Originally Posted by
DeaconFlyer
As referenced by a few posters above, CO has very specific rules about flight delays on flights from the EU. If you read them, you will see that a 4.5 hour delay doesn't call for anything more than a few meal vouchers.
CO interprets the rules, but they don't set them. They are set by the EU. Recent EU court decisions have held that delays that are not beyond the control of the airline (which is key and is a difficult thing to argue either way) and exceed four hours are subject to the compensation provisions in EU261/2004.