Etihad Airways compensation amount calculator

The base figures

The UK figures are set independently in sterling by UK law, not a currency conversion of the euro amounts, so do not attempt to convert one into the other using an exchange rate — use whichever currency actually applies to your journey based on where it departed.

Which currency applies to your journey

EU261 amounts apply to a journey that departed an EU, EEA or Swiss airport. UK261 amounts apply to a journey that departed a UK airport. A journey cannot trigger both regimes on the same leg — the departure point decides which currency and which regulation governs the claim.

Measuring the distance correctly

Distance is measured using the great-circle route between the departure and final destination airports on the ticket, not the actual flight path an aircraft may have taken to avoid weather or restricted airspace, and not the sum of every individual leg if there are connections. A Vienna–Abu Dhabi–Bangkok booking is measured as the great-circle distance from Vienna to Bangkok directly, even though the aircraft physically routes through Abu Dhabi along the way.

Most Etihad journeys that begin in Europe and continue through Abu Dhabi to a further destination in Asia, Africa or Australia comfortably exceed the 3,500-kilometre mark, which is why the top band shows up so often across this airline's route network specifically.

The long-haul half-reduction rule

On journeys over 3,500 kilometres only, a delay of between three and four hours at final arrival reduces the payment to half of the top band — EUR 300, or GBP 260 — rather than the full amount. Reaching four hours or more restores the full EUR 600 or GBP 520. Below 3,500 kilometres, no such reduction applies once the three-hour threshold is crossed: the full distance-based amount is owed regardless of exactly how many hours over three the delay ran.

Working out a family or group claim

Compensation is calculated per eligible passenger, not per booking. A family of four travelling together on one reservation, all meeting the same qualifying conditions, generates four separate claims at the applicable amount each — not one combined household payment. Infants without their own seat are generally excluded, since the amount is tied to occupying a seat on the disrupted flight.

Cancellation notice can reduce the amount, separately from distance

A cancellation notified between seven and thirteen days before departure, where the replacement flight's timing sits within a defined window of the original, can also reduce the fixed payment, on top of the distance-based figure. This works alongside, not instead of, the distance calculation — first establish the base amount from distance, then check whether short notice or a long-haul arrival delay reduces it further. The cancellation guide explains the notice bands in full.

Worked calculations

London to Abu Dhabi, 4,345 km, arriving 5 hours late, cancellation-related: over 3,500 km, delay beyond four hours, no valid notice reduction applies — GBP 520 per passenger.

Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi, 5,246 km, arriving 3 hours 40 minutes late: over 3,500 km, delay between three and four hours — EUR 300 per passenger, half the top band.

Dublin to Abu Dhabi, 5,590 km, arriving 6 hours late, two adults and one child, all with confirmed seats: over 3,500 km, delay beyond four hours — EUR 600 per passenger, EUR 1,800 total across the three qualifying passengers.

Prague to Abu Dhabi, 4,570 km, notified of cancellation nine days ahead with a replacement flight two hours outside the accepted window: distance-based amount reduced under the short-notice band rather than paid in full — the exact reduction depends on how far outside the window the replacement fell.

Care expenses and baggage sit outside this calculator

The figures above cover only the fixed compensation payment triggered by a qualifying delay, cancellation or denied boarding. Reasonable meal, hotel and transport expenses during a disruption are reimbursed separately based on actual, receipted costs, not a fixed distance-based table. Baggage loss or damage runs under an entirely different framework, the Montreal Convention, with its own liability limits expressed in special drawing rights rather than euros or pounds. Keep each of these three categories — fixed compensation, care expenses, and baggage liability — in separate sections of any claim, since combining them into a single requested figure makes a claim harder for Etihad to process correctly and can slow down the response.

FAQ

Are Etihad's UK compensation amounts a converted version of the euro amounts?

No. GBP 220, GBP 350 and GBP 520 are separate, fixed sterling figures set under UK law, not currency conversions.

How is flight distance calculated for this purpose?

Using the great-circle distance between the first departure and the final destination on the ticket, not the actual routing flown or the sum of individual connecting legs.

Does the half-reduction rule apply to every Etihad route?

Only on journeys over 3,500 kilometres, and only when the delay falls between three and four hours. Shorter routes and longer delays are not affected by this specific reduction.

Do infants get a separate compensation payment?

Generally not, since the fixed amount is tied to occupying a seat, and infants without their own seat typically fall outside the calculation.

Can a cancellation notice reduction and the long-haul delay reduction both apply at once?

They address different scenarios rather than stacking on the same claim — a notice-based reduction applies to cancellations, while the delay-based halving applies to how late a long-haul arrival actually was.

Sources

• Etihad Airways: Conditions of Carriage
• Etihad Airways: help centre
• European Commission: air passenger rights
• UK Civil Aviation Authority: flight delays and cancellations
• EUR-Lex: Regulation (EC) No 261/2004