Flight compensation for a departure from Germany is EU law, not a house rule of any German airline. Leave Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, or Hamburg and a three-hour late arrival, a late cancellation, or involuntary denied boarding can pay €250, €400, or €600. Lufthansa, Eurowings, Ryanair, Turkish Airlines, and a Gulf carrier pushing back in Frankfurt are in the same regulation if the flight leaves Germany. This is not a report on any airline's customer service.
The operating carrier is the one that matters
A ticket sold by one airline and flown by another is normal at these hubs. Compensation follows the operating carrier: the airline whose flight number and crew actually ran the sector. If Lufthansa sold a flight that a partner airline operated, read the boarding pass before you write to the wrong claims desk. The reverse happens too.
That is a paperwork point, not an accusation. Every EU airline is under EC 261/2004 on a departure from Germany. Extraordinary circumstances, a storm or an air-traffic restriction the airline could not avoid, still defeat the fixed sum. They do not remove the duty to offer a refund or a reroute, or care while you wait.
| Distance | If you arrive 3 hours late or more |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 |
| 1,500 to 3,500 km | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km | €600, sometimes halved if you arrive under 4 hours late |
There is no single European filing deadline. Do not rely on a number you saw on a forum. Send the claim while you still have the passes. AirHelp will look at a German departure on the same no-win terms as any other EU airport: 35% of what they recover, VAT included, and nothing if they recover nothing. Details are on their fees page.
I connected in Frankfurt on one ticket and missed the long-haul.
Look at the arrival time at the final city on that ticket. A short delay into the hub that wrecks the connection can still be a long delay at the end. Two separate tickets are a different problem.