Air France Flight Compensation — Claim Up to €600

About Air France

Air France (AF) is France's flag carrier and, with KLM, forms the Air France-KLM Group. From Paris Charles de Gaulle it operates one of Europe's largest long-haul networks; Paris Orly and the regional subsidiary HOP! serve domestic and short-haul routes, and Transavia France is the group's low-cost arm.

Air France Flight Delay Compensation

If your Air France flight arrived at its final destination 3 or more hours late and the cause was within the airline's control, you are entitled to compensation under EU261 (or UK261 for flights from the UK). The amount depends on the distance of the journey:

Air France Flight Cancellation Compensation

If Air France cancelled your flight less than 14 days before departure and cannot prove extraordinary circumstances, the same amounts apply — whether or not you took the replacement flight. You are additionally entitled to a refund or re-routing, and to meals and a hotel while you wait.

Air France: Strikes, Connections and the French Five-Year Limit

Air France's contract points to French law, where the limitation period for EU261 claims is five years. France's enforcement body is the DGAC, and French courts have consistently applied the Court of Justice's rulings on strikes and technical faults.

Strikes by Air France staff

Air France has a long history of pilot, cabin-crew and ground-staff strikes. Under Krüsemann (C-195/17) and Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20), strikes by the airline's own employees are part of its normal business and do not exempt it from compensation. French air-traffic-control strikes, by contrast, are third-party action and generally extraordinary — Air France routinely cites them, so we check whether an ATC strike was actually running on the day of your flight.

Connections through Paris

Most long-haul Air France passengers from Europe connect at CDG. The arrival delay at your final destination on the whole booking is what counts: a delayed Manchester–Paris feeder that costs you the Paris–Tokyo flight is a €600 claim (£520 if the journey started in the UK).

• Air France accepts claims through its online form and typically replies in 3–8 weeks.
• Flights operated by HOP! or Transavia France under their own codes are claimed against those airlines; codeshares operated by Delta from the US are not covered.
• Air France sometimes offers vouchers worth more than the cash amount; you can decline and insist on cash, and accepting a voucher only settles the claim if you sign for it.

Air France Compensation: Key Facts

Detail	Information
Airline code	AF
Country	France
Main hub(s)	Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Paris Orly (ORY)
Group / alliance	Air France-KLM, SkyTeam
Covered flights	All departures from EU/EEA/UK airports; also arrivals into the EU/UK on Air France
Max compensation	€600 / £520 per passenger
Claim window	5 years (France)
Our fee	No win, no fee — 35% of the compensation, court included

Air France Routes and Typical Claim Values

Route	Distance	Per passenger
Paris CDG – London Heathrow	≈ 350 km	€250
Paris Orly – Nice	≈ 690 km	€250
Paris CDG – Athens	≈ 2,100 km	€400
Paris CDG – New York JFK	≈ 5,830 km	€600
Manchester – Paris CDG – Tokyo (one booking)	≈ 9,600 km	£520 (UK departure)

How to Claim From Air France Yourself

1. Collect the facts: booking reference, flight number, date, scheduled and actual arrival time (door-open), and every message Air France sent about the disruption.
2. Submit a written claim through the "Claim compensation" form on airfrance.com (Help → Delay or cancellation → Compensation request). Quote "Regulation (EC) 261/2004" (or UK261 for UK departures), the article — Art. 5 for cancellations, Art. 6/7 for delays, Art. 4 for denied boarding — and the amount per passenger. Ask for payment by bank transfer and state that you decline vouchers.
3. Wait 3–8 weeks for the reply. If it cites extraordinary circumstances, reply once asking for the operational evidence (reason code, ATC regulation reference, weather report).
4. Escalate to the enforcement body or ADR scheme named below if the airline refuses or goes quiet — or hand the case to us at any point; the 35% fee is the same whether we start on day one or after your own rejection.

Escalation routes: the DGAC (Direction générale de l'Aviation civile) as enforcement body; the Médiateur Tourisme et Voyage (MTV), Air France's ADR scheme; French courts (tribunal judiciaire / juge des contentieux de la protection) with a five-year limitation period.

Working With Air France

Air France's claims handling is professional but slow, and its first replies often blame "air traffic control restrictions in France" — a common event, but one the airline must document for your flight. The airline is also fond of offering travel vouchers with a bonus over the cash amount; accepting one closes the cash claim. Connection cases via CDG are the largest category: CDG's transfer times are tight and a late feeder regularly costs passengers a long-haul connection, producing €600 claims.

Example Air France Cases

• Paris CDG–Tokyo cancelled on a cabin-crew strike day: own-staff strike — €600 per passenger after MTV mediation.
• Nice–Paris Orly–Cayenne, feeder delayed 40 minutes by a technical check, arrival 22 hours late: €600 per passenger plus hotel, accepted.
• Paris CDG–Athens delayed 3 h 30 min during a French ATC controllers' strike: documented third-party strike — €0; meals refunded.

French Domestic Flights

Air France's domestic network — Paris–Nice, Paris–Toulouse, Paris–Marseille and the Corsican routes — is covered by EU261 like any other flight, at the €250 rate. Domestic cancellations during strikes are common; where the strike is by Air France's own staff, compensation is due. Where it is by French air-traffic controllers — who strike more often than any other group in Europe — it is not, but re-routing (including by train on the TGV at the airline's expense) and care still are.