Missing a connecting flight is one of the most frustrating travel disruptions. A minor 20-minute departure delay on your feeder flight can cause you to miss your transfer window at massive hub airports like Frankfurt, Paris CDG, Amsterdam Schiphol, or Madrid Barajas, leaving you stranded for hours or overnight.
The landmark Folkerts ruling (Court of Justice of the European Union, Case C-11/11) established that compensation for flight delays is calculated strictly based on the delay at the FINAL destination. If your initial flight suffered only a slight delay, but that delay caused you to miss your connection and arrive at your ultimate destination 3 hours or more late, you are entitled to full statutory compensation.
Key requirement: Single Booking. To qualify under EU261 for missed connections, your flights must have been booked together under a single booking reference (PNR). If you purchased two entirely separate tickets from different airlines independently, the second airline is not responsible for the first airline's delay.
Compensation amounts are determined by the total journey distance: 250€ for journeys up to 1,500 km, 400€ for journeys between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and 600€ for long-haul connecting flights over 3,500 km.