What are your rights for delayed flights in Australia?

Flight delays can be frustrating for travellers. While some delays may be a minor inconvenience, others can significantly disrupt travel plans.

You may think the airline is required to provide compensation if the delay significantly disrupts your travel plans. However, the rules around flight delay compensation in Australia are complex.

The Australian government hasn't introduced any official standardised scheme to compensate passengers for delays. Instead, it's up to individual airlines and they each have their own policies with various definitions of what is considered a delay and what they will offer you.

The first thing to understand about your rights when a flight is delayed or cancelled in Australia is that airlines are generally not legally required to depart at the exact scheduled time. You may think you have bought a ticket for a flight that leaves at 14:00, but the terms and conditions may only guarantee departure within a reasonable timeframe.

If your delay is relatively short, the airline may not offer any assistance or compensation.

There is no specific legal requirement in Australia for how long a delay needs to be before an airline offers support, but the airlines have their own guidelines, and the threshold is often at least two hours. Even then, you may only be offered a meal voucher or the option of a refund.

What you are entitled to may also depend on whether the delay was within the airline's control (such as maintenance or crew issues) or outside the airline's control (such as bad weather).

Airlines do have to abide by consumer law, as outlined by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. But if you are dissatisfied with the airline’s response, there is currently no simple way to escalate the issue to an oversight agency.

Delays in the airline's control

If the delay or cancellation is something the airline can control, like crew shortages, engineering issues or a catering problem, then the policy is to offer you some form of compensation for delays over a certain period of time.

The exact details vary by company, but all the major Australian airlines will offer a refreshment voucher for lengthy delays at the airport. For overnight delays away from home, you'll get accommodation, a meal and transfers.

Under Australian law, you are not entitled to any other kind of monetary compensation for the inconvenience.

Delays outside the airline's control

The situation is very different for delays or cancellations that are outside the airline's control. This includes situations like bad weather, security issues or air traffic congestion.

In these cases, the airlines' policies say they won't provide any compensation such as food vouchers, hotel rooms or travel to temporary accommodation. However, the airline may choose to offer this in certain circumstances, such as when you wouldn't be able to easily arrange it yourself.

Even if the delay or cancellation is outside the airline's control, you are still entitled to a refund or credit if it means you can no longer travel.

International flights

For international travel on Australian airlines, the compensation for flight delays from Australia is generally the same as domestic flights.

However, if the scheduled flight is from overseas to Australia or is on a non-Australian airline, then flight compensation schemes from those jurisdictions may be applicable.

For example, the UK and the European Union have flight compensation schemes that apply to delays by a UK or EU airline leaving Australia on a flight to the UK or EU, respectively. And they also apply to any airline flying from the UK or EU to Australia. 

There's also a flight compensation scheme in Canada for any flight to or from the country, which may entitle you to a monetary payment for the inconvenience.

There are various types of flights that may entitle you to compensation in Australia, although much will depend on the particular circumstances.

Delayed flights

If a flight leaves later than scheduled, you may be eligible for some compensation. However, all the Australian airlines have policies that the delay needs to be at least two hours, and for some airlines it needs to be even longer.

There are no airline policies in Australia that provide any compensation for flight delays of less than two hours.

Cancelled flights

If a flight is cancelled, the airline has a responsibility to rebook you on a suitable alternative at no cost to you.

If this means a delay to your travel, then the policies about delayed flights will apply. That means you'll get no compensation if your new flight leaves less than two hours after the original one was scheduled.

You will be entitled to a refund or credit if your flight is cancelled and the airline can't book you on an alternative flight that's acceptable to you.

Scheduled changes

If a flight is rescheduled with enough notice, you may not be entitled to any compensation for that delay, especially if you are leaving from your home airport.

However, you will still be eligible for a refund if the change is significant enough that you are no longer able to travel.

Missed flights

You are not entitled to any compensation if you miss a flight as a result of your own actions.

However, if your journey is delayed because the airline causes you to miss a connecting flight, then you will be put on a new suitable flight and the compensation policies for delayed flights will apply.

If the flights are not booked on the same airline or same ticket, you may not be eligible for compensation under these policies.

If you are entitled to cancellation or flight delay compensation in Australia, the airline may proactively provide you with food vouchers and accommodation. It's also possible you'll be able to claim similar expenses with a receipt – but it's important to check the policy in advance.

Meals

If the delay is overnight and you are provided with accommodation, a meal is usually included. Normally, the limit for this meal is around AUD30, and you should be told whether to use a voucher or claim the expense with a receipt.

Accommodation

If your journey is delayed overnight for a reason in the airline's control, you will normally be provided with accommodation if you're away from home.

This may be arranged by the airline. If you are entitled to accommodation but need to arrange it yourself, the limit is normally around AUD200 per room, and you should be able to claim that expense with a receipt.

If you are at your home airport, you will not be provided with accommodation or any meal that would come with that accommodation.

Transfers

For overnight delays, you will generally also be able to claim the cost of the transfers from the airport to the provided accommodation, whether that's on a train, taxi or rideshare.

If you're at your home airport and don't qualify for accommodation compensation, you'll still be able to claim the expenses for transfers home and back.

Refunds

There are a number of situations when you may be entitled to a refund (or credit) if your flight is delayed or cancelled in Australia.

The policies are slightly different for each airline, but you are generally entitled to a refund if your flight is delayed, cancelled or rescheduled and there is no suitable alternative.

This normally includes a situation when the change in departure time means you have to cancel your travel.

While jurisdictions like the UK, European Union and Canada have laws that clearly set out how much money you're entitled to for delayed departures, the Australian government has left it to the airlines to set their own rules.

There is no law in Australia that requires airlines to offer you any money as compensation for a delayed flight, and none of the airlines have included that as an option in their own policies.

You may be able to get money if your international flight is covered by the travel compensation schemes in the UK, EU and Canada.

Can you get compensation for a delayed flight in Australia?

There are no laws in Australia requiring airlines to pay you monetary compensation for the inconvenience of delayed or cancelled flights. However, Australian airlines will cover costs for food and accommodation if the delays are long enough.

Can I claim compensation for a two-hour flight delay?

Each airline has its own guidelines for how long a delay needs to be before they'll compensate you with things like food vouchers. Two hours is the minimum, while some airlines only provide compensation after three hours.

What happens if a flight is delayed two hours?

Once a flight delay has reached two hours, some Australian airlines will offer food vouchers if the delay is in the airline's control (other airlines will wait until three hours). If the delay is outside the airline's control, there is no obligation to provide any compensation.