The Sturgeon ruling: a 3-hour delay counts like a cancellation
The court decision that turned EU 261 into a delay-compensation regime — and the reason a long delay pays the same as a cancellation.
The text of EU 261/2004 only mentions compensation for cancellations and denied boarding — not for delays. The Sturgeon judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU closed that gap and is now the backbone of every delay claim.
The Court held that passengers who reach their final destination three hours or more after the scheduled arrival time suffer the same loss as passengers on a cancelled flight, and are therefore entitled to the same compensation under Art. 7.
Why it matters
Without Sturgeon, an airline could delay a flight almost indefinitely and owe nothing in compensation. The three-hour threshold was confirmed again by the Court in Nelson (C-581/10) in 2012, and it still stands in 2026 — a proposal to raise it was not adopted.
A claim letter that cites Sturgeon by case number signals to the airline’s legal team that you know the delay rule does not depend on the regulation’s literal wording.