Breaking News

Slump in Aer Lingus long-haul traffic 08/02/10
Calls for review on child asylum seekers 08/02/10
Lee leaves Dáil and Fine Gael 08/02/10
Famous stately home damaged in blaze 08/02/10
Pub investigated in Sligo pub raid 08/02/10
AIB charges 40,000 clients by mistake 08/02/10

Airline passengers welcome new compensation rules

New European ruling means passengers delayed by over three hours can claim compensation - 25/11/09

AIRLINE passengers whose flights are delayed by more than three hours are set to receive the same compensation as those whose flights are cancelled when travelling in Europe.

Last week, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg said that passengers whose flights were significantly delayed should be entitled to up to 600 Euros.

Under existing EU rules passengers whose flights are delayed by up to five hours are entitled to a meal and phone call and if needed a hotel room overnight.

If the flight is delayed by more than five hours or cancelled completely, passengers can demand a full refund.

The ruling in Luxembourg has gone significantly further in not only reducing the threshold to three hours, but ruling that the compensation should be pitched at the same level as if the flight was cancelled completely.

The Luxembourg-based court stated it would be unfair to treat passengers suffering delays of more than three hours differently.

The ruling came in a judgment clarifying a five-year-old EU regulation which grants flat-rate compensation for cancelled flights of between 250 euros and 600 euros (£223 to £535).

Airlines are renowned for stonewalling those who would apply for compensation, particularly passengers who seek payment for long delays.

The

European Court

said airlines were only exempt from paying compensation if they could prove the delay was “due to exceptional circumstances” outside of the company’s control.

It stressed that a technical problem could not be considered as an exceptional circumstance unless it followed an incident unconnected with the normal running of an airline, such as an aircraft being sabotaged.

“Passengers on a flight which is cancelled at short notice have a right to compensation, even when they are rerouted by the airline on another flight, if they lose three hours or more in relation to the duration originally planned,” the ruling said.

“There is no justification for treating passengers whose flight is delayed any differently when they reach their final destination three hours or more after the scheduled arrival time.”