problem I had a flight cancellation, can I claim compensation?

 

Problems with cancelled flights

In our recent survey of 2079 UK adults, problems with delays and cancellations came out as top in a list of people’s holiday gripes. 

If you have had problems with flight cancellations, read on for our advice. 

Your cancelled flight rights

If you’re flying from an EU airport (on any airline) or from a non-EU country into an EU airport on an EU-based airline, then you are protected by the Denied Boarding Regulation.

The regulation states that the airline has an obligation to offer you compensation and assistance if your flight delay is expected to go beyond a certain point.

If you’re travelling with a non-EU based airline flying from a non-EU destination, the airline doesn’t have the same duty to look after you. 

Check the airline’s Conditions of Carriage to see what you are entitled to.

Denied Boarding Regulation

The Denied Boarding Regulation applies if:

• You have a confirmed booking
• You checked in on time, or if no check-in time was given, then at least 45 minutes before your flight was scheduled to depart
• You’re departing from an EU airport, or from a non-EU airport and flying into an EU airport on a ‘community carrier’ (an airline with its headquarters and main place of business within the EU. That includes all European discount and no-frills airlines)

Refunds on cancelled flights

If you are protected by the Denied Boarding Regulations you are entitled to:

• A refund within seven days of the full cost of the flight. If your flight wasn’t direct and was cancelled part-way through, you are entitled to a flight back to your original point of departure or to be refunded in full
• Re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity
• Re-routing to your final destination at a later date convenient to you

You are also entitled to assistance:

• Two free phone calls, faxes or emails
• Free meals and refreshments appropriate to the delay
• Free hotel accommodation and hotel transfers if an overnight stay is required

Can I get financial compensation?

Summary

When your flight is cancelled, you are protected by the Denied Boarding Regulations. The amount of compensation you’re entitled to depends on how far you were going to fly and what (if any) alternative flights were offered to you by the airline

It also depends on the reason for and timing of the cancellation – but don’t be fobbed off with poor excuses!

Re-routing  The first thing to note is that you don’t have a right to compensation if you’re offered re-routing on a flight that leaves no more than one hour before the original flight booked and is scheduled to arrive no more than two hours later than the original flight. 

If you are not offered a flight that falls within these time frames, or if you’re offered no alternative flight at all, you can claim compensation.

Extraordinary circumstances  If the airline can prove the delay was caused by ‘extraordinary circumstances exist’, then no compensation is payable. 

Extraordinary circumstances are situations beyond the control of the airline, for example, security risk, political instability or severe weather that makes flying dangerous. 

The ‘extraordinary circumstances’ defence does not affect your other rights to assistance (as outlined above).

Extraordinary circumstances

Examples of extraordinary circumstances include unforeseen disruption arising from war or political instability of any kind where travel is not recommended, or removal of an unruly passenger from the aircraft for security reasons. 

Airlines may argue that technical faults constitute extraordinary circumstances but they can’t do so if the technical fault was due to a lack of maintenance.

A court ruling in June 2014 against airline Jet2 has helped clarify the situation with a consumer winning a case after a flight delay was caused by faulty wiring and the airline claimed this was an extraordinary circumstance. 

November 2014 update

Jet2 had applied to appeal this ruling at the Supreme Court. However the appeal has been rejected.

Many airlines had been telling passengers, who made claims after technical issues delayed or cancelled their flight, that a decision on paying compensation was on hold until this ruling.  

The hold on these claims has now been lifted, potentially opening the floodgates for many new claims.

Compensation for airline strikes  

These are also usually included in the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ category.  

However, a European Court of Justice ruling on 4 October 2012 against Finnair stated that airlines should compensate passengers if they are denied boarding because of a strike the day after the strike takes place. 

The ruling against Finnair said extraordinary circumstances applied only to a ‘particular aircraft on a particular day’ and not to later flights that were rescheduled as a result of flights affected by an event such as a strike.

Cancelling before the day of departure  If your flight is cancelled with up to seven days to go, it’s the same position as if the flight was cancelled on the day. 

You don’t have a right to fixed compensation if you are offered re-routing on a flight that leaves no more than one hour before the original flight, and is scheduled to arrive no more than two hours later than the original flight.

If your flight is cancelled between seven and 14 days before you were due to fly, you don’t have a right to fixed compensation, as long as you are offered re-routing on a flight that leaves no more than two hours before the original flight booked, and you’re scheduled to arrive no more than four hours later than the original flight.

If a flight is cancelled more than 14 days in advance you’re only entitled to a refund and no compensation.

When to challenge a decision  It’s worth challenging your airline if you don’t agree that there were extraordinary circumstances. 

For example, if you’re told you can’t fly due to weather conditions, but other flights are departing. 

Airlines may stretch the definition of extraordinary circumstances further than they should.

If you feel aggrieved by the airline, then contact the Civil Aviation Authority and seek their assistance. They may be able to intervene on your behalf.

Please note the Civil Aviation Authority can only help you if the flight was cancelled or delayed within the UK. 

If your flight was cancelled or delayed outside the UK, you will need to complain to the airline regulator in the country the delay occurred in. 

Financial compensation levels

The Denied Boarding Regulation says flight refunds and compensation payments should be made within seven days by cash, electronic bank transfers, bank orders or bank cheques, or, only with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers and/or other services.  

The minimum amount of compensation the airline must give you is set out in the Denied Boarding Regulation. 

The amount you should get depends on the length of your flight and, if you are put on another flight, how late you are in getting to your final destination. 

Use the table below as a guide.

If you want to claim compensation for a cancelled flight, you can use our letter template.

Compensation for flight cancellations

The amount you should get depends on the length of your flight and, if you are put on another flight, how late you are in getting to your final destination.