Ryanair EUR 600 compensation: when the top amount applies
Short answer: Ryanair owes the top band — EUR 600 under EU261, or GBP 520 under UK261 — only on flights of more than 3,500 km that arrive three or more hours late at the final destination, are cancelled at short notice, or involve denied boarding, with no valid extraordinary circumstance. Ryanair is a short- and medium-haul airline, so this band is rare: most claims are EUR 250 or EUR 400. The genuine top-band routes are long easterly hops such as Amman, Aqaba and Tel Aviv. Which currency you receive depends on where you took off.
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First: which regime, EU261 or UK261?
Ryanair flies heavily between the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe, so the departure airport decides the rulebook. A flight departing an EU or EEA airport (Dublin, Frankfurt, Málaga, and so on) is covered by EU261, with compensation of EUR 250 / 400 / 600. A flight departing a UK airport (Stansted, Manchester, Edinburgh) is covered by UK261, with GBP 220 / 350 / 520. Ireland departures are always EU261, in euro. An EU carrier arriving into the EU from a non-EU airport is also EU261-covered, which matters on the return legs of the long routes below. Our UK261 vs EU261 guide for Ryanair works through mixed itineraries.
Why EUR 600 is the exception on Ryanair, not the rule
Ryanair carries roughly 180–190 million passengers a year, more than any other airline in Europe, from its Dublin headquarters and its biggest base at London Stansted. But it operates a single-aisle short- and medium-haul fleet with no long-haul aircraft. The overwhelming majority of its routes fall under 3,500 km, which puts them in the EUR 250 or EUR 400 bands. Do not assume a long, tiring delay automatically means the headline figure — the amount is fixed by distance, not by how bad the day was.
| Great-circle distance to final destination | EU261 (EU/EEA departure) | UK261 (UK departure) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | EUR 250 | GBP 220 |
| 1,500–3,500 km, and intra-EU over 1,500 km | EUR 400 | GBP 350 |
| Over 3,500 km (to/from outside the EU/UK) | EUR 600 | GBP 520 |
Which Ryanair routes actually reach the top band
The routes that clear 3,500 km to a destination outside the EU (for EU261) or outside the UK (for UK261) are the handful of long easterly services:
- Jordan — Amman (AMM) and Aqaba (AQJ). London Stansted to Amman is roughly 3,600 km and to Aqaba around 3,800 km, so a UK departure sits in the GBP 520 band. From Dublin, Aqaba is about 4,300 km — firmly EUR 600.
- Israel — Tel Aviv (TLV). Dublin to Tel Aviv is around 4,050 km, an EU261 EUR 600 route when Ryanair operates it.
By contrast, Morocco (Marrakesh, Agadir) sits under 3,500 km from the UK and Ireland — roughly 2,300–2,700 km — so despite being outside the EU it pays only EUR 400 / GBP 350.
The Canary Islands trap: a long flight capped at EUR 400
The Canaries feel like a top-band route, but they usually are not. Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote are Spanish — part of the EU. Under Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation 261/2004, an intra-EU flight over 1,500 km is capped at EUR 400 however far it goes. So a delayed Dublin–Tenerife or Frankfurt–Lanzarote flight tops out at EUR 400, not EUR 600. From most UK and Irish airports the Canaries are around 2,900–3,000 km in any case, comfortably inside the EUR 400 / GBP 350 band, and even longer northern-European departures that cross 3,500 km stay capped at EUR 400.
How distance is measured, and connections
Distance is the great-circle (straight-line) distance between the departure airport and your final destination, not the miles actually flown. On a single booking with a Ryanair connection, both the compensation amount and the qualifying delay are set at the final destination — the Court of Justice confirmed this in Folkerts (C-11/11). If a short first leg runs late and you miss the onward flight, arriving 3+ hours behind at a destination more than 3,500 km away, the top band can apply even though the delayed leg itself was short. Keep both legs on one reservation; separate tickets break the chain. See our Ryanair 3-hour delay guide for the timing.
When EUR 600 drops to EUR 300
There is one lawful reduction. Under Article 7(2), if Ryanair re-routes you on a flight over 3,500 km and you still reach your final destination no more than four hours after the original scheduled arrival, it may halve the payment to EUR 300 (or GBP 260). Land more than four hours late and the full EUR 600 / GBP 520 stands. This is the only route to a EUR 300 figure — it is not a general cap, and the reformed 4h/6h thresholds and EUR 300/500 amounts floated for the future EU261 reform are not in force in 2026.
Extraordinary circumstances and who pays
Ryanair rejects a large share of first claims, often citing "extraordinary circumstances," but the bar is high. A strike by Ryanair's own pilots or cabin crew is generally not extraordinary — in Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20) the Court treated an airline's own staff action as part of normal operations — so compensation is usually still due. Air-traffic-control or airport strikes may qualify. Routine technical faults are generally not extraordinary either (Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07; van der Lans, C-257/14).
Check who operated the flight: the operating carrier is liable (Wirth, C-532/17), and the Ryanair Group flies under Ryanair DAC, Malta Air, Buzz and Lauda. If you booked through an online travel agent, Ryanair typically requires you to verify your identity and payment details through a myRyanair account before it pays. If your claim was refused, our rejected-claim guide explains how to push back, and the Ryanair compensation hub covers the full picture.
Claim with ClaimWinger
ClaimWinger runs Ryanair claims on a no-win, no-fee basis: no upfront cost, and a commission only if we actually recover your money. We confirm the operating carrier and regime, measure the great-circle distance to your true final destination, test any extraordinary-circumstances defence and handle the correspondence. Start on our delayed-flight page, or sanity-check the figure first with our flight compensation calculator.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Does every long Ryanair flight pay EUR 600?
No. Only flights over 3,500 km to or from outside the EU/UK reach the top band. Most Ryanair routes are shorter and pay EUR 250 or EUR 400, and intra-EU flights over 1,500 km are capped at EUR 400 regardless of distance.
Do I get EUR 600 or GBP 520?
It depends on the departure airport. Leaving an EU or EEA airport gives euro amounts under EU261; leaving a UK airport gives sterling under UK261. Ireland departures are EU261, in euro.
Is a delayed Ryanair flight to Tenerife worth EUR 600?
No. The Canaries are EU territory, so an intra-EU flight there is capped at EUR 400, and from most UK and Irish airports the distance is under 3,500 km anyway.
Can Ryanair pay only EUR 300 on a long route?
Only if it re-routed you and you arrived within four hours of the original schedule — the Article 7(2) 50% reduction. More than four hours late, and the full EUR 600 or GBP 520 is due.
Does the qualifying delay count at the connection or the final stop?
At the final destination. Under Folkerts (C-11/11), both the amount and the 3-hour test are measured where your journey ends, provided the legs are on one booking.
Sources
This guide reflects the legal position in 2026: the three-hour arrival-delay threshold and compensation of EUR 250/400/600 (UK261: GBP 220/350/520) remain in force. The EU261 reform — including any revised delay thresholds, new amounts, a nine-month claim window and a 30-day airline response deadline — is a proposal, not yet in force. This is general information, not legal advice.