Post 3
Right to compensation (Article 7 of EC261):
Note: compensation payments below shown in Euros now have have fixed equivalent in Pounds Sterling. The actual currency of compensation depends on flight specifics, see post 8.
Q1: When am I entitled to compensation?
A1: You are entitled to compensation if you are involuntarily denied boarding or if your flight is delayed more than 3 hours. Delays under 3 hours are not eligible for compensation. In case of cancellation, you are also entitled to compensation in the following circumstances:a) You are given less than 7 days’ notice of the cancellation and you are offered rerouting which leaves more than an hour earlier than originally scheduled or arrives at your final destination more than 2 hours later than originally scheduled.
b) You are given between two weeks and 7 days’ notice of the cancellation and you are offered rerouting which leaves more than 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled or arrives at your final destination more than 4 hours later than originally scheduled.
Q2: How much compensation am I owed?
A2: Compensation varies depending on the distance of the flight, the standard amount is shown below. In addition, if by re-routing you the delayed arrival at final destination (compared to original schedule) is below a certain threshold, the airline can reduced the amounts by half (Reduced Amount), as per the table below. NOTE: If it was a simple delay, and no other complication such as rerouting, then a delay below 3 hours, even for short haul, gets
NO COMPENSATION! If there is a cancellation or rerouting, then compensation MAY be payable for delays below 3 hours.
Q3: In the case of a multi-leg itinerary, how is the distance calculated to determine the length of the ‘flight’?
A3: The regulation states that the relevant distance is calculated on the basis of the ‘last destination at which the denial of boarding or cancellation will delay the passenger’s arrival after the scheduled time’. In other words, the relevant distance is calculated up to the point where the passenger ‘catches up’ with the original itinerary, if at all.
Q4: In the case of a multi-leg itinerary, how is the delay calculated to determine whether the delay is greater than three hours and gives rise to compensation?
A4: According to the European Court of Justice in the
Sturgeon case, it is the time of arrival at final destination taht matters. Thus, even if the original flight is delayed less than three hours, if that initial delay results in a misconnection with the consequence that the passenger arrives at final destination more than three hours later than originally planned, the passenger is in principle entitled to compensation.
Q5: Are there circumstances where the airline can refuse compensation?
A5: Yes: these are referred to in the Regulation as “extraordinary circumstances”. There is no definitive list of extraordinary circumstances. Broadly speaking, extraordinary circumstances are events that are outside the airline’s control and the concept also implies a departure from what can be expected in the normal course of operation.
As a rough rule of thumb, events such as weather delays, ATC delays, cancellations due to strikes or to political instability (war, terrorism threats, etc...),are usually regarded as constituting extraordinary circumstances. Even then, however, each case must be looked at on its merits to ascertain the “extraordinary” character of the event.
Q6: do delays and cancellations due to mechanical problems with the aircraft constitute “extraordinary circumstances”?
A6: the same principle applies for technical problems as for other extraordinary circumstances: ‘ordinary’ technical problems that occur in the normal course of business are not regarded as extraordinary circumstances. On the other hand, a delay that would result, for instance, of damage to the aircraft due to sabotage or terrorism, or a request by Boeing or Airbus to review certain mechanisms on all aircrafts of a particular model following the discovery of a hidden defect would constitute an ‘extraordinary circumstance”.
In practice, therefore, most mechanical problems are unlikely to constitute extraordinary circumstances.
Q7: I volunteered to be off-loaded in an overbooking situation and I was given less than the amounts indicated here. Can I claim for more now?
A7: In principle, no: the amounts of compensation specified in the Regulation apply to involuntary denials of boarding. If you volunteer to be offloaded, you are not involuntarily denied boarding. What you are entitled to is what you agreed with the agent when volunteering to be off-loaded. That said, if the airline did not inyou of your rights under R261/2004 and, as a consequence, you accepted less, you could claim the difference between what you have been offered and what you would have been entitled to under the Regulation.