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You claim EU261 compensation from the operating airline, the airline that actually performs the flight, not from the airline whose name is on your ticket, the travel agent or the booking website. For a codeshare flight that means the airline whose aircraft and crew flew you. For a wet lease, it is the airline that took the aircraft on lease, not the one that supplied it.
Last updated: 5 October 2026.
Article 3(5) of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 says the Regulation applies to "any operating air carrier" providing transport to the passengers covered. Article 2(b) defines the operating airline as the one that performs, or intends to perform, a flight under a contract with a passenger or on behalf of another person who has a contract with that passenger. Recital 7 adds that the obligations should rest with the airline that performs or intends to perform the flight, "whether with owned aircraft, under dry or wet lease, or on any other basis".
As the European Commission's guidelines put it, the operating airline is always responsible under the Regulation, and not, for example, another airline that may have sold the ticket.
When a flight is sold under one airline's code but flown by another, the airline that actually flies it is the operating airline. Look at the boarding pass or itinerary: the line "operated by" names it. For connecting flights under a codeshare, the Court has also held that any operating airline that took part in at least one of the connecting flights is liable, whether or not its own flight caused the delay (Case C-502/18, České aerolinie). See our guide on connecting flights.
In a wet lease, one airline (the lessor) provides an aircraft with crew to another airline (the lessee). The Court has clarified that the lessor cannot be regarded as the operating airline, because the lessee bears the operational responsibility for the flight (Case C-532/17, Wirth). The airline you claim from is therefore the one that operated the flight under its own responsibility, using the leased aircraft and crew.
For EU261 to apply, the airline must have a valid operating licence. A company that has only applied for a licence, which had not been issued when the flight was operated, does not fall within the scope of the Regulation (Case C-292/18, Breyer).
The airline's obligations do not move to the agent who sold you the ticket. Whether you booked through a travel agency, an online booking site or the airline itself, the claim for compensation is against the operating airline. See our guide on booking through Booking.com or Expedia. If your flight was part of a package, see package holidays.
Some points from the guidelines on intermediaries:
Airline B, the operating airline. If you booked connecting flights as one journey, any operating airline that took part in at least one leg can be liable.
The airline that leased them (the lessee) and operated the flight. The company that supplied the aircraft and crew is not the operating airline.
No. EU261 compensation is owed by the operating airline. The booking website is an intermediary.
This guide is general information based on the sources above, not legal advice.
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