Your Right to Rerouting and Alternative Transportation

Your flight is cancelled, or you are denied boarding, and the airline tells you it has rebooked you on its next available flight, sometimes the following day. Many passengers accept that as the only option. In fact, how and when you continue your journey is governed by clear rules, and the choice is yours.

The passenger right to rerouting comes from Article 8 of EU Regulation 261/2004. It gives you a choice between a refund, a replacement journey to your final destination at the earliest opportunity, or a replacement journey at a later date that suits you. It is a legal right, not a favour, and it exists alongside your right to care and, in many cases, to compensation.

This guide explains when you are entitled to rerouting, what your options are, what “at the earliest opportunity” means in practice, when the airline must use other airlines or airports, and how rerouting affects compensation. It is about being moved to another flight or route. If your aircraft landed at a different airport than planned, that is a diversion, covered on our diverted flights page.

When You Are Entitled to Rerouting

Your flight rerouting rights apply in three situations:

• Cancellation. If your flight is cancelled, the airline must offer you the choice set out in Article 8. More on cancellations is available on our cancelled flight compensation page.

• Denied boarding. Passengers denied boarding against their will have the same choice, and so do passengers who volunteer to give up their seats. See our page on denied boarding.

• Delays of five hours or more. When a flight is delayed by at least five hours, you can choose a refund instead of travelling, together with a return flight to your first point of departure where relevant. Rerouting itself is not part of this option, because the flight still operates.

Your Three Options Under Article 8

When Article 8 applies, the airline must offer you the choice between:

1.  A refund. The full cost of the ticket for the parts of the journey not made, and for parts already made if the trip no longer serves any purpose in relation to your original travel plan. The refund must be paid within seven days, and where relevant it comes with a return flight to your first point of departure at the earliest opportunity.

2. Rerouting at the earliest opportunity. A replacement journey to your final destination, under comparable transport conditions, as soon as possible.

3. Rerouting at a later date. A replacement journey to your final destination on a date that suits you, subject to the availability of seats.

The regulation says that passengers shall be offered this choice. The airline cannot simply decide for you, and it cannot replace a refund with a voucher without your agreement. Our guides to the difference between flight compensation and refund and to choosing a voucher or cash refund after a flight cancellation explain these options in more detail.

Right to Re-routing at Earliest Opportunity: What It Means

In practice, the option that matters most is the right to re-routing at earliest opportunity, and the EU Court of Justice has given it real content. In case C-74/19, decided in 2020, it held that an airline must deploy all the resources at its disposal to ensure reasonable, satisfactory and timely rerouting. That includes looking for direct or indirect flights operated by other airlines, whether or not they belong to the same alliance, that arrive earlier than the airline’s own next flight.

Merely rebooking you on the airline’s own flight arriving the next day is therefore not enough, unless there was no available seat on another flight that would have brought you to your destination earlier, or unless such rerouting would have been an intolerable sacrifice for the airline given its capacities at the time.

This has a direct effect on compensation. In the same case, the Court held that an airline relying on extraordinary circumstances to avoid paying must show that it took all reasonable measures, and a reasonable rerouting effort is part of that. An airline that could have got you to your destination much sooner on another carrier’s flight may lose the exemption it would otherwise have had.

Alternative Transportation: Other Airlines, Airports and Classes

The passenger right to rerouting does not limit you to another flight with the same airline. Under the case law described above, flights operated by other airlines must be considered when they get you there sooner. The regulation also covers a change of airport: if a city or region is served by several airports and the airline flies you to a different one, it must pay for your transfer to the airport you booked or to another nearby destination you agree on.

The replacement journey must be under comparable transport conditions. If the airline places you in a higher class, it cannot charge you extra. If it places you in a lower class than you paid for, you are entitled to a refund of part of the ticket price, as explained in our guide to flight downgrade compensation.

The current text of the regulation speaks of rerouting under comparable transport conditions without listing other means of transport. The revision approved in 2026 expressly adds rerouting to an alternative airport, by a different route, on another airline’s services or by other transport modes where appropriate, as described in the section on the reform below.

Care While You Wait for Your Alternative Flight

After a cancellation, you are entitled to care while you wait for the replacement journey: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, and two telephone calls or emails. If the new flight is expected to depart at least the day after your original departure, the airline must also provide hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel. This duty applies even when the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances (case C-12/11). See our guide to meals and accommodation during a flight delay.

Does Accepting an Alternative Flight After Cancellation Affect Compensation?

In most cases, no. Rerouting and compensation are separate rights, and accepting an alternative flight after cancellation does not mean giving up compensation. Compensation of €250, €400 or €600 per passenger remains due unless one of the following applies:

When you were told about the cancellation	When compensation is excluded
At least two weeks before departure	In all cases, for that cancellation
Between two weeks and seven days before departure	If you were offered rerouting departing no more than two hours before your original departure time and arriving less than four hours after your original arrival time
Less than seven days before departure	If you were offered rerouting departing no more than one hour before your original departure time and arriving less than two hours after your original arrival time

Compensation is also excluded if the airline proves extraordinary circumstances and that it took all reasonable measures, including reasonable rerouting. Where compensation is due, the airline may reduce it by 50% if the replacement flight brought you to your final destination within two, three or four hours of your original arrival time, depending on the distance, as explained in our guide on what happens when an airline offers less compensation than the law requires.

One more point is easy to miss. If your replacement flight is itself delayed enough to qualify, and it is operated by the same airline as the cancelled flight, you can be entitled to compensation for that delay as well (case C-832/18). Delay on a journey with a connection is measured at the final destination, as described in our guide to how delay is measured for connecting flights.

Example: A Cancelled Flight and an Earlier Flight on Another Airline

Your 1,100 km flight within the EU is cancelled on the day of departure. The airline rebooks you on its own flight the next day, although another airline had a flight that same afternoon with free seats that would have got you to your destination earlier. Because you were not told about the cancellation in advance and the replacement flight does not meet the time limits in the table, you are entitled to €250 compensation. If the airline relies on extraordinary circumstances, its failure to offer the earlier flight on the other airline can cost it the exemption. While you wait, you are entitled to meals and, because the replacement flight only departs the next day, a hotel with transfers.

Should You Book a Replacement Flight Yourself?

Under the current rules, the regulation does not set out a right to arrange your own rerouting and recover the cost. Whether you can recover the price of a flight you book yourself depends on the circumstances and on national law. There is also a risk for compensation: in cases C-474/22 and C-54/23, decided in 2024, passengers who chose not to take a flight announced as delayed, including one who booked another flight on their own and arrived less than three hours late, were not entitled to fixed compensation.

Before you book anything yourself, make sure you know what the airline has offered and keep a record of it, including the time it was offered. That record matters if the airline later claims it offered a reasonable alternative.

What Changes With the 2026 Reform

The revision of the EU rules approved in July 2026 strengthens the passenger right to rerouting. Once the new rules apply, around a year after their publication in the EU’s Official Journal, passengers who choose rerouting at the earliest opportunity after a cancellation or denied boarding must be offered an alternative within three hours. The alternative can include an alternative airport, a different route, another airline’s services or other transport modes.

If the airline fails to offer rerouting within three hours, passengers may organise their own rerouting and claim reimbursement of up to 400% of the original ticket price. Until then, the current rules described above apply. Our article on the EU passenger rights reform covers the other changes.

What to Do When Your Flight Is Cancelled

Knowing your flight rerouting rights helps you make the right decision at the airport. To protect both your journey and your claim:

• Choose the option that suits you: a refund, the earliest possible replacement journey or a later date. If you invoke your right to rerouting, flight options operated by other airlines must also be considered when they arrive earlier.

• Keep your booking confirmation, the boarding passes for the original and the replacement flight, and a note of when you actually arrived.

• Keep receipts for meals, transport or accommodation you paid for yourself.

• Do not accept a voucher in place of a refund unless that is what you want.

• Check your flight with FlyPayout to see whether compensation is due on top of your rerouting.

FlyPayout checks whether the cancellation, the timing of the notice and the rerouting you were offered leave compensation due, and pursues your claim, including legal steps where needed. How long this takes depends on the airline. You do nothing further and pay only if your compensation arrives, which is how no win no fee flight compensation works. Our guide to the most common mistakes that cause passengers to lose compensation covers other decisions to avoid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the airline decide how I continue my journey?

No. Under Article 8, the passenger right to rerouting means that you choose between a refund, rerouting at the earliest opportunity and rerouting at a later date. Once you choose the earliest option, the airline must look for reasonable alternatives, including flights operated by other airlines.

Does the airline have to put me on another airline’s flight?

Under the right to rerouting, flight options from other airlines count: if another airline’s direct or indirect flight would get you to your destination earlier than the airline’s own next flight, the airline must consider it. Offering only its own next-day flight is not enough, unless there were no available seats on earlier alternatives or such rerouting would have been an intolerable sacrifice for the airline (case C-74/19).

If I accept an alternative flight after cancellation, can I still claim compensation?

Yes, in most cases. Compensation is excluded only if you were told about the cancellation at least two weeks in advance, if the rerouting you were offered fell within the time limits shown above, or if the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. A 50% reduction may apply in certain rerouting situations.

What if my replacement flight is also delayed?

If the replacement flight is operated by the same airline and its delay is long enough to qualify, you can be entitled to compensation for that delay too, in addition to compensation for the cancellation (case C-832/18).

Who pays for transport if my replacement flight lands at a different airport?

The airline. If a city or region is served by several airports and the replacement flight lands at a different one, the airline bears the cost of your transfer to the airport you booked or to another nearby destination you agree on.

Can I get a refund if I no longer want to travel?

Yes. Instead of rerouting, you can choose a refund of the ticket, paid within seven days, together with a return flight to your first point of departure where relevant. Choosing a refund does not by itself affect any compensation you are owed.

Know Your Options Before You Accept

The passenger right to rerouting gives you choices that airlines do not always present. Whatever you choose, compensation may still be due on top. Check your flight with FlyPayout: it is free, you do nothing further, and you pay only if your compensation arrives.

FlyPayout helps passengers claim compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, denied boarding and missed connections under EU Regulation 261/2004, UK261 and related passenger rights rules. No win, no fee: you pay only when your compensation is paid.