Flight delay and flight cancellation

Right to compensation in the event of flight cancellation or denied boarding!
There you are with your sunny mood and your hand luggage. Do you think about a day with a cocktail in your hand sitting on an Australian beach and then you read on the signs that your flight has been cancelled. There goes your good mood. Under various circumstances, you are entitled to compensation if you experience problems before or during a flight. For example, you are entitled to compensation in the event of denied boarding or if your flight is cancelled. For the rights of air passengers, a law has been drawn up within the European Union; the European Regulation 261/2004. This law protects you when your flight is delayed, overbooked or cancelled and the law determines what kind of compensation you are entitled to.

If your flight has been cancelled or your boarding has been refused, please feel free to contact one of our expert AGA lawyers for a 1st free intake interview.
Call: 040-8444523

Flight delay: are you entitled to compensation?
Even if your flight is delayed, you may be entitled to compensation. The right to compensation in the event of a flight delay is subject to a number of rules that are shown below.

Difference inside or outside Europe
What many people do not know is that it matters whether you fly with an airline from outside or from Europe. Are you delayed and flying with an airline from outside the EU? Then you can only claim compensation if you leave from an EU member state. It may sound crazy, but if you fly with Singapore Airlines from Amsterdam to Thailand, for example, you can claim compensation. Not on your return trip from Thailand to Amsterdam. If, on the other hand, you fly with an airline from the EU, for example with KLM, then it does not matter.

Departure and arrival
If you are delayed, take a picture of the sign indicating the delay. Then you can at least prove it. Keep in mind that you may be delayed or deceleared during the flight. It is therefore possible that you are entitled to compensation on departure but no longer on arrival. The time of arrival applies.

Compensation
Airlines must, under certain circumstances, pay financial compensation to the passenger in the event of a delay. For all EU flights, if you are delayed by more than three hours, you are entitled to financial compensation. That compensation can vary from 250 to 600 euros. Nowadays, people often book cheap flights through low-cost carriers. So it may even mean that the amount for compensation for the delay is higher than your ticket price.

Force majeure
The airline does not have to give financial compensation in the event of force majeure. Force majeure occurs in the event of abnormal and unforeseen circumstances, for example a natural disaster or dense fog. The airline must or be able to prove the force majeure. As a rule, a technical defect is not force majeure. So even in the event of a technical defect, you as a passenger may be entitled to compensation, even though airlines often indicate that this is not the case.

Only if there are hidden manufacturing defects, sabotage or terrorism can a company invoke force majeure and no compensation has to be paid to the consumer. In the event of other technical problems, the passenger is entitled to compensation of 250 to 600 euros (depending on the distance), if the delay lasts longer than three hours.

Court of Justice
For example, the European Court of Justice has ruled that KLM must pay compensation of € 600 to a Dutch passenger after a delay of 29 hours. KLM first refused to pay compensation because of force majeure. 

The delay was unavoidable, because both the fuel pump and a hydraulic unit of the aircraft unexpectedly broke down at the airport of Quito (Ecuador). Replacement parts therefore had to be flown in first. KLM could not be blamed on that basis, according to the airline. However, the Court of Appeal ruled that technical defects in aviation are part of normal business operations. Defective parts due to wear and tear are therefore at the risk of the airline. The passenger is protected in such a case, according to the court.

The role of AGA Lawyers
A lawyer of AGA Lawyers offers assistance in most cases within consumer law. In the event of a consumer law conflict, an expert lawyer is at your side. Together with you, the lawyer determines the right approach and ensures the best possible solution and result. Advising, mediating, litigating, negotiating or drafting legal documents, AGA lawyers arrange it for you.

Contact AGA Lawyers
The consumer lawyers of AGA Lawyers can do a lot for you, such as guiding you throughout the entire process. Feel free to contact one of our expert lawyers for a 1st free intake interview.

TELEPHONE: 040-8444523 (1st intake interview free of charge and without obligation) (Available Mon to Fri between 09.00h and 21.00h). We can also be reached by e-mail:
E-MAIL:  info@agajuristen.nl or contact form on the right side of our website.

More information
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