Delayed or cancelled at Nice Côte d'Azur: what you are owed

The cause to know about in France is the air traffic control strike. When controllers strike, the civil aviation authority (DGAC) asks airlines to cut their schedules at the airports affected, and since a law of 28 December 2023 controllers must declare by noon two days before each strike day whether they will strike, so the cuts can match the number of strikers and cancellations are often announced a day or two ahead. A strike by air traffic controllers is outside the airline's control and normally counts as an extraordinary circumstance, so compensation is not usually due. Meals, a hotel if you are stuck overnight, and a refund or the earliest available new flight, on another airline if that gets you there sooner, are still owed. EUROCONTROL counted more than a million passengers affected by the French controllers' strike of 3 and 4 July 2025, with arrival punctuality at French airports falling from 73% to 50%.

Other causes do pay. A strike by the airline's own pilots or cabin crew is not extraordinary, nor, generally, is a technical fault. Bad weather and air traffic management restrictions can excuse the airline, but only if it shows the event caused your delay and that it took all reasonable measures. Ask for the reason for the delay in writing.

Go to your airline's desk in your terminal for meal vouchers and, if you are stuck overnight, a hotel. Terminal 1 has British Airways, Jet2.com, Ryanair and the US airlines; Terminal 2 has easyJet and the Air France group, and some of its gates have moved since its extension opened, so watch the screens. If you are booked into a hotel the airline also owes you the transfer; the airport lists free shuttles to several hotels nearby, among them the Radisson Nice Aéroport and the Novotel Aéroport Cap 3000.

Staying in Monaco? Check your flight before you set off for the airport: if it is cancelled, you can choose a refund instead of a new flight, and compensation is due unless you were told at least 14 days ahead or the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.

Claiming yourself is free. Write to the airline that operated the flight with your booking reference, flight number, date and what happened, and ask for the compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004. If it refuses or does not reply within two months, you can turn to the Médiateur Tourisme et Voyage (MTV), the French mediation service; since 7 February 2026 mediation has been compulsory before taking an air passenger compensation claim to a French court. You can also complain to the DGAC, the national enforcement body, which can sanction airlines but does not recover money for individual passengers. In France you have five years to bring a claim; if you bring it in another country's courts, that country's limit applies.

Or let AirHelp do it on a no win, no fee basis: if they win, they keep 35% of the compensation including VAT, plus 15% if court action is needed; if they do not win, you pay nothing. Either way, keep your boarding pass, booking confirmation, receipts for anything you bought while waiting, and the reason for the delay the airline gave you.

New EU rules (Regulation (EU) 2026/2202) apply from 23 October 2027; until then, today's rules apply, including to every flight described on this page.