CaY 1-x Eu x TiNbO 7 compositions with pyrochlore structure were synthesized by solid state reaction technique and photoluminescence was studied. Photoluminescence emission results reveal that the 5 D 0 → 7 F 1 magnetic dipole transition has higher intensity indicating that Eu 3+ occupies a centrosymmetric site in the host lattice. The critical concentration of Eu 3+ was found to be x=0.5. The CaY 0.5 Eu 0.5 TiNbO 7 phase shows higher orange-red emission when compared to that of commercial red phosphor, Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ . © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim