Ryanair UK261 vs EU261: which rules apply to your flight

Short answer: the airport you take off from decides. A Ryanair flight departing an EU or EEA airport (every Ireland departure included) is EU261, paid in euros — EUR 250, 400, or 600. A Ryanair flight departing a UK airport is UK261, paid in sterling — GBP 220, 350, or 520. One extra rule catches out long-haul: a Ryanair flight arriving in the EU from a non-EU country is also EU261, because Ryanair flies as an EU carrier. The rights themselves — the 3-hour arrival threshold, care, and refunds — are the same under both.

The rule in one line: departure airport decides

Ryanair is Europe's largest airline, flying heavily in both directions between the UK, Ireland, and the rest of Europe from its Dublin head office and a base network led by London Stansted — so the same city pair can fall under different rules depending on which way you are going.

The test is simple: look at where the aircraft took off.

• Departed an EU or EEA airport — EU261 applies, in euros, whoever the airline is. Every departure from Ireland (Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock) is EU261.
• Departed a UK airport — UK261 applies, in sterling. This is the retained EU law that the UK kept after Brexit, enforced by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

So a Ryanair Dublin-Stansted flight is EU261 (euros); the Stansted-Dublin return is UK261 (sterling). Book a return and each leg is judged under its own regime. Our broader UK261 vs EU261 comparison and the dedicated Ryanair UK flights guide go further on each side.

The arrival rule that catches people out

There is a second gateway into EU261. The regulation also covers a flight arriving at an EU airport from a non-EU country when it is operated by an EU ("Community") carrier. Every Ryanair Group operating carrier is EU-based — Ryanair DAC (Ireland), Malta Air, Buzz (Poland), and Lauda — so a Ryanair flight into the EU from, say, Morocco, Israel, or Jordan is EU261 even though it left a non-EU airport. The operating carrier is the one liable to pay (C-532/17 Wirth), so check the "operated by" line on your booking.

The UK is now a non-EU country for this purpose, which creates one genuine overlap: a Ryanair flight from a UK airport into the EU departs the UK (UK261 territory) and arrives in the EU on an EU carrier (EU261 territory). In practice you treat a UK departure as a UK261 claim through the CAA; the euro route via the arrival rule is a fallback, not the default. A flight leaving the EU for the UK is straightforwardly EU261.

Common Ryanair routes and the regime for each

The pattern is consistent: an EU or Irish departure means euros, and a UK departure means pounds.

Same rights, two currencies: the amounts

Both regimes were the same law until 2021 and still mirror each other. Compensation is fixed by the great-circle distance to your final destination — not the fare you paid, and on a connected booking not the individual leg that failed (C-11/11 Folkerts).

Because Ryanair is short- and medium-haul, almost every claim lands in the first two bands; the top band is rare. Under Article 7(2) the airline may halve the payment (for example EUR 300 in place of EUR 600) if it re-routed you to arrive within a set window of your original time. The trigger in both regimes is the same: a 3-hour or greater delay at arrival, a short-notice cancellation, or denied boarding. Both give you a right to care under Article 9 — meals and, if needed, a hotel — owed even during a genuinely extraordinary event (C-12/11 McDonagh). And in both, a strike by Ryanair's own pilots or cabin crew is not an extraordinary circumstance (C-28/20 Airhelp v SAS), so those cancellations are usually still payable. You can check any figure with our flight compensation calculator.

Which enforcement body handles your claim

If Ryanair refuses and you need to escalate, the regime also decides who oversees the claim:

• UK departure — the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
• Ireland departure — the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR, aviationreg.ie).
• Other EU departure — the national enforcement body of the country you left (for example AESA in Spain, ENAC in Italy, ANAC in Portugal).
• Non-EU departure into the EU on Ryanair — the enforcement body of the EU arrival state.

Both regimes let you go to court instead: under C-204/08 (Rehder) you can generally sue at either the departure or the arrival airport.

How ClaimWinger helps

Working out the regime, the carrier, the distance band, and the right regulator is exactly the groundwork that trips up a first claim — and Ryanair rejects a large share of first claims. ClaimWinger handles all of it on a no-win, no-fee basis: no upfront cost, and a commission only if we recover money for you. If you booked through an online travel agent, note that Ryanair usually will not pay until you verify your identity and payment details through a myRyanair account. Ryanair runs a public campaign warning passengers off "claims chasers," but your right to compensation exists regardless of who helps you enforce it. Start with the Ryanair compensation overview, read how to claim or what to do if Ryanair rejects you, or check a disrupted flight now at /delayed-flight.

FAQ — Frequently asked questions

My Ryanair flight left the UK — do I claim in euros or pounds?

In pounds. A UK departure is UK261, so the amounts are GBP 220, 350, or 520 by distance and the UK Civil Aviation Authority is the regulator. A departure from an EU or Irish airport is EU261, in euros.

Are Ireland departures EU261 or UK261?

EU261, in euros. Ireland is in the EU, so every Ryanair flight leaving Dublin, Cork, Shannon, or Knock is EU261, overseen by the Commission for Aviation Regulation.

Do the two regimes pay different amounts?

The bands mirror each other but the currencies differ: EUR 250/400/600 under EU261, GBP 220/350/520 under UK261. The 3-hour arrival threshold, the care rights, and the extraordinary-circumstances defence are the same in both.

My return trip mixes a UK and an EU departure — which rules apply?

Each leg is judged separately by its own departure airport. A UK outbound is UK261 in sterling; an EU or Irish return is EU261 in euros. One booking can therefore produce one claim in pounds and one in euros.

A Ryanair flight from outside the EU landed in the EU — am I covered?

Yes. Because Ryanair flies as an EU carrier, a flight arriving at an EU airport from a non-EU country is EU261, in euros, even though it departed outside the EU.

Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 — full text (EUR-Lex)
• UK Civil Aviation Authority — Delays and cancellations
• Commission for Aviation Regulation (Ireland)
• European Commission — Air passenger rights

This guide reflects the legal position in 2026: the 3-hour arrival-delay threshold and the EUR 250/400/600 and GBP 220/350/520 amounts remain in force, and the proposed EU261 reform (revised delay thresholds, a nine-month claim window, and a 30-day airline response deadline) is not yet law. It is general information, not legal advice; verify the current position for your specific flight.