General information
You will have air passenger rights to the EU, Iceland and Norway when:
- The flight departs from an EU Member State, Iceland, Norway or the UK. The rules apply to all of the airlines from or outside the EU, but the ECC can only assist you, if the company is registered in a state of EU, Iceland, Norway or the UK.
- The flight is from a non-EU country and is operated by a company based in the EU, Iceland, Norway or the UK.
The regulation does not apply to passengers who did not check-in and boarded on time, or to travellers who did not have a confirmed reservation or were not provided with the necessary travel documents (e.g. passport, visa, if necessary).
If the flight is delayed at the airport of departure, you are entitled to care or reimbursement of the ticket fare, depending on the distance of the flight and the length of the delay. If your flight is delayed by more than 3 hours upon arrival, you may also be entitled to additional monetary compensation.
When are you entitled to late flight compensation?
You don’t have the right to make a claim to the airline for every delayed flight. The legislation explicitly defines the cases when assistance may be sought:
|
Flight type |
Up to 1500 km. |
1500 km - 3500 km |
Over 3500 km |
All flights |
|
Delay time upon departure |
> 2 hours |
> 3 hours |
> 4 hours |
> 5 hours |
|
Right to care |
Free meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation, transport to and back from the hotel, 2 free phone calls; |
Right of flight cancellation |
||
|
Delay time upon arrival |
More than 3 hours* |
- |
||
|
Monetary compensation* |
€ 250 |
€ 400 |
€ 600 |
A full refund of the ticket price
|
* If you arrive at your final destination with a delay of more than 3 hours, you are entitled to additional monetary compensation unless the delay is due to extraordinary circumstances. The air carrier must prove this by presenting, for example, excerpts from the logbook or the like. The air carrier should provide you with this evidence following the national provisions on access to information.
If your flight is delayed by more than 5 hours, the airline should allow you to cancel the travel and reimburse you for the money paid for the tickets. The refund must be made within 7 days of the date on which the trip was to take place.
What do extraordinary circumstances mean?
Extraordinary circumstances are those, which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken by the airline. Some of them include:
-
Bad weather (for instance, heavy storms or snowfall)
-
Risks related to passenger’s safety (threats, attacks)
-
Political instability;
Using our flight calculator you can check your rights yourself for air traffic problems. Using this tool is easy and free, and you just need to enter the starting and ending points for your journey. You can find the flight calculator here.
The air carrier is obliged to provide you with care, even if the flight is delayed because of extraordinary circumstances.
If the carrier does not provide you with care, you may have to pay for them yourself - but these costs must be within reasonable limits. With such a hypothesis, keeping all receipts and other related documents is a good idea, so that you can then claim reimbursement.
When the delay is big, taking a photo of the flight board at the airport is best.
It’s important to know that you are not eligible for care if you cancel the trip with the airline.
How to file a complaint?
If you have a dispute with an airline from another EU, Iceland or Norway country, you first have to file a complaint with the carrier. He has 6 to 8 weeks to answer you.
If your flight is a part of a package, first you need to get in touch with your tour operator. If you are unsatisfied with the answer, you may file a complaint within the Network ECC-Net. We will get in touch with the airline and through negotiations, we will try to find a voluntary solution to the problem.
To assist us in handling your complaint, please enclose to it every necessary document – a copy of your ticket, receipts, and written correspondence with the airline.
Our ECC network strives to resolve the complaints within 70 days of submitting all documents and accepting the case.
Useful links:
List of addresses for direct complaints to the airline
List with the National Enforcement Bodies
NEB “Directorate General, Civil Aviation Administration“