Bucharest flight compensation: EU 261 rights from Otopeni for Romanian passengers

Quick answer. Passengers flying from Henri Coandă (OTP) or Aurel Vlaicu Băneasa (BBU) in Bucharest are protected by Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. A 3-hour or longer arrival delay, a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice, or denied boarding can trigger compensation of 250, 400 or 600 EUR per passenger, on top of any refund or re-routing. Under article 2517 of the Romanian Civil Code, you have three years to file. The competent bodies are ANPC, AACR, and the local Judecătoria.

Bucharest is the busiest aviation hub in Romania. Henri Coandă International (IATA: OTP) handled more than 14 million passengers in 2024, and Aurel Vlaicu Băneasa (BBU) serves general aviation and a handful of seasonal routes. With that traffic comes disruption — and a steady flow of passengers who do not realise they are entitled to a fixed cash payment, separate from any ticket refund. This guide explains exactly what Romanian and foreign passengers can claim when a flight from Bucharest goes wrong, which institution to escalate to, and how the three-year prescription clock works in practice.

What EU 261/2004 covers at Bucharest airports

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 is directly applicable in Romania. It covers any flight departing from an EU airport, regardless of the carrier, and any flight arriving in the EU operated by a Community carrier. Because both OTP and BBU are EU airports, every commercial departure from Bucharest falls within scope — whether you fly with TAROM, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways or Emirates.

The three protected scenarios are:

1. Long delay. Arrival at the final destination is delayed by 3 hours or more.
2. Cancellation. The flight does not operate, with less than 14 days' notice.
3. Denied boarding. You hold a confirmed reservation but are refused a seat, typically because of overbooking — though the Court of Justice clarified in Finnair (C-22/11, 2012) that denied boarding can occur even without overbooking, for instance after staff reorganises seating.

The compensation is a flat lump sum, not a refund. The official figures are 250 EUR for flights up to 1,500 km, 400 EUR for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km (and all intra-EU flights longer than 1,500 km), and 600 EUR for non-EU flights longer than 3,500 km. From Bucharest, a hop to Cluj falls in the first band, Paris and Rome sit in the middle, and Dubai or New York trigger the top band.

You can read the consolidated text of the regulation directly on EUR-Lex at eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004R0261 .

The 3-hour delay rule and the Sturgeon judgment

Article 7 of the regulation only mentions cancellation, not delay. The right to compensation for long delays comes from case-law: in Sturgeon (joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009) the Court of Justice ruled that passengers whose flight arrives 3 hours or more late at the final destination are entitled to the same fixed sums as cancelled-flight passengers. This is the single most important ruling for any Bucharest passenger to know.

Two practical points:

• The clock runs to actual arrival at the gate, not to wheels-down. Aircraft door opening is the legal reference, not the scheduled landing.
• For connecting itineraries booked on a single reservation, the delay is measured at the final destination. The CJEU confirmed this in Folkerts (C-11/11, 2013): a short delay on a Bucharest–Munich segment that causes a 5-hour late arrival in São Paulo still entitles the passenger to 600 EUR.

If you would like a step-by-step explanation of how the delay thresholds work, see our internal guide on EU 261 delay thresholds in 2026 .

Extraordinary circumstances: what the airline can and cannot invoke

Carriers operating from Otopeni routinely refuse claims by pointing to "extraordinary circumstances" — weather, ATC restrictions, technical faults, strikes. The defence is narrow and the burden of proof sits on the airline.

• Technical faults. In Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) the CJEU held that ordinary technical defects are part of normal carrier activity and do not qualify. Reinforced by van der Lans (C-257/14, 2015): a malfunction detected during regular maintenance is not extraordinary.
• Strikes by the carrier's own staff. Krüsemann (C-195/17, 2018) classified wildcat strikes by a carrier's own crew as inherent to the business — compensation is owed.
• Bird strikes. Pesková (C-315/15, 2017) accepted that a bird strike can be extraordinary, but the airline must prove that all reasonable preventive measures were taken.
• Volcanic ash and force majeure. McDonagh (C-12/11, 2013) treated the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption as extraordinary, yet the carrier still owed the duty of care (meals, accommodation) without a financial cap.

If you read airline correspondence in Romania, the phrase you will most often encounter is "circumstanțe extraordinare". Treat it as a starting position, not a final answer.

How to claim step by step from a Bucharest departure

The process is the same whether your flight left OTP at 06:00 or returned to BBU at midnight.

1. Collect evidence at the airport. Take photos of departure boards, keep boarding passes, request a written reason from the airline desk in the terminal.
2. Send a written claim to the airline. Use registered email or the carrier's official complaint form. State the flight number, date, route, your booking reference, the delay duration on arrival and the amount claimed (250, 400 or 600 EUR per passenger). Give them 30 days.
3. Escalate to AACR. Autoritatea Aeronautică Civilă Română is the National Enforcement Body designated by Romania under article 16 of the regulation. AACR can open an investigation and apply sanctions, although it does not order the airline to pay you directly.
4. File with ANPC. Autoritatea Națională pentru Protecția Consumatorilor handles consumer-protection complaints and can mediate. The online portal accepts complaints in English from foreign passengers.
5. Civil action at the Judecătoria. If the airline still refuses, you sue at the local court — typically Judecătoria Sectorul 1 București for flights from OTP, since both airports sit within the jurisdiction of Bucharest's first sector. Small-claims procedure applies for sums under 10,000 RON.

The CJEU also confirmed in Rehder (C-204/08, 2009) that the passenger may sue either at the departure airport or at the arrival airport. So if your Bucharest–Madrid flight went wrong, you can choose between a court in Romania and one in Spain — whichever is more practical.

For a deeper walk-through of the court route, see our guide on taking a flight compensation case to court .

The 3-year prescription under article 2517 of the Romanian Civil Code

Romania applies a general 3-year limitation period to personal-rights actions under article 2517 of the Civil Code. The clock starts on the date of the disrupted flight. After three years, the carrier can invoke prescription and the claim is barred.

The CJEU settled the question of national vs. EU time-limits in Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2013): because Regulation 261/2004 itself sets no time-limit, each Member State's general rules apply. For Romania that means 3 years — significantly more generous than the 1-year Warsaw/Montreal cap for baggage claims, but still a hard deadline.

Practical takeaway: a flight cancelled at OTP on 2 June 2026 can be claimed in court up to and including 2 June 2029. After that date, even a perfectly valid claim is lost.

Should you claim yourself or use a service?

Many Bucharest passengers ask whether it is worth handing the case to a specialised firm. The honest answer depends on the airline's posture and your tolerance for paperwork.

• DIY keeps 100% of the payout but requires you to draft the demand letter, manage the AACR and ANPC files, and potentially appear at the Judecătoria. Romanian is the working language of the court, so a foreign passenger usually needs a translator.
• A claims service (such as AirHelp) handles everything end-to-end in exchange for a commission, typically 25-35% of the recovered amount, with no win-no-fee. For complex cases — connecting flights, bankrupt low-cost carriers, denied boarding — the time saved often outweighs the fee.

If you prefer to outsource the entire process, AirHelp is one of the largest players in the EU 261 market and supports English-speaking Romanian passengers:

Check your Bucharest flight with AirHelp — free eligibility check, pay only if you win

For a side-by-side comparison, see our internal piece on claiming yourself vs. using a service . If you read Romanian, the native version of this guide is at Compensare zbor București .

Specific situations at OTP and BBU

• Wizz Air and Ryanair cancellations. The low-cost carriers dominate the Bucharest network. Their refund and compensation flows are separate — accepting a refund of the ticket does not waive your right to the 250/400/600 EUR sum.
• TAROM connections via OTP. When the national carrier's connecting flight via Bucharest fails to make the onward leg, Wegener (C-537/17, 2018) treats the connecting itinerary as a single unit, and compensation is calculated on the full route.
• Wet-leased aircraft. If your flight from Otopeni is operated by a different carrier than the one printed on the ticket, Wirth (C-532/17, 2018) confirms that the operating carrier — not the contracting one — bears the EU 261 obligations.
• Baggage delay or loss. This falls outside EU 261 and under the Montreal Convention. Walz (C-63/09, 2010) sets the cap. Claims must be filed within 7 days for damage and 21 days for delay.

FAQ

Is denied boarding at OTP common, and how much do I get?

Overbooking still happens at peak season (Easter, August, December). The fixed sums are the same as for cancellations: 250 EUR short-haul, 400 EUR medium, 600 EUR long-haul. You also keep the right to choose between a refund and re-routing.

My Wizz Air flight from Bucharest to London Luton was delayed 4 hours. Can I claim?

Yes. The Bucharest–London route is approximately 2,090 km, so the applicable band is 400 EUR per passenger. Delay is measured on arrival at Luton, and the 3-hour threshold from Sturgeon (C-402/07) applies.

Does AACR force the airline to pay me?

AACR is the enforcement body and can sanction the carrier, but it does not act as a court. For a binding order to pay, you go to the Judecătoria. AACR's involvement does still help, because regulators' letters often push airlines to settle before litigation.

Can a foreign passenger sue in Bucharest in English?

Court proceedings at the Judecătoria are conducted in Romanian. A foreign passenger can either hire a Romanian lawyer or appoint a representative. Alternatively, the Rehder ruling (C-204/08) allows the action to be filed at the arrival airport's jurisdiction instead — which may be a more accessible option for non-Romanian residents.

Does buying travel insurance affect my EU 261 rights?

No. EU 261 is a statutory right that cannot be waived. Travel insurance pays on top, typically for consequential losses such as missed accommodation. For the distinction, see travel insurance vs. EU 261 .