Turkish Airlines flight delay compensation
Turkish Airlines owes compensation under Türkiye's SHY-Passenger regulation, and under EU261 as well for any flight that departs an EU airport. The bands run €250, €400 and €600 according to distance flown. Turkish Airlines asks for claims to be submitted within one year of the disruption.
Work out what Turkish Airlines owes you →What Turkish Airlines owes, by distance
| Distance of the flight | Compensation per passenger |
|---|---|
| Under 1,500 km | €250 |
| 1,500–3,500 km | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km | €600 |
When it applies: Arrival 3+ hours late, cancellation notified less than 14 days ahead, or denied boarding. The figures come from SHY-Passenger (Turkish civil aviation passenger rights regulation) and are per passenger, including children on their own ticket.
How to claim, in four steps
- Confirm the amount. Put the route, the date and the length of the delay into the calculator. It applies every statute that covers the flight and shows which one pays most.
- Write the demand. The calculator produces a dated letter citing SHY-Passenger (Turkish civil aviation passenger rights regulation) by article, addressed to Türk Hava Yolları A.O.. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
- Send it through the official route. Submit it through Turkish Airlines's own form below, and keep a copy. A claim that exists only in a phone call cannot be proved later.
- Escalate if the answer is a refusal or silence. The calculator writes a chaser and then an escalation letter naming the national enforcement body for the departure country.
Where to send it — Turkish Airlines's own claim pages
Turkish Airlines states that a compensation claim must be made within one year of the disruption. A flight departing an EU airport also falls under EU261 whoever operates it, so a TK flight out of Frankfurt is covered twice over.
The refusals Turkish Airlines sends, and what answers them
“Technical fault / unexpected maintenance issue”
A technical problem inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier's activity is not an extraordinary circumstance. The Court of Justice settled this in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) and confirmed it in van der Lans v KLM (C-257/14), where a component failing before its expected life was still held to be part of ordinary operations. Ask the airline to identify the defect and explain why it falls outside that case law.
“Weather” with no detail
Weather can be extraordinary, but the airline must also prove it took all reasonable measures, and that the specific weather actually affected your flight. Ask for the METAR/TAF for the airport at the relevant hour and the arrival times of other flights in that window. Airports rarely close for one aircraft only.
“Knock-on delay from the previous rotation”
A late inbound aircraft is not in itself extraordinary. If the original cause was an ordinary technical fault, the excuse fails with it; if it was genuinely extraordinary, the airline still has to show it could not have limited the knock-on by reasonable measures — Pešková and Peška (C-315/15).
Silence
Silence is not a defence. Send a second letter that sets a deadline, states that you will escalate, and names the national enforcement body for the departure country. Stage 3 of the calculator writes both the chaser and the escalation letter.
How long you have
Turkish Airlines asks for claims within one year. Where EU261 also applies, the national limitation period of the departure country applies to that claim.
Questions
How much does Turkish Airlines pay for a delayed flight?
€250 for under 1,500 km, €400 for 1,500–3,500 km, €600 for over 3,500 km under SHY-Passenger (Turkish civil aviation passenger rights regulation). The band is set by the distance of the flight, not by what the ticket cost.
Does Turkish Airlines have to pay if the delay was a technical fault?
A technical problem inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier's activity is not an extraordinary circumstance. The Court of Justice settled this in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) and confirmed it in van der Lans v KLM (C-257/14), where a component failing before its expected life was still held to be part of ordinary operations. Ask the airline to identify the defect and explain why it falls outside that case law.
Do I have to accept a voucher?
No. Article 7(3) permits payment in vouchers only with your signed agreement, so you can decline one and ask for a bank transfer instead.
How long do I have to claim?
Turkish Airlines asks for claims within one year. Where EU261 also applies, the national limitation period of the departure country applies to that claim.
Open the calculator with Turkish Airlines selected →
Claiming against a different airline
- Ryanair flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Wizz Air flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- easyJet flight delay compensation — UK Regulation 261 (retained EU law)
- Lufthansa flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- British Airways flight delay compensation — UK Regulation 261 (retained EU law)
- Air France flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- KLM flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- El Al flight delay compensation — Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance), 5772-2012
- Iberia flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Vueling flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Aer Lingus flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- TAP Air Portugal flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- ITA Airways flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Eurowings flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004