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Why this is messy
EU261 sets out your rights but deliberately leaves the time limit to national law, so the answer depends on which country's courts would hear the claim. That is usually the country where the airline is based or where the flight departed, and you often have a choice between them. When the gap is wide, the choice matters a great deal.
Indicative limitation periods
| Where you claim | Time limit |
|---|---|
| England & Wales | 6 years |
| Scotland | 5 years |
| Ireland | 6 years |
| Spain | 5 years |
| France | 5 years |
| Germany | 3 years, running to the end of the calendar year |
| Portugal | 3 years |
| Netherlands | 2 years |
| Italy | 2 years |
| Canada (APPR) | 1 year to file with the airline |
Treat these as a planning guide rather than advice. Limitation is technical, the rules on when the clock starts differ, and several of these have been litigated. If you are inside a year of a deadline, act now and check the specific position for that country.
The practical reading
If a UK or Irish court can hear your claim, you have years and no particular urgency. If the airline is Dutch or Italian and the flight did not touch the UK, you have far less room than you would assume, and a two-year-old Italian claim may already be gone.
Germany's rule catches people out. Three years sounds generous, but it runs to the end of the calendar year in which the claim arose, so a January flight effectively gets almost four years and a December one gets three. Either way, 31 December is the date that matters.
Does complaining stop the clock?
Generally no. Sending the airline an email does not pause limitation, and neither does a regulator sitting on your file for eight months. Only starting a court claim reliably stops it. That is the strongest argument for not letting a refused claim drift: the regulator route is free but slow, and the clock keeps running while you wait.
Work out your own figure
Four regimes checked at once, no sign-up, and it shows you the article the number comes from.