Delayed or cancelled at Paris Orly: what you are owed

In France the cause to know about is the air traffic control strike: when controllers strike, the civil aviation authority (DGAC) asks airlines to cut their schedules at the affected airports. Since a law of 28 December 2023, controllers must declare by noon two days before each strike day whether they will strike, so the DGAC can match the cuts to 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.

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.

Orly 1, 2 and 3 are one joined-up building and Orly 4 is the southern terminal, so check your terminal on the booking and ask your airline's desk there for meal vouchers and, if you are stuck overnight, a hotel. Transavia flies mainly from Orly 3 and easyJet from Orly 1. The Novotel and Ibis Paris Cœur d'Orly Airport hotels are within walking distance of the terminals; if the airline books your hotel, it also owes you the transfer.

Compensation must be paid in money (cash, bank transfer or cheque); you do not have to accept a voucher instead.

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.