ANA Flight Delayed or Cancelled? Your Rights & How to Claim

If your ANA (All Nippon Airways) flight is delayed by 3 or more hours, or cancelled with less than 14 days' notice, you may be entitled to cash compensation of up to €600 per person. Whether that applies depends on where your flight departs from.

When EU261 Applies to ANA Flights

EU Regulation 261/2004 covers flights that depart from an airport in the European Union or the United Kingdom, regardless of which airline operates them. That means:

• Covered: Your ANA flight from Frankfurt, London, or Paris to Tokyo is delayed.
• Not covered: Your ANA flight from Tokyo to London is delayed (departure is outside EU/UK).

If you fly ANA purely within Japan or on a route departing Japan, EU261 does not apply. In that case, ANA's own domestic policies and Japan's aviation consumer rules govern your situation.

UK261 (the UK's post-Brexit equivalent) applies identically for flights departing UK airports.

How Much Compensation You Can Claim

The amount depends on flight distance, measured as the straight-line distance between departure and final destination:

ANA routes between Europe and Japan are long-haul (well over 3,500 km), so most international claims fall in the €600 bracket.

The airline can refuse compensation if the disruption was caused by "extraordinary circumstances": severe weather, air traffic control strikes, a security incident, or a medical emergency onboard. A technical fault discovered before departure does not automatically count as extraordinary.

Your Rights During a Delay

While you wait, ANA must provide care free of charge if your delay reaches the following thresholds:

• 2 hours or more: Meals and refreshments (or meal vouchers), plus two free phone calls, emails, or faxes.
• 5 hours or more: You can choose a full refund of your unused ticket instead of travelling. ANA must also offer a return flight to your original departure point if you started a connecting journey.
• Overnight delay: Hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel.

Keep every receipt. If ANA does not provide these things on the spot, you can claim reasonable costs back later.

How to Claim

Step 1: Document everything. Screenshot the delay notification, keep your boarding pass, and save any receipts for food, transport, or accommodation you paid out of pocket.

Step 2: Submit directly to ANA. Use ANA's online compensation portal at ana.co.jp (search "compensation portal" on their site). You will need your booking reference and flight details. ANA states that processing takes approximately two weeks to confirm application details.

Step 3: If ANA refuses or doesn't respond. You can escalate to the national enforcement body in the EU country of departure (for example, the UK Civil Aviation Authority for UK flights), or use a claims service such as AirAdvisor or AirHelp, which work on a no-win no-fee basis (they typically take 25 to 35 pct of the compensation).

Time limit: Claim windows vary by country. In the UK, you have 6 years; in Germany, 3 years; in France, 5 years. File sooner rather than later.

Refunds for Cancelled Flights

If your ANA flight is cancelled and you choose not to travel, you are entitled to a full refund of your ticket (including taxes and fees), regardless of the fare type, under EU261. ANA must process this within 7 days for EU-departing flights.

For non-EU routes, ANA's own refund processing typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. Refunds go back to the original payment method. If you paid with miles (an ANA Mileage Club award), the miles are reinstated but processing via the award refund system may take a similar timeframe.

If your flight was cancelled more than 14 days before departure, you get a full refund or rebooking, but no additional cash compensation under EU261.