Dear Sir,

We have well received your e-mail.

- For your information, the competence of our body is restricted to monitoring the application of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91. Thus, it is not our responsibility to investigate your complaint in connection with contractual responsibility, the Montreal Convention or under Directive 90/314/EEC on fixed price journeys which could, if need be, be applied in the Courts and Tribunals.

In case of flight cancellation, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 requires that the operating air carrier offers passengers:

1° the choice between either ticket reimbursement for the part or parts of the journey not made and the part or parts of the journey already made and now of no use in view of their initial journey plans, as well as where necessary, a return flight to their point of departure, and alternatively a re-routing to their final destination in equivalent transport conditions and as quickly as possible (or, at the passengers’ convenience, at a later date) (Article 8);

In its present form, Regulation (EC) 261/2004 itself does not specify whether airlines should reroute passengers via others carriers or by surface transport if there is no alternative flight available on their own aircraft. The concept of “rerouting” is open to diverging interpretations.For your information, this Regulation will be probably revised. A preliminary draft from the European Commission stipulates that : "Where passengers choose the option referred to in paragraph 1(b), they shall, subject to availability, have the right to re-routing via another air carrier or another mode of transport where the operating air carrier cannot transport the passenger on its own services and in time to arrive at the final destination within 12 hours of the scheduled arrival time."

2° assistance under Article 9, namely refreshments and the possibility of sufficient catering in view of the waiting time, a hotel stay where a wait of several nights is necessary, transport between the airport and the place of stay, as well as two free telephone calls (or fax, email, telex);

3° financial compensation is also due, unless the passenger is informed of the cancellation within a certain time limit (Article 5(1)) or the airline is able to prove that the cancellation is due to extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken (Article 5(3)). There is unfortunately no comprehensive list for the meaning of extraordinary circumstances. Each situation should be examined individually.

The amount of compensation depends on the distance of the flight. For a flight of less than 1500 kilometres, the amount is EUR 250 per passenger. This amount is nonetheless reduced by 50% if the time of arrival is no more than 2 hours after the arrival time initially planned.

Article 5 of Regulation :
The passengers have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 7, unless:
(i) they are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or
(ii) they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival; or
(iii) they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.

- If you think that the response of BMI Regional is unsatisfactory, you may complain to our department. In this case, we would like to ask you to complete the electronic complaint form. You can find it on the website: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/passen...nt_form_en.pdf

Kindly return it to [email protected]. Please include with your complaint a copy of all correspondence exchanged with the airline, a copy of your airline tickets, as well as a copy of all supporting documentation for expenses for which you are requesting reimbursement (in pdf format).

Your case will not be dealt with until the completed complaint form has been received. Thank you for your understanding.

For your information, our organisation has no authority to compensate passengers in place of air transporters. The compensation of passengers - when due - falls to the airline.

We would like to bring to your attention the fact that our organisation, while it is able to invite the competent authorities to issue a report in view of sanctioning the failings of the transporters under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, if found, it does not however possess any power to oblige airlines to compensate passengers. It falls to passengers wishing to take their request for compensation further, to go to, if necessary, the competent court of law for resolution of the dispute. Indeed, where you have suffered loss or damage, only the national courts can awards damages.

Yours faithfully