Flight Delay Compensation Claim

Flight Delay Compensation in the UK - http://flightdelayscompensationclaim....

Flight delay compensation is valid for delayed flights of more than three hours or if your flight is cancelled, or you are denied boarding, subject to certain rules and regulations.

EU261 Compensation applicable to the United Kingdom

The flight compensation rules and regulations are laid out under EU rule 261/2004. People are often entitled to flight compensation of between €250 and €600. The amount of flight compensation is dependent on the distance and destination of the flight concerned.

The EU261 Regulation establishes minimum rights for passengers when:

(a) they are denied boarding against their will;
(b) their flight is cancelled;
(c) their flight is delayed.

The EU regulation 261 explains how each of these compensation claims can be made.

With regards to flight delay claims, the following main rules apply for compensation:

Which airline and airports are affected by flight delay claims?

The flight must have DEPARTED from an EU airport, operating by ANY airline; In this case the EU airport would include Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Liverpool, Stansted, Bristol or any other UK airport; Or
It must be ARRIVING into an EU airport and be operated by an EU airline. The airlines would include British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Thomson, Jet2, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, Flybe and Virgin Atlantic.

The time of delay and rules about the delayed flight

The flight delay needs to be at least three hours late. But the flight delay relates to the time of arrival at the destination airport for flight delay claim to be eligible for compensation.
Flights that depart late by more than three hours, but that arrive late by less than three hours are not eligible for flight delay compensation.
So for example, a flight that departs 3 hours and 20 minute late, but arrives 2 hours and 59 minutes late; this flight would not be eligible for a flight delay compensation claim.

Amount of flight delay compensation

The amount of flight compensation depends on the distance traveled. But in all cases the delayed arrival must be more than 3 hours, as follows:

Flight delays of under 1,500 kilometers - €250
Delayed flight of between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometers - €400
Flight delays of more than 1,500 kilometers and within the EU - €400

Flight delays of between three to four hours

Flight delays of more than 3,500 kilometers, between EU and non-EU airports - €300

Delays of more than four hours

Flight delays of more than 3,500 kilometers, between EU and non-EU airports - €600

Fault of the delay plays a role in the flight delay claim

If the delayed arrival is not the airlines fault, then no flight delay claim can be made.
If the delayed arrival is the airlines fault, then a flight delay compensation claim can be made.

Do the airlines have to pay up flight compensation?

Not all airlines accept the claims made for delayed flight compensation.
The can turn the claims down under certain circumstances.
An overriding principle is that the airlines have a duty of care to all their passengers.

How to make delayed flight claims

To make a flight delay compensation claim you need to write to the airline; or
Use a company to make the flight delay claim on your behalf in the UK – for example - http://flightdelayscompensationclaim....

Is it right to make a claim for compensation?

We live in a compensation culture and one of blame. So whether or not it’s right to claim flight delay compensation is up to the individual.

There’s an argument to be had that the level of flight delay compensation is excessive. But these are the rules that were laid down by the EU in the 261/2004 directive, which has been accepted by the UK Government, so the airlines should abide by them where the circumstances fit the regulations.

A more equitable flight delay compensation claim might be for the compensation to be equal to what was paid for the flight.

The problem with airlines having too many flight delay claims made is that where more people make claims, this could push the price of flights up. Worse still put them into financial difficulty.

This was seen in 2017 by Monarch Airlines, which went into administration. Although the problems for Monarch were not due to flight delay claims, for other airlines this could be seen as more pressure on them.