ITA Airways · compensation guide

ITA Airways delay and cancellation compensation

What you’re owed on an ITA Airways flight that arrived three hours late or was cancelled, and how the claim goes.

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Skyfare Claims · we send these claims ourselvesReviewed against ITA Airways’ current process

On this page
  1. Your rights on ITA Airways
  2. About ITA Airways
  3. Popular ITA Airways routes
  4. How an ITA Airways claim goes
  5. How much, by distance
  6. When nothing is owed
  7. Cancellations and notice
  8. Meals, hotels and refunds
  9. Connecting flights
  10. What you need to claim
  11. If they refuse
  12. Questions
£220–£520per passenger, by distance~28 daysITA Airways’ usual response timeART ConciliaWebwhere a refusal goes

Your rights on ITA Airways

ITA Airways is licensed in Italy, so UK261 (for UK departures) or EC261 (for EU departures and for arrivals in the EU) applies to every flight. If your flight arrived three or more hours late, was cancelled within 14 days of departure, or you were denied boarding, and the cause was within the airline’s control, you are owed fixed compensation: £220, £350 or £520 per passenger by distance (€250 / €400 / €600 for EU departures).

About ITA Airways

Licensed in
Italy
Company we claim against
Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A.
Flights covered
Every flight to or from the UK and EU
Answer to a claim
Usually within about 28 days
Claims first?
No: we claim directly with your signed authority
If they refuse
ART ConciliaWeb
On our radar
About 3,409 ITA Airways flights on UK and EU routes in our tracking since September 2026

Popular ITA Airways routes

The ITA Airways routes we see most often at UK and EU airports, and what a qualifying delay on each is worth.

RouteDistanceLawOwed per passenger
Milan → RomeLIN–FCO470 kmEC261€250
Rome → MilanFCO–LIN470 kmEC261€250
Rome → CataniaFCO–CTA539 kmEC261€250
Catania → RomeCTA–FCO539 kmEC261€250
Palermo → RomePMO–FCO410 kmEC261€250
Rome → PalermoFCO–PMO410 kmEC261€250
Catania → MilanCTA–LIN1,009 kmEC261€250
Milan → CataniaLIN–CTA1,009 kmEC261€250

For an arrival three hours or more late, a cancellation inside 14 days, or denied boarding, when the cause was within the airline’s control. Each passenger on the booking claims the same amount, children included.

How an ITA Airways claim goes

  1. Check your flight with us: we look up the actual arrival time and the airport weather.
  2. We send the formal claim to ITA Airways (Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A.) with your signed authority and documents attached.
  3. ITA Airways has about 28 days. We chase the day it runs out, and again two weeks later.
  4. A refusal is answered with the case law and the flight data.
  5. You’re paid within 14 days of the money reaching us.

If they refuse

A refusal is not the end of it. We answer it in writing with the arrival data and the case law, and a final refusal goes to ART ConciliaWeb — free to you, at our cost.

How much, by distance

The amount is fixed by law. It depends on how far the flight goes, not on what the ticket cost.

Flight distanceUK261 (UK flights)EC261 (EU flights)
Up to 1,500 kme.g. London–Dublin, Paris–Barcelona£220€250
1,500 to 3,500 kmand every flight within the EU over 1,500 km£350€400
Over 3,500 kme.g. London–New York, Frankfurt–Dubai£520€600

The amount can be halved when the airline re-routed you and you still arrived within two hours (short flights), three hours (medium) or four hours (long flights) of the original arrival time.

When nothing is owed

An airline does not have to pay when the delay or cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances it could not have avoided with all reasonable measures. That is narrower than airlines often say.

Usually extraordinary

  • Severe weather at the airport or on the route
  • Air traffic control restrictions or ATC strikes
  • Security alerts and airport closures
  • A bird strike or damage by a third party
  • A passenger falling seriously ill on board

Usually not, so you are owed

  • Technical faults found in normal operation
  • Strikes by the airline’s own staff
  • Crew shortages or crew out of hours
  • Late arrival of the aircraft from an earlier flight, unless that delay was itself extraordinary
  • Overbooking

When ITA Airways cites weather or air traffic control, we check the airport weather reports and the flight’s history before accepting it.

Cancellations and notice

  • 14 days’ notice or more: no compensation, but you can still choose a refund or a new flight.
  • 7 to 13 days’ notice: compensation is owed unless the new flight left no more than 2 hours earlier and arrived no more than 4 hours later than planned.
  • Under 7 days’ notice: compensation is owed unless the new flight left no more than 1 hour earlier and arrived no more than 2 hours later.

Denied boarding because the flight was overbooked is owed straight away, at the same amounts, on top of a refund or a new flight.

Meals, hotels and refunds

These are owed whatever caused the delay, even in extraordinary circumstances, and they are separate from compensation:

  • Meals and refreshments once the delay reaches 2 hours (short flights), 3 hours (medium) or 4 hours (long).
  • A hotel and transport to it when the new departure is the next day.
  • A full refund of the ticket if the delay reaches 5 hours and you decide not to travel, or if the flight is cancelled.

If you paid for these yourself, keep the receipts: the airline owes them back.

Connecting flights

If your flights were on one booking, what counts is how late you reached your final destination. A 1-hour delay that makes you miss a connection and arrive 4 hours late is a 4-hour delay. The distance is measured from where you started to where you finished.

What you need to claim

  • The flight number and date, or your booking reference
  • A boarding pass or e-ticket for each passenger
  • Photo ID for the lead passenger
  • Your signature on our authority to act, which takes seconds on your phone

That’s all. Our fee is 30% including VAT, taken only from compensation we win. Nothing up front, and nothing if the claim fails.

Questions

Can I claim compensation from ITA Airways?

Yes. ITA Airways is licensed in Italy, so every ITA Airways flight from or to the UK and EU is covered by UK261 or EC261.

How long does ITA Airways take to respond?

ITA Airways typically responds within about 28 days of a properly documented claim. We chase the day that window closes. Where it accepts, payment usually follows within about 80 days.

Does ITA Airways make you claim yourself first?

No. We send the claim directly on your behalf with your signed authority.

What happens if ITA Airways refuses?

We answer the refusal with the flight data and the case law. If ITA Airways maintains it, the claim goes to ART ConciliaWeb, free to you, at our cost.

How long do I have to claim against ITA Airways?

Six years for flights departing the UK (five in Scotland). 2 years under the law of Italy.

Does ITA Airways pay compensation for technical problems?

Usually, yes. Technical faults that come up in the normal running of an airline are not extraordinary circumstances, so a delay or cancellation caused by one is owed. Only a hidden manufacturing defect or damage caused by someone else, such as a bird strike, can excuse it.

What if my ITA Airways flight was a codeshare?

The claim goes to the airline that actually operated the flight, which is not always the one on your booking. We check who operated it from the flight data and claim against the right airline.

Airline names belong to their owners and are used only to identify the airline. Skyfare Ltd is independent of ITA Airways.

Claiming against another airline

Up to £520No win, no fee
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