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If the airline or travel agency goes bankrupt

What protects you depends on how you booked: a package holiday is covered if the company goes bankrupt; a flight on its own isn’t. What to do in each case.

General information, not legal advice. What you’re entitled to depends on your trip, the country, the carrier and the rules in force. If your case is complicated, check with the relevant authority or a professional. More in the terms of use.

It depends on how you booked

  • If it was a package holiday (for example, flight and hotel together, or an agency package), the company must have insolvency protection: a fund, insurance or another mechanism that refunds what you paid and, if needed, brings you home.
  • If they were linked travel arrangements, you have fewer rights than with a package, but that insolvency protection too.
  • In Spain, organisers and agencies must have an insolvency guarantee that covers what you paid and repatriation.
  • If you only bought the flight, package travel protection doesn’t cover you: it doesn’t apply to services booked separately.
Package travel

What to do

  1. If it was a package or you booked through a third party, contact the organiser or the agency.
  2. If you bought the ticket from the airline, contact the airline.
  3. If you paid by card, contact your bank or card issuer.
  4. If you have travel insurance that covers it, claim from the insurer.
  5. You can always go to court.

If you’re left without a flight home

With a package, the organiser or its guarantee brings you home. If you bought the flight directly from the airline, you have to arrange the journey home yourself: keep all receipts and claim the costs from your insurance, if you have it.

None of the official sources we have read gives specific protection to a flight booked on its own if the airline goes bankrupt. What you have left is claiming from the airline, your bank or your insurance.

More traveller rights and rules

You may also need

Official sources

Last reviewed: 19 October 2026