LEVEL compensation claim deadline and AESA escalation
There is no single Europe-wide deadline for an EU261 compensation claim — the applicable time limit depends on national law, and for a LEVEL flight departing or arriving in Spain, that generally means the Spanish limitation period rather than a fixed EU-wide number. What is standardised, and specific to Spain, is the escalation route once a direct claim to LEVEL has stalled or been rejected: the Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea, AESA, Spain's civil aviation authority, has operated a binding complaints-resolution mechanism since 2 June 2023.
Free eligibility check
Check your case in the form
Enter your route, date and type of disruption. We will check whether your case qualifies for a claim under EU 261/2004 or UK261.
What happened to your flight?
Claim up to €600 for a delayed or cancelled flight.
Choose the situation that applies to your flight:
Confirm the amount owed before deciding whether the case is worth escalating, and see the claim rejected guide if LEVEL has already given a specific reason for refusing.
Send the claim to LEVEL first
Escalation to AESA generally becomes available only after the airline itself has had a genuine opportunity to respond. Submit a complete claim to LEVEL first — see the step-by-step claim guide — and keep a dated record of that submission. That submission date becomes the anchor point for everything that follows if the claim needs to move to AESA.
What "binding" means for AESA's process
Since 2 June 2023, AESA's decision-making role in an eligible passenger complaint carries binding force on the airline: once AESA rules on a complaint, LEVEL is not free to simply disregard the outcome. AESA generally expects the airline to comply within one month of a binding decision. This distinguishes the current Spanish mechanism from a purely advisory ombudsman process, where a favourable ruling carries persuasive weight but no independent enforcement mechanism of its own.
The one-year filing window
A complaint to AESA generally needs to be filed within one year of submitting the original complaint to the airline — not one year from the date of the flight itself. This makes the dated record of the original LEVEL submission genuinely important: if that date is unclear or undocumented, establishing the AESA filing deadline becomes harder than it needs to be. Keep the confirmation email or submission receipt from the original LEVEL claim specifically for this purpose, separate from the rest of the claim file.
What AESA actually reviews
AESA's process is aimed at EU261 compensation, refund and care-obligation disputes for flights within its jurisdiction — broadly, flights departing Spain, and flights arriving in Spain on an EU carrier such as LEVEL. It is not a general consumer-complaints body for every kind of airline dispute; issues outside EU261's scope, such as a pure contractual dispute over fare rules unrelated to a delay or cancellation, may need a different route, such as Spain's general consumer-arbitration system or the courts.
How to file with AESA
- Confirm the complaint falls within AESA's EU261 jurisdiction — a LEVEL flight departing or arriving in Spain, involving a delay, cancellation, denied boarding or a related refund or care dispute.
- Gather the full claim file already sent to LEVEL: the original submission, LEVEL's response or lack of one, and all supporting evidence.
- Submit the complaint through AESA's official passenger-rights channel, referencing the exact date the original complaint was sent to LEVEL.
- Keep a copy of the AESA submission and any reference number issued, in the same way the original LEVEL submission was preserved.
What happens after filing
AESA reviews the complaint and, where it finds the airline's refusal or inaction unjustified, issues a decision requiring LEVEL to resolve the matter, generally within the one-month compliance window described above. This process runs independently of, and does not require, a parallel court claim, though a passenger who prefers a court route rather than the administrative one remains free to pursue that instead of, or after, an AESA complaint, subject to Spain's own civil limitation periods for that separate route.
Why documentation timing matters more here than for the claim itself
The core evidence needed for the underlying compensation claim — boarding passes, timestamps, receipts — does not change once escalation begins. What changes is the importance of two additional dates: the date the original complaint was sent to LEVEL, which starts the one-year AESA filing clock, and the date any AESA decision is issued, which starts the one-month compliance clock for LEVEL. Missing either date in the saved record can complicate an otherwise strong case.
If LEVEL simply never responds
A missed compensation deadline is one problem; silence from the airline entirely is a different one. If LEVEL does not respond at all to a complete, properly submitted claim within a reasonable period, that non-response is itself grounds to move to AESA — a passenger does not need to wait indefinitely for a reply that never comes, nor does silence amount to an implicit rejection that has to be separately appealed before escalating. Document the date the original claim was sent and the fact that no substantive reply followed, and reference both when filing with AESA.
Keeping a single, organised record
Because this process can span the original LEVEL submission, any response or non-response from LEVEL, and potentially a subsequent AESA complaint and decision, it is worth keeping every document from the process in one place with clear dates, rather than scattered across separate emails. A well-organised timeline — original flight date, original complaint date, LEVEL's response date if any, and the AESA filing date if escalation becomes necessary — makes each subsequent step faster to prepare and harder for either party to dispute later.
FAQ
How long do I have to file a compensation claim with LEVEL itself?
There is no single EU-wide deadline for the initial claim to the airline; the applicable limitation period depends on national law. File as soon as practical after the disruption, and keep a dated record of the submission regardless.
How long do I have to escalate to AESA after contacting LEVEL?
Generally one year from the date the original complaint was submitted to LEVEL, not one year from the date of the flight itself.
Is an AESA decision legally binding on LEVEL?
Yes, for eligible EU261 complaints filed since AESA's binding mechanism took effect on 2 June 2023. LEVEL is generally expected to comply with a binding decision within one month.
Does filing with AESA replace going to court?
No. AESA's process is an administrative alternative, not a substitute for a passenger's separate right to pursue a court claim, subject to Spain's own applicable civil limitation periods.
What if my LEVEL flight departed the US, not Spain?
AESA's jurisdiction generally covers flights departing Spain or arriving in Spain on an EU carrier such as LEVEL. Check the specific direction and airport before assuming AESA is the correct escalation route for a given journey.