Missed connection compensation is the payment or rebooking a carrier owes a passenger when a delay or cancellation on one leg of a through-ticket causes them to miss the onward flight and arrive at the final destination 3 or more hours late.
The key rule under EU261 (Folkerts case) is that compensation is measured against the arrival delay at the final destination, not the missed connection itself. So a 90-minute delay on the first leg that causes a 4-hour late arrival is compensable; a 90-minute delay that still connects is not. The catch is that the connection must be on a single booking (one PNR, or clearly through-checked interline). Two separate bookings are treated as two separate flights and no missed-connection right transfers.
Support desks see the highest volume of missed-connection tickets on itineraries booked cheaply as two singles by travellers who did not realise the risk.
Common questions
Is a self-connect covered?
No. If the two flights are on separate bookings, missing the onward flight is on the passenger, and the second airline treats it as a no-show. Only single-ticket itineraries carry through-connection protection.
What if the missed connection was due to weather?
Same rule as any EU261 case: weather is an extraordinary circumstance, so cash compensation does not apply, but the carrier still owes duty of care and rerouting to the final destination.