Air Passenger Rights in Uk and Eu
Millions of people used to be affected by different kinds of flight delays, but the airlines involved didn’t have to pay much attention to it. When the European Parliament and Council made Regulation EC 261/2004 to protect air passenger rights, everything changed.
The Civil Aviation Authority has said that airlines will still have to follow the rule after Brexit. This means that for the foreseeable future, your air passenger rights will still be protected when you fly to or from the UK. Regulation EC 261/2004 has been written into UK law, which means that air passenger rights will stay the same even after Brexit. “The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019” is the name of the new law.
Air Passenger Rights in Case of Flight Delay or Cancellation
Regulation EC 261/2004 sets out the rules and criteria that airlines will use to decide if they have to pay compensation to their passengers when a flight is canceled or they are not allowed to board. Before the Sturgeon ruling, it wasn’t clear that flight delays of more than 3 hours should be treated and paid for the same way as flights that are canceled. However, in many cases, an airline doesn’t have to pay compensation to its passengers. Those times are called “extraordinary circumstances” in the law.
Even though these situations can be very different, they all involve things that happen outside of an airline’s control. Think about things like bad weather, political unrest, or a serious threat to the flight’s safety. When these events happen, the airlines won’t have to pay any compensation, whether the disruption was a delay or a cancellation. There are some websites like Air Help that help you with flight delay compensation.
When Your Air Passenger Rights Come into Effect
If you are flying to or from the European Union, your flight is probably going to be safe. There are some exceptions, though. If you want to know right away, you can always use our claim calculator and get our free advice:
Here are the requirements that your flight must meet for Regulation EC 261/2004 to apply:
- You were flying from any airport in a European Union member state
- you were flying with a European airline and landing at an airport in a member state.
Amount of Flight Compensation for Delays
Your compensation for a delayed or canceled flight will depend on how far your flight went:
- £220 is charged for all flights of 1,500 km or less.
- For all flights within the EU that are more than 1,500 km and all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, £350 is charged.
- For all other flights (those with routes longer than 3,500 kilometers), you will be given £520*.
If you arrive at your final destination with a total delay of more than 3 hours but less than 4 hours, the airline will be able to reduce the total amount by 50%.
Conclusion
Every year, over 500 million people are inconvenienced as a result of airline delays and cancellations, with 30 million of those people having the legal right to get compensation.
The amount of money that has been kept by the airlines up until this point, amounts to over three billion euros every single year! For more information about UK air passenger rights visit the official website of Hermagic.