 months of the airline's final answer. If your airline belongs to no scheme, the CAA's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team can take up the complaint. A court claim in England and Wales can be brought up to six years after the flight (five years if you live in Scotland).

If you would rather not chase it, AirHelp runs the claim on a no win, no fee basis: it keeps 35% of the compensation, including VAT, if it wins, plus 15% if court action is needed, and charges nothing if it does not win.

Whichever you choose, keep your boarding pass or booking confirmation, your booking reference, receipts for anything you bought while waiting, and the reason for the delay the airline gave you.