FAQs - Air passenger rights
A European airline recently lost my baggage. I complained to the airline, but am not fully satisfied with their reaction. Can I complain to someone else?
YES - For a cross-border flight, you can contact your country's European Consumer Centre. For a domestic flight, contact a national consumer centre in your country.
When booking a flight recently, I was shocked, when it came to pay, to see the final cost once taxes and charges had been added. Surely, airlines are supposed to make the total price of the ticket, including taxes and charges, visible from the start?
YES - and the cost of each item (the fare, taxes, charges, surcharges and fees) must be clearly displayed.
If I am travelling from outside the EU, e.g. from the USA to Paris, do I have any rights if my flight is cancelled?
YES - EU passenger rights apply in this case if your flight is operated by a carrier licensed in an EU country. If your flight is operated by a non-EU carrier, you may have rights under the relevant law of the country where the carrier is licensed.
I booked a flight to Barcelona from Rome. Due to heavy traffic, I arrived at the airport late but just before the gates closed for the flight. I was not allowed to board the flight. Do I have any rights?
NO - as you did not comply with the requirement to present yourself for check-in within the time stipulated.
Is there a time limit within which I can bring legal action for compensation for a cancelled flight?
This depends on national law in each European country and will therefore vary throughout the EU. Check with the National Enforcement body in the country concerned or a national consumer centre for more information.
Do I have any rights if miss a connecting flight?
YES - if the flights are part of a single reservation, and you arrive at your final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more, and the delay is not due to extraordinary circumstances, you are entitled to financial compensation.
My flight is due to depart from Berlin this morning but I have just received a text from the airline advising that the flight has been cancelled. Do I have any rights?
YES - you have rights under EU rules. You are entitled to reimbursement of the full cost of your ticket for the part of your journey not made or re-routing at the earliest opportunity. If you are already at the airport and you opt for re-routing, you are also entitled to meals and refreshments in proportion to your waiting time, and two telephone calls, texts or emails. You are also entitled to overnight accommodation if you are to be re-routed the day after your planned flight and, depending on the circumstances, to monetary compensation.
If the aircraft has a technical defect, can it be considered as "extraordinary circumstances"?
NO – a technical problem which comes to light during normal aircraft maintenance or
is caused by the failure to correctly maintain an aircraft cannot be regarded as "extraordinary
circumstances".
YES - if the technical defect was related to an incident which was not caused by the
normal activity of air carriers and falls outside their control due its nature or
origin. For example a hidden manufacturing defect uncovered by the aircraft manufacturer
or by a competent authority, or damage to the aircraft caused by acts of sabotage
or terrorism would qualify as extraordinary circumstances.
My flight was delayed and I arrived 4 hours late at my destination. Am I entitled to financial compensation?
YES - if you arrive at your final destination with a delay of 3 hours or more, you may be entitled to financial compensation, as long as the delay was not caused by extraordinary circumstances. If your flight is delayed for two hours or more at departure, the airline must offer you care (meals and refreshments and, if necessary accommodation). If this delay means that, you arrive at your final destination with a delay of more than 3 hours you may also be entitled to financial compensation.
When I arrived at the check-in, I was informed that my Brussels-Warsaw flight had been cancelled. I opted not to travel and was told that the cost of my ticket would be refunded and that I would receive financial compensation. Weeks later I still have received nothing. Is there a time limit for payment of refunds and compensation?
YES - you should have received the refund of the cost of your ticket within seven days of the cancellation. Payment of compensation depends on the reason for the cancelled flight but the EU rules do not provide for a deadline for payment of compensation.
Am I entitled to compensation only for flights that were cancelled or can I also get compensation for delayed flights?
Both. With cancelled/delayed flights, you won't receive compensation if the cancellation/delay was due to extraordinary circumstances for example due to bad weather. Where the cancellation/delay was due to extraordinary circumstances, you may not have the right to compensation, but the carrier must still offer you assistance (reimbursement or re-routing) and care (meals and/or accommodation) while you are waiting for alternative transport.
My flight was cancelled due to a strike by airline staff. What are my rights? Am I entitled to financial compensation?
Regardless of the circumstances, if your flight is cancelled you always have the right to one of the following options: reimbursement of your ticket, re-routing or a return flight as well as the right to assistance.
You may also have a right to compensation (if you were informed less than 14 days prior to the scheduled departure date). However, compensation is not due if the carrier can prove that the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances.
A strike organised by trade union staff of an air carrier that is intended to support workers’ demands does not constitute an ‘extraordinary circumstance’. Therefore, internal strike action does not release the airline from its obligation to pay compensation in the event of cancellation or long delay of flights. However, strikes ‘external’ to the airline, such as strike action taken by air traffic controllers or airport staff, may constitute an extraordinary circumstance.
If the airline does not provide you with a satisfactory explanation, you can contact your national authorityPDF for further assistance.
I bought my flight ticket from airline X but I ended up travelling on a flight with airline Y. In the event of an incident, to which airline should I address my complaint? Which one is responsible?
The operating airline might not be the one which actually flies you to your destination.
However, they are responsible if things go wrong, so you should always address your
complaint to the operating airline.
For code-share flights - flights sold by various airlines but operated by one - airline
Y is responsible.
For wet leases – leasing arrangements where the operating airline X leases an airplane
and the entire crew from airline Y - airline X is responsible.
The airline changed the departure time and my flight now leaves earlier than originally scheduled. What can I do?
We had booked a flight to Venice, but the airline changed our flight's destination and we landed in Bologna. We had to organise our own transport to Venice. What are our rights?
According to EU rules, a flight which is diverted to another airport, which does
not serve the same town, city or region as the airport for which the booking was made,
has to be treated as a cancelled flight. By landing in Bologna instead of Venice the
airline cancelled your flight to Venice, since the Bologna airport does not serve
the same town, city or region as the Venice airport. You have the same rights as in
case of a flight cancellation; in addition, you can claim the costs you incurred for
getting to Venice.
Had the airline provided for your onward transport to Venice, e.g. by bus or taxi,
the flight would have been considered delayed.
We were supposed to depart from Amsterdam, but the flight now leaves from Düsseldorf? How is this to be treated?
The situation where a carrier decides to have a flight depart from a different airport than originally scheduled should be treated in the same way as a flight diversion to a different airport. The flight is considered as cancelled unless the airline provides for the transfer of passengers from the airport originally scheduled to the new airport of departure.