Flight Delay Compensation with Children: Your Rights in 2026

You’re standing with your children in front of the departures board, time is ticking away, and suddenly the dreaded word delayed appears next to your flight. It’s enough to make your heart sink, but as a parent travelling with your family, you have clear rights that are well worth knowing.

A delay of more than three hours caused by the airline can mean flight delay compensation of between €250 and €600. Even when bad weather is responsible for the wait, the carrier must provide you with food, drinks and, if necessary, a hotel. Compensation for infants travelling on a parent’s lap is less clear-cut, but if you paid a fee for your child, it is definitely worth submitting a claim.

You’ll learn exactly how to word your claim and how not to be brushed off at the airline desk. I’ll also show you what’s new in the recently approved revision of the regulation, which will enter into force in mid-2027. That way, you’ll feel prepared for all your future trips.

A quick summary if you don’t have time to read the whole article

• Basic compensation under EU 261/2004: If your flight is delayed by more than 3 hours through the airline’s fault, you may be entitled to €250, €400 or €600, depending on the length of your flight.
• The right to care always applies: The airline must provide food, drinks and, where necessary, a hotel even if it is not responsible for the delay, for example because of bad weather.
• A major change for families in 2027: The revision of the regulation was approved on 13 July 2026 and will ensure that children under 14 must sit next to their parents completely free of charge.
• An infant on your lap and compensation: ⚠️ Compensation for a child without their own seat is highly debatable, but if you paid any kind of fee for them, definitely submit a claim.
• New liquid rules in Prague: Since 1 October 2025, Terminal 2 flights within the Schengen Area have allowed containers of up to 2 litres, but Terminal 1 flights outside Schengen still have the 100 ml limit.
• Deal with a damaged pushchair immediately: Report damage or loss ideally at once at the airport using a PIR report, and in any case in writing within 7 days.
• Insurance can make waiting easier: Commercial travel insurance, such as Direct, may cover access to an airport lounge or pay out 500 CZK (about €20) when a delay lasts more than 2 hours.

10 Things You Must Know About Flight Delays with Children

When a flight is delayed, most parents panic about how to keep their child entertained and completely forget that they are protected by strong European legislation. So that you aren’t left helpless at the airport waiting for someone to take pity on you, I’ve put together the ten most important points you need to know.

1. Financial compensation under EU Regulation 261

The foundation of everything is European Regulation 261/2004, which gives you a clear right to financial compensation if the airline caused the delay. This includes situations such as a technical fault with the aircraft, missing crew or poor planning. By contrast, bad weather or an air-traffic-controller strike are considered extraordinary circumstances. The amount of compensation does not depend on the price of your ticket at all, but solely on the flight distance, so you may receive €250, €400 or as much as €600 per person.

You become entitled to this money when you arrive at your final destination with a delay of more than three hours. Under established case law, this time is not measured when the aircraft’s wheels touch the runway, but when the doors open and you can actually leave the plane. You have exactly the same right to compensation if the airline cancels your flight and tells you less than 14 days before departure.

💡 Tip: Always take a photo of the departures board showing the delay and keep all your boarding passes safe. If your passes are available only digitally in an app, take screenshots of them so they don’t disappear from your phone after the flight has ended.

2. Your right to care can save you right at the terminal

While you can deal with financial compensation calmly after you return home, the airline must provide your right to care immediately at the airport. This is particularly important for families with children, because this right applies regardless of who was at fault—even when a hurricane is raging outside and no compensation is payable. It primarily covers food and drinks in proportion to the waiting time, usually provided as vouchers that can be used in airport restaurants.

If your delay lasts overnight, the airline must pay for your hotel and arrange transport between the airport and the hotel. Especially with a baby, being able to bathe them and settle them in a clean hotel room is worth a thousand times more than the prospect of future euros in your bank account. Don’t let the airline fob you off—insist that spending the night with a toddler on hard airport benches simply isn’t acceptable.

💡 Tip: As soon as it becomes clear that the delay will be a long one, go straight to the airline desk and ask for meal vouchers. If nobody is there and you have to buy food yourself, keep every receipt carefully so you can claim these reasonable costs back after you return home.

3. An infant on your lap and compensation: a grey area

This is a huge issue that regularly leaves both lawyers and airlines struggling, because the rules are far from clear. If you are flying with a child under two who has no separate seat and travels on your lap, their right to compensation is a demonstrably disputed area ⚠️. Some sources argue that Regulation 261/2004 does not grant compensation to an infant without a seat because they are not travelling on a standard ticket.

Other legal interpretations take the opposite view: the right may arise even without a purchased seat if any payment was made for the child, which is the most important practical criterion. If you pay a fixed fee for an infant, such as €25 with low-cost Ryanair, or 10% of the adult fare with major carriers, the child has a valid ticket and there was clearly a payment for their transport. Court decisions across Europe are not yet consistent, however, and carrier practices vary enormously.

💡 Tip: Always submit an infant compensation claim to the airline, because completing the form costs nothing. Do expect the first response to be a rejection, though. If you paid for the child, don’t be put off by the first email—escalate the case.

4. A major revolution in family rights is coming in 2027

After years of debate, the European Union has finally approved a major revision of passenger rights that will bring significant relief for families with children. The European Parliament approved the joint text by an overwhelming majority, and the Council of the EU gave its final approval on 13 July 2026. The new rules will take effect after a transitional period, so we can expect them around the middle of 2027.

The biggest and most eagerly awaited change is the rule that a child under 14 must sit next to a parent completely free of charge. Families will no longer be split up across the aircraft or forced to pay extra just to sit together with their school-age children. Airlines will have a strict 30-day deadline to pay compensation, and you will have 9 months to submit a claim. The rules will also explicitly ban airlines from cancelling return tickets if you fail to board the first flight segment.

💡 Tip: ⚠️ Negotiations included a guaranteed free cabin bag, but the approved text currently confirms only one personal item. The exact dimensions will be announced in the Official Journal, so until then, continue to check your particular airline’s baggage limits carefully.

5. How to survive a delay on the spot

European passenger-rights theory is all very well, but when you’re standing in a crowded hall and your child is running out of patience, you mainly need to act quickly. The first two hours of a delay are crucial to how the whole family will cope emotionally. One mother on the Mumsnet forum summed it up honestly when she described spending a twelve-hour flight covered in vomit after her eight-month-old threw up shortly after take-off because the delay had disrupted the baby’s entire routine.

Children absorb your stress remarkably well, so knowing what you’re entitled to will help you stay much calmer. Top up your water at the fountains after security, buy some small snacks and find the airport’s children’s play area so the kids can burn off some energy. We most often fly from Prague and Faro, and Prague Airport has excellent play areas in both terminals that make waiting much easier. For international travellers, the same principle applies: check the facilities at your departure airport before you fly.

💡 Tip: Don’t give your child all the toys and activities from your bag at the same time. Cabin crew recommend rotating them roughly every twenty minutes. With older children, a fully charged power bank can save the day, because if they have something to do and understand what is happening, they cope with waiting surprisingly well.

6. Your cabin bag can save the day—and liquids can be tricky

When a flight is delayed or cancelled, you usually cannot get back to your checked luggage, so you need to keep everything you’ll need for the next 24 hours with you. With babies, that means enough spare clothes not only for the child but, just in case, for you too, because a delay means more feeding and therefore more chance of an accident. Packing liquids and baby food is often the most stressful part of the entire holiday before security screening.

Since 1 October 2025, Prague Airport has introduced new rules at Terminal 2, which serves flights within the Schengen Area, where you may carry a liquid container of up to 2 litres. There is a major catch, though. Terminal 1, used for non-Schengen destinations such as Turkey, Egypt and the UK, still has the old 100 ml limit. Your destination, not your airline, determines which terminal you use, so even with Ryanair you may fly from either terminal and face different rules.

💡 Tip: Baby food and milk are exempt from the 100 ml limit in quantities needed for the journey, but security staff may ask you to show what is in the containers. ⚠️ If you are considering sleep medication for children, remember that melatonin must not be given to children under 2, and older children should take it only after consulting a doctor.

7. A cancelled flight and your right to rerouting

If your plane never leaves and the airline cancels the flight, your rights do not disappear. In fact, you have a clear right to a refund or rerouting. The carrier must offer you an alternative flight under comparable conditions at the earliest opportunity to get you to your final destination. This is when you need to be assertive as a parent and avoid accepting the first unsuitable option.

Airlines are very reluctant to reroute passengers onto a competitor’s flight, even though European rules say they should do so. Don’t let them push you onto a flight three days later if another airline is actually flying tomorrow morning and could get you there safely. Insist at the desk and refer to EU Regulation 261, which guarantees your right to the earliest comparable flight.

💡 Tip: Even while waiting for a rerouted flight, you retain your right to care. If the airline rebooks you onto a flight the following day, it must pay for your hotel, transfer and meals throughout the waiting period.

8. How to claim compensation step by step

If your delay exceeded the magic three hours and was not simply a summer storm, sit down at your computer after you get home and claim compensation directly through the airline’s website. Most carriers have a special EU 261 form on their website where you only need to enter your flight number and booking details and attach copies of your boarding passes. The new rules will also give the carrier a strict 30-day limit for dealing with your claim, so the process should become considerably faster.

Leave specialist claims services such as AirHelp as your backup plan B. These companies charge a substantial commission on the amount they recover, so in clear cases such as a technical fault, you would unnecessarily lose part of your money. A claims service is worth considering only when the airline rejects you with a vague excuse about the weather, but you strongly suspect it is not telling the truth and is simply trying to avoid paying.

💡 Tip: Under the new rules, you will have up to 9 months to submit a claim, but it is best not to put it off. Complete everything on the first weekend after you return, while all your boarding passes and receipts are still together.

9. A damaged pushchair and what to do about it

This is every travelling family’s specific nightmare: you hand over your pushchair at the aircraft door, and at your destination it arrives on the carousel with a broken wheel. In these cases, the European regulation does not apply; the international Montreal Convention does, setting the airline’s baggage liability limit at approximately USD 2,175. We love our compact Joolz Aer travel stroller, which flies in the cabin with us, but if you check in a large pushchair, the risk of damage is much higher.

The biggest mistake tired parents make is noticing the damage while their child is crying and heading straight to the hotel, planning to sort it out by email the next day. Never do this, because you should report the damage immediately at the airport at the Baggage Claim desk. There you can complete a Property Irregularity Report, or PIR, which significantly improves your chances of the airline accepting and paying your claim.

💡 Tip: If you genuinely cannot report it at the airport, you have 7 days to report the pushchair damage in writing. Keep the baggage tag and boarding pass, and take detailed photos of the pushchair from every angle.

10. Insurance versus your European rights

Parents often confuse EU Regulation 261 with commercial travel insurance, even though each one deals with a completely different problem. EU 261 protects you when the airline itself cancels or delays your flight. Good cancellation insurance, on the other hand, is useful when you cannot travel because your child develops a high fever or chickenpox the day before your long-awaited holiday and you have to stay home.

Good travel insurance can also help directly during an airport delay. Under its current terms, for example, Direct insurance covers airport lounge access when a flight is delayed by more than 2 hours or pays out 500 CZK (about €20) as compensation for waiting. This is particularly useful with children because a lounge offers peace and quiet, free food and more comfortable seating, making those first uncertain hours much easier.

💡 Tip: A practical trap lies in the timing of cancellation. If your child becomes ill during the night before an early-morning flight, you will usually be too late to cancel with the airline. Your insurer will then need confirmation from the airline that you did not board the flight—known as a no-show—as well as a medical report.

Practical Summary and Indicative Amounts

To make everything completely clear, I’ve prepared two easy-to-read tables with specific figures and deadlines for 2026. You’ll immediately see how much money may be at stake when something goes wrong and which deadlines you must not miss when making a claim.

Financial compensation amounts (EU 261/2004)

Limits for damaged pushchairs and luggage

What to Read Next

If you’re planning a flight with young children and want to be ready for absolutely anything, take a look at our other detailed guides. You’ll find plenty of practical tips, from choosing seats to packing toys.

• Flying with children: the complete guide
• AirHelp review: claiming flight compensation
• A plane ticket for a child
• Flying with a toddler
• How to entertain a child on a plane

Frequently Asked Questions