Traveling to Europe with Air Canada: delay compensation?

You may be surprised but Air Canada was formed by the Canadian government as a subsidiary of the National Railway. The Canadian Transportation Agency was looking for ways to connect the two coasts of the country and thus, Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) was born in 1936.

The company adopted the name Air Canada in 1965 and became a founding member of Star Alliance in 1997. The first transatlantic flights operated by the Canadian airline began in 1938. Since then, Air Canada has expanded its network to nearly 200 destinations across 6 continents.

Despite being one of the largest carriers in North America, Air Canada does not have a good reputation when it comes to punctuality - in fact, it ranked last among the 10 biggest companies this year (2023).

Disrupted flight?

While delays or cancellations are to be expected globally due to the post-COVID shortage of airport staff, including air traffic controllers, the inconvenience they cause to air passengers is still at the same unpleasant level. If you have been on an Air Canada canceled or delayed flight recently, you know what we mean. Disruptions to your travel itinerary are never easy to deal with, especially if you are planning to fly across the Atlantic.

Yes, we as travelers will have to get used to the new reality and accept the fact that flight disruptions will be happening more often in the years to come. However, that does not mean that we should put up with everything that airlines and airports throw our way. Luckily, there are laws and regulations in place which aim to protect air passengers’ rights, including the rights of Air Canada passengers.

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Which Air Canada flights can bring you compensation?

More specifically, we will discuss flights with Air Canada from Europe, as they are the ones, subject to European Regulation EC 261/2004. This particular part of the European Union law was designed to guarantee the rights of travelers who experience a flight disruption with an European airline or with a non-European airline flying from an European airport.

Air Canada currently has only one fifth freedom flight that could fall under EC26’s jurisdiction in case of a delay, cancelation, or denied boarding - London Heathrow to Mumbai. Some of the other European airports where Air Canada operates are the following:

Vienna (Austria)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (France)
Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Frankfurt Airport, Munich Airport (Germany)
Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (Italy)
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (Netherlands)
Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport, Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (Spain)
Zürich Airport (Switzerland)
Edinburgh Airport (Scotland, United Kingdom)

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When can you get Air Canada delay compensation?

The conditions for getting compensation according to EU261 are two:

The delay should be more than 3 hours BUT there is a catch. It is not the time you leave your departure airport that counts but your arrival time at the final destination. So if you take off 3 hours after the announced time of departure, this is not a guarantee that you will qualify for compensation. Sometimes, pilots manage to minimize the delay, so we advise you to note down the exact time when you land.
The delay should not be due to extraordinary circumstances. These include bad weather, restrictions by air traffic control, bird strikes, and unruly passengers/security threats.

The amount of money you can get depends on the length of the delay and the length of the flight (in km/miles). For all flights over 3,500 km that were more than 4 hours late, you can get $700 (€600), and if the delay is between 3 and 4 hours, you can get $400 (€300). This means that each severely delayed flight from Europe with Air Canada can bring you $700 in compensation!

Claiming Air Canada flight delay compensation

In order to claim flight delay compensation, you first need to make sure your flight meets all the conditions. There is an easy way to check that: you can enter your flight details in our free calculator and you will quickly see if you are eligible for compensation.

Once you confirm that your Air Canada flight qualifies for reimbursement, you can submit your claim with us. The experienced legal team of SkyRefund will take care of all the paperwork and do everything that is needed to get your money. We will even represent you in court if worst comes to worst and you will only have to pay us if we win your case - no win, no fee.

Can you get compensation if your Air Canada flight is canceled altogether?

The short answer: yes, you can. Of course, the conditions we listed above remain: the flight should be scheduled to depart from a European airport and the cancelation should not be the result of extraordinary circumstances. Read more about flight cancelation compensation here.

Not only is Air Canada flight cancellation compensation a thing, but you can also get denied boarding compensation. You know, for these cases when a flight is overbooked and you are one of the unlucky passengers who is made to miss the flight.

You should note, however, that if Air Canada’s customer service offers you something in return for giving up your seat (like vouchers, travel miles, or other “perks”), and you accept it - they will not be legally obliged to pay compensation. So we advise you to make your choices carefully.

And if you are wondering if SkyRefund can help you with denied boarding or cancelled flight compensation, wonder no more. We totally can and we gladly will: you can use the same calculator to check whether you are entitled to compensation, then submit the claim and leave everything else to us.