Denied boarding on your connecting flight: what applies?
At a glance
If you were refused a seat on a connecting flight on the same booking because the airline assumed you would miss it, that may be denied boarding (Article 2(j)). You may then be entitled to compensation under Article 4(3). Where the airline itself caused the delay, its wrong guess was not a reasonable ground to refuse you (C-321/11).
Art. 4(3)
boarding denied against your will: compensation under Article 7 plus assistance under Articles 8 and 9
One booking
the flights are treated as a whole, with the last flight's destination as the final destination (C-537/17)
€250–600
compensation per passenger, by the distance to your last destination (Art. 7(1))
In this article
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Another flight problemDenied boarding, not a missed connection
The difference is who missed the flight. In a missed connection you arrive too late for the next departure. Here you are at the gate, or on your way while it is still open, and are told your seat has already been given away. That may be denied boarding, and it is assessed under its own rules.
Why it matters. If boarding is denied against your will, Article 4(3) requires immediate compensation under Article 7 and assistance under Articles 8 and 9. Compensation can be tied to the refusal, not to a three-hour delay threshold. With two separate tickets, different reasoning applies; see separate tickets and missed connections.
What the Court of Justice said in Rodríguez Cachafeiro
The case. Two travellers held a single booking La Coruña–Madrid–Santo Domingo with Iberia. The first flight was 1 hour 25 minutes late. Iberia assumed they would miss the connection, cancelled their boarding passes and gave the seats to others. The travellers were still at the exit at the final call and were not allowed on. They arrived 27 hours late (C-321/11, paragraphs 10–13).
The operative part. The concept of denied boarding in Article 2(j) covers a situation where an airline, under a single contract of carriage for immediately consecutive flights checked in together, refuses boarding because the first flight was delayed through the airline's fault and the airline wrongly assumed the passengers would not make it.
The reasoning. Article 2(j) does not require overbooking (paragraphs 21–24). The reason cannot be attributed to the passenger and is not comparable to health, safety or incomplete documents, so it is not a reasonable ground to refuse (paragraphs 32–35). Article 4(3) may then apply. It refers to Articles 7–9, and without that link the travellers would have no protection (paragraph 26). The Court did not itself decide the amount of compensation.
The wording of the Regulation
- Article 2(j): denied boarding is “a refusal to carry passengers on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding under the conditions laid down in Article 3(2), except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding”.
- Article 3(2): you must have a confirmed reservation and have checked in as required and in time.
- Article 4(3): “If boarding is denied to passengers against their will, the operating air carrier shall immediately compensate them in accordance with Article 7 and assist them in accordance with Articles 8 and 9.”
What the Court did not decide
The case concerned a first flight delayed through the airline's own fault. The Court said nothing in that case about a delay caused by an extraordinary circumstance, and it did not rule on the consequences of the 27-hour delay (paragraph 21). If you were late to the gate yourself, lacked documents or were refused for security reasons, the airline may have reasonable grounds.
One booking or separate tickets
One booking is the starting point. The Court has held that two or more flights under a single booking form a whole, and that a change of aircraft is irrelevant (C-537/17, paragraphs 18–24). The final destination is that of the last flight (Article 2(h)). In Wegener a passenger was refused a seat in Casablanca after a delayed first flight, but the Court ruled there only on the Regulation's scope, not on denied boarding.
Distance runs to the last destination. Under Article 7(1) the distance is measured to the last destination at which the denial will delay your arrival. For an ordinary delay, by contrast, three hours at the final destination decides (C-11/11, paragraphs 32–35). If you are re-routed, the airline may halve the compensation if you arrive within two, three or four hours of the original time, depending on the distance (Article 7(2)).
| Situation | Denied boarding? | What may apply |
|---|---|---|
| Same booking, the airline gave away your seat because the first flight was late, and you were at the gate | Yes, that is the starting point (C-321/11) | Compensation under Articles 4(3) and 7, plus assistance under Articles 8 and 9 |
| Same booking, but the gate had already closed when you arrived | Uncertain, it depends on timings and what happened | The evidence decides, so keep times and the airline's reply |
| The airline refuses you for security reasons or missing documents | Probably not (Article 2(j)) | Reasonable grounds may exist |
| Two separate tickets, two bookings | Uncertain, the judgment concerns a single contract of carriage | Each ticket is assessed on its own; see separate tickets |
How it plays out
The first flight lands late
You head for the connection holding boarding passes for both flights. Note the scheduled and actual landing times.
You reach the gate
Note the time, ideally with a screenshot or a photo of the gate sign and the departures board.
You are refused, and the airline says why
Ask for the reason in writing. If the airline says the delay meant you would not make it, that is exactly what C-321/11 is about.
You are re-booked or travel on another way
Keep the new boarding pass and the arrival time at your final destination. Keep receipts for food, hotel and transport (Article 9).
The claim is prepared
Gather the booking, both boarding passes, the reply and the times.
Example: Stockholm–Frankfurt–Lisbon on one booking
You hold one booking Stockholm–Frankfurt–Lisbon, with a connection 70 minutes after the scheduled arrival. The first flight lands 55 minutes late for a reason that lies with the airline itself. The airline judges that you will not make it and gives your seat on the Lisbon flight to a waiting passenger. When you reach the gate the final call is still going, but you are told the seat has gone.
You may have been denied boarding on Frankfurt–Lisbon although you were in time, and the reason was the airline's own forecast. That resembles Rodríguez Cachafeiro. The distance is measured by the great-circle method (Article 7(4)) to Lisbon, your last destination, and Stockholm–Lisbon is roughly 3,000 km. It is an intra-EU flight of more than 1,500 km, which gives EUR 400 under Article 7(1)(b), though the amount may be reduced if you are re-routed and arrive early enough. That is a preliminary picture, not a decision.
Why it pays to let Airlate pursue the claim
- We tell the cases apart. Denied boarding and a missed connection rest on different grounds. We read your booking and your times so the claim is built on the right rule.
- We handle the evidence and correspondence. Once you submit the claim and accept the terms, Airlate handles it manually, with your authorisation.
- The airline's reasons are tested. If the airline pleads reasonable grounds, for example that you were late or that the delay was extraordinary, we examine whether that holds against the Regulation and the judgments.
- We do not give up at the first no. If we assess that the claim has reasonable prospects, we may pursue it further, where necessary through supervisory bodies, alternative dispute resolution or the courts. No outcome can be promised. If we obtain no compensation for you, we charge no service fee, under the Fee Policy.
What you get to keep
Every company that pursues claims keeps part of the compensation. This is how much of €600 is left for you, according to the companies' own price lists.
What you keep of €600
Of the five companies we compared, you keep the most with Airlate, both when the claim is settled directly and when it goes on to legal process.
| Company | Without legal process | With legal process |
|---|---|---|
| Airlate | €450 | €360 |
| Flyghjälp (Flightright) | €420 | €330 |
| AirAdvisor | €420 | €300 |
| AirHelp | €390 | €300 |
| Skycop | €336 | €300 |
Want to know how it works?
We assess free of charge whether your flight may be covered. If you submit a claim and accept the terms, Airlate handles the claim manually.
Common questions
Article 4(3) ties compensation to boarding being denied against your will, not to a three-hour threshold. How late you arrive does affect whether the compensation may be reduced (Article 7(2)).
Then it comes down to times and evidence. The conditions in Articles 3(2) and 2(j) apply, and the airline may have reasonable grounds if you genuinely did not present yourself in time. That is why the times at the gate matter.
Article 4(3) also refers to Articles 8 and 9: reimbursement or re-routing, and care. Keep receipts and read about meals, hotel and transport.
Check your compensation
Free preliminary check. You can change your choice later.
Another flight problemShow all 4 sources
Every factual statement in this article rests on one of the sources below: EU regulations, judgments of the EU Court of Justice and the authorities' own pages.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 (Articles 2(h), 2(j), 3(2), 4(3), 7(1), 7(2), 8 and 9) · EUR-Lex · Regulation · retrieved 2026-10-15
- Judgment in Case C-321/11, Germán Rodríguez Cachafeiro and María de los Reyes Martínez-Reboredo Varela-Villamor v Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España SA (Third Chamber, 4 October 2012) · EUR-Lex / Court of Justice of the EU · Case law · retrieved 2026-10-15
- Judgment in Case C-537/17, Claudia Wegener v Royal Air Maroc SA (Eighth Chamber, 31 May 2018) · EUR-Lex / Court of Justice of the EU · Case law · retrieved 2026-10-15
- Judgment in Case C-11/11, Air France SA v Heinz-Gerke Folkerts and Luz-Tereza Folkerts (Grand Chamber, 26 February 2013) · EUR-Lex / Court of Justice of the EU · Case law · retrieved 2026-10-15
Related guides
- Denied boarding
- Missed connection
- Separate tickets: who is liable when you miss your own connection?
- "It happened on an earlier flight": when can the airline blame the morning's disruption?
- Re-routing at the earliest opportunity: must the airline put you on another carrier's flight?
- Meals, hotel and care during a flight delay
- The airline said no: how to dispute a refusal