Craiova flight compensation: EU 261 rights for passengers flying from CRA

If your flight from Craiova International Airport (IATA code CRA) was delayed by three hours or more, cancelled, or oversold, EU Regulation 261/2004 gives you a fixed cash compensation of 250 to 400 euro. The amount has nothing to do with your ticket price — a 19-euro Wizz Air seat to Bologna and a 219-euro winter ticket to London carry the same flat compensation when the flight is disrupted. This page covers what a passenger flying out of CRA actually needs to know: when the right kicks in, why most claims here involve a single airline, how to escalate through ANPC and AACR, and the three-year deadline under Romanian law that decides how long you have to act.

Romanian-language version of this guide is available at /zbor-intarziat-craiova-compensatie/ for friends and family who prefer to read in Romanian.

Craiova airport at a glance: why the route mix matters for your claim

Craiova International Airport is a small regional airport in southwestern Romania, serving the Oltenia region and the broader Romanian diaspora living in Western Europe. Unlike Henri Coandă in Bucharest or Avram Iancu in Cluj, the commercial traffic at CRA is dominated by one carrier — Wizz Air — and a fairly concentrated network of destinations: London (Luton and Gatwick), Liverpool, Milan, Rome, Bologna, Brussels, Madrid and the Spanish costas, plus several German cities.

Two practical consequences flow from this pattern:

1. Almost every commercial claim from CRA is against Wizz Air. That is good news, because Wizz Air is an EU-licensed Hungarian carrier with a clear customer service infrastructure, an online complaint form in English, and a track record at Romanian courts. EU 261 applies in full.
2. Distances almost always land in the two lower compensation tiers. Routes from Craiova to Italy, Germany or Spain are typically between 1,200 and 2,500 km. That means 250 euro for the shorter routes and 400 euro for the longer ones. The 600-euro tier (over 3,500 km) does not realistically apply to CRA departures because there are no long-haul services from the airport.

A second airline pattern matters for the diaspora: during summer and winter peaks, capacity is added on the UK routes, and these are exactly the months when delays cluster around weather and ATC slot restrictions. If you fly Craiova–Luton in late December and the flight pushes by four hours because of a London snow event, you have a strong case for compensation — unless the airline can prove an extraordinary cause and document that it took every reasonable measure.

When EU 261 gives you a right to compensation

EU Regulation 261/2004 applies to every flight departing from a Romanian airport, regardless of the airline. From Craiova that means every Wizz Air, Ryanair, TAROM, Blue Air successor or charter operation is covered. The right to fixed compensation is triggered in three distinct situations.

Delay of three hours or more at the final destination. The original text of EU 261 sets out compensation explicitly for cancellations only, but the CJEU extended the same right to long delays in Sturgeon (C-402/07, 2009). A three-hour delay at the destination is enough — the time on the ground in Craiova does not matter, only the arrival time. If you connect through Vienna or Frankfurt on a single booking and arrive in your final destination three hours late, the right still applies.

Cancellation with less than 14 days’ notice. If the airline informs you of the cancellation 14 days or more before scheduled departure, no compensation is owed — you keep the right to a refund or re-routing, but the 250–400 euro flat amount falls away. With less than 14 days’ notice, compensation is owed unless the airline can demonstrate extraordinary circumstances.

Denied boarding because the flight was oversold. Overselling on Craiova flights is rarer than at hub airports, but it happens. If the airline refuses you a seat against your will and no acceptable volunteer steps forward, you have a right to the same compensation amount as for a cancellation, plus re-routing or a refund.

For the full mechanics of the rules, see our companion guide on /en/eu-261-2026-delay-thresholds/ and the related explainer on /en/cancelled-flight-compensation/ .

How much money for a Craiova flight: the distance table

EU 261 sets compensation amounts by distance, measured great-circle between departure and final destination — not by ticket price, not by aircraft type, and not by the country in which the airline is headquartered.

Two examples that come up often:

• Craiova to Bologna (around 1,250 km), delayed four hours. Compensation is 250 euro per passenger. A family of four claims 1,000 euro.
• Craiova to London Luton (around 2,100 km), delayed three hours and forty minutes. Compensation is 400 euro per passenger. A couple claims 800 euro.

The full mechanics of the calculation, including connecting flights, are covered in the standalone tool guide at /en/flight-compensation-calculator/ .

Check your Craiova flight in 3 minutes — free eligibility check

Extraordinary circumstances: when the airline can legitimately refuse

The airline can be released from compensation only when the cause of the disruption is an "extraordinary circumstance" beyond its control and unavoidable even with all reasonable measures. The CJEU has repeatedly narrowed the scope of this defence.

In Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008), the Court held that ordinary technical defects discovered during routine maintenance are not extraordinary — they are an inherent part of operating an aircraft. So a Wizz Air flight from Craiova held back because a sensor failed during pre-flight checks is, almost always, a compensable delay.

In Krüsemann (C-195/17, 2018), a wildcat strike by the airline’s own cabin crew was held not to be extraordinary either. That ruling matters in CRA because Wizz Air’s crew bases in Romania occasionally see industrial action, and the airline cannot use such a strike as a shield against EU 261.

Genuine extraordinary causes usually include: severe weather grounding the airport, air traffic control closures and slot restrictions, security incidents, and external strikes (such as a third-party airport handler stoppage). Even then, the airline still owes the duty of care under article 9 — meals, refreshments and, where needed, a hotel.

The burden of proof is on the airline. A vague claim of "operational reasons" in a rejection email is not enough. If the airline does not produce documentation, a Romanian court will treat the cause as ordinary and order payment.

The Romanian route: ANPC, AACR, Judecătoria

When a written claim to the airline is ignored or rejected, a Craiova passenger has three Romanian channels available. They can be used sequentially or in parallel, and none is mandatory before going to court.

ANPC — Autoritatea Națională pentru Protecția Consumatorilor. The national consumer-protection authority accepts complaints in Romanian online via anpc.ro . It mediates with the airline and can fine the carrier for unfair commercial practice, but it does not have the power to order payment of EU 261 compensation. Useful as a first escalation step, especially when documents need to be reframed into a formal complaint.

AACR — Autoritatea Aeronautică Civilă Română. This is the national enforcement body for EU 261 in Romania, designated under article 16 of the Regulation. AACR can investigate the airline’s handling of the case, request internal records and, in repeated breaches, take supervisory measures. Filing with AACR adds weight to the file, particularly when the airline is repeatedly evasive.

Judecătoria — the local court. For claims under 10,000 lei (most individual EU 261 claims), Romanian civil procedure offers a simplified small-claims procedure decided on documents, without a hearing in most cases. The competent Judecătoria is typically the one in your domicile, or in Craiova if the case is anchored to the place of performance. The CJEU confirmed in jurisdictional case law that the passenger may sue at either the departure or arrival airport. Court fees for these claims are minimal — under 200 lei in most cases.

A practical guide to running the court route yourself is at /en/flight-compensation-court/ .

The three-year deadline you cannot afford to miss

The single most common reason a valid Craiova claim is lost is the prescription deadline. Romanian law sets a general prescription period of three years under article 2517 of the Civil Code, and the CJEU confirmed in Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2013) that national prescription periods govern EU 261 claims.

The clock starts on the date of the disrupted flight. If your Wizz Air flight from Craiova to London was delayed on 15 March 2025, your deadline to file at the Judecătoria is 15 March 2028. After that date the court must reject the case as time-barred, even if the airline’s liability is obvious and even if you have been in continuous correspondence about it.

Two pitfalls trap many passengers. First, internal complaint procedures at the airline do not pause the prescription clock — only a court filing or a formal pre-court notice in the right form does. Second, the airline knows the deadline as well as you do, and a common tactic is to extend the back-and-forth with goodwill emails until the three years run out. If you are six months from the deadline and the airline is still stalling, file at the Judecătoria — do not wait.

Should you claim yourself or use a service?

For a single straightforward delay from Craiova, claiming directly is realistic. The airline’s online form, a polite first email referencing EU 261 and CJEU Sturgeon, and a follow-up after fourteen days are enough in most clear cases. Costs are zero; the only investment is time.

A specialist service makes more sense when: the airline has already rejected the claim with an extraordinary-circumstances defence, your case involves a missed connection or a denied boarding, the booking covers several passengers, or the flight was rescheduled multiple times. These services work on a success fee — typically around a quarter of the recovered amount — and take the file all the way to court if needed, at their own cost and risk.

A balanced comparison is at /en/claim-yourself-or-service/ .

Free eligibility check for your Craiova flight

Quick recap for a Craiova passenger

• Delay of three hours or more, cancellation with less than 14 days’ notice, or denied boarding triggers fixed EU 261 compensation.
• 250 euro for Craiova flights to Italy, Germany, Austria or Belgium; 400 euro for London, Liverpool, Madrid and the Canary Islands.
• The airline pays — not the airport, not the travel agent, not ANPC. ANPC mediates, AACR enforces, the Judecătoria orders payment.
• Three years from the flight date to act, under article 2517 of the Romanian Civil Code and CJEU Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2013).
• Extraordinary circumstances must be proven by the airline. Ordinary technical defects (Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07, 2008) and wildcat strikes by the carrier’s own crew (Krüsemann, C-195/17, 2018) do not qualify.

The full text of EU Regulation 261/2004 is available on the official EU portal: eur-lex.europa.eu — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 .