Flight Delays and Cancellations: Your Rights in Turkey and the EU

• SHY-YOLCU: all scheduled and non-scheduled flights operated by Turkish airlines to and from airports in Turkey, plus flights by foreign airlines departing from Turkey.
• EU 261/2004: flights within the EU, flights departing from an EU airport (whatever the airline's nationality), and flights into the EU from outside operated by an EU airline.

So: flying Berlin to Istanbul, the EU rule applies whoever you fly with. Istanbul to Paris on a Turkish carrier, SHY-YOLCU applies. Istanbul to the EU on an EU airline can engage both — though the EU regulation does not apply if you have already received compensation or assistance for the same journey outside the EU. Arriving in Turkey from a third country on a foreign airline, the departure country's rules usually govern.

Note: in June 2026 the EU reached political agreement on a regulation replacing 261/2004. According to the Commission the new rules apply 12 months after publication in the Official Journal; until then the current regulation stands.

Delays: when care begins

Once a delay is known, the airline must provide free assistance depending on the length of the wait and the distance. The SHY-YOLCU thresholds:

• 2 hours or more on domestic flights and flights up to 1,500 km;
• 3 hours or more on flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km;
• 4 hours or more on flights over 3,500 km.

Above those thresholds you are entitled to drinks and, depending on the time of day, breakfast or a meal, plus two phone calls or emails. If the new departure falls on the following day, hotel accommodation and transport between airport and hotel are the airline's responsibility. If the delay reaches at least 5 hours, you may abandon the journey and ask for a refund. Passengers with reduced mobility and unaccompanied children must be given priority in this assistance.

Compensation for delay: the 2024 change

For a long time Turkish regulation did not explicitly provide compensation for delay. An amendment dated 10 December 2024 added it: if a flight is delayed for technical or operational reasons and you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late, the airline must pay compensation and offer refund or re-routing. Amounts differ for domestic and international flights and, internationally, by distance; payment in Turkish lira is calculated at the Central Bank rate on the day of payment. Check the current figures in the published regulation.

Under the EU rule, arriving at your final destination 3 hours or more late also gives a right to distance-based compensation unless the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances. Compensation is paid in cash, by bank transfer or cheque; a travel voucher only counts if you agree to it in writing.

Cancellation: refund, re-routing, compensation

If your flight is cancelled the airline must offer:

• a refund of the unused ticket within 7 days (with a free return flight to your starting point if relevant);
• re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity under comparable conditions;
• or re-routing at a later date of your choosing, subject to availability.

Care — food, drink, hotel where needed — continues while you wait. Compensation depends on when you were told. Informed at least two weeks before departure: no compensation. Later than that: compensation is due, unless the airline offered an alternative flight within the time limits set out in the regulation. The burden of proving when it informed you falls on the airline — which is why it is worth giving a correct phone number and email at booking.

The extraordinary circumstances exception

If the airline proves the cancellation resulted from extraordinary circumstances despite all reasonable measures, no compensation is due. SHY-YOLCU lists political instability, weather incompatible with the flight, natural disasters, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes. One important detail: extraordinary circumstances remove the compensation, not your right to care and to a refund or re-routing.

On the EU side, the Commission treats air traffic management decisions, bad weather and security risks as examples — while most technical faults, routine maintenance problems and strikes by the airline's own staff are not considered extraordinary.

How to claim

• Keep everything: boarding pass, booking reference, the delay or cancellation announcement, and receipts for food, transport and hotel you paid for yourself.
• Claim in writing to the airline first, quoting the flight number, date and what you are asking for.
• If the airline refuses or does not answer, you can complain to SHGM in Turkey, or to the national enforcement body of the relevant country for an EU flight.
• Denied boarding because the flight was overbooked follows the same logic — you are entitled to compensation and care, and airlines must first ask for volunteers.