Delayed flights gets more and more common. The air industry have not yet fully recovered from the Covid-19. As an example the danish air control agency lack of air controller delayed 45 % of al planes last month. Your rights differs depending on where you fly and where your airline is registered. This post will learn you the rights for a flight departing or landing inside EU and is operated by a carrier licensed in an EU country. The rights and possibilities in other region may differs widely.
Extraordinary circumstances
Its not al delayed flights that gives you right to compensation. If the delay is an consequence of extraordinary circumstances you will not get any compensation. But what is an extraordinary circumstances? Many airlines tried for years to impose that mechanical failures was considered as an extraordinary circumstances. But today the EU-court have judged that this is not the case.
The list below shows you whats considered as extraordinary circumstances.
- Weather conditions incompatible with the safe operation of the flight
- Strikes (unrelated to the airline such as airport staff, ground handlers, air traffic control or border force)
- Acts of terrorism or sabotage
- Security risks
- Political or civil unrest
- Hidden manufacturing defects (a manufacturer recall that grounds a fleet of aircraft
So if anything of this happens you will not get any compensation. Independent of how long the delay is. Its clearly not the airlines fault and by that reason they can’t be hold responsible.
How much will you get?
So your flight face some delay and its not because of extraordinary circumstances. Then the next thing you need to make sure is that you arrive at your destination more then 3 hours delayed. If your flight is delayed less then 3 hours you will not get any compensation. How much you will get is connected to the flight distance and not the time as long as its over 3 hours.
Amount in EUR | Distance |
---|---|
250 | 1 500 km or less |
400 | More than 1 500 km within the EU and all other flights between 1 500 and 3 500 km |
600 | More than 3 500 km |
The most easy way to make a claim for a delayed flight is to do it on the airlines homepage. But you can also send the Air passenger rights EU complaint form. After you complained the airline have two months on them to decide if you will get compensation or not. If it take longer time or you are disappointed on the outcome you can contact the national authorities to get your case to the next level. There is also special lawfirms that have specialized on air delays that can help you. Usually they take a part of the paid compensations for their job.
Blogging and creating content demands time and money. So please make an contribution