athos wrote: I wondered if people can claim something from HXL when departing much too late. ( nothing to do with weather conditions)
Roughly one quarter of a million air passengers each year get a bad surprise at EU airports when checking-in for their flight. Until recently, were excluded non-scheduled flights, a large part of the market. The new regulation covers
both scheduled and non-scheduled flights (including air transport sold as part of a package holiday)
Any aircraft operator having its aircraft touching EU ground, (... and I hope its only EU tarmacs!) is submitted to the same regulations.
An EU law guaranteeing big payouts for passengers left stranded by airlines has been voted in despite opposition from budget airlines.
The new rules roughly doubled the level of compensation.
Denied boarding = 250 Euros, rising in stages to 600 Euros for long-haul flights.
Compensations date from October 2002: MEPs have called for compulsory compensation of EUR125 for problems on shorthaul flights and EUR375 for disrupted flights longer than 3,500 kilometers, to delayed or stranded passengers, under a new draft law passed 24 October 2002.
Loyola de Palacio, European Commission vice-president in charge of transport and energy, welcomed the definitive adoption by the Council and the European Parliament of the proposal of regulation to protect the rights of air passengers when facing denied boarding, cancellation of their flight or a long delay.
Also, the new regulation applies not only to passengers departing from an airport located in a Member State but also, if the airline operating the flight is a Community carrier, to passengers flying from a third country to a Member State*, unless they receive similar treatment in the third country.
When airlines reasonably expect a long delay, they will be obliged to give passengers:
- meals and refreshments, and
- hotel accommodation, when a delay obliges a passenger to stay overnight, and
- reimbursement, when a delay delays a passenger for at least five hours.
Regulation on Denied Boarding and Cancellations or Long Delays
---------------------OLD-------- NEW Regulation
Denied boarding:
0 => 1499km------------------- 250 € Reimbursement or rerouting included Meals and Hotel
1500-3500km------------------ 400 € Reimbursement or rerouting included Meals and Hotel
≤ 3500km--------- 150 €-------------- Reimbursement or rerouting included Meals and Hotel
> 3500km--------- 300 €------ 600 € Reimbursement or rerouting included Meals and Hotel
Cancellation
----------------------------------- roughly as denied boarding (1)(2)
Long Delays(3)
----------------------------------- roughly as denied boarding (1)
(1)Unless carrier can prove that it is not responsible.
(2)Unless carrier informs passenger of cancellation two weeks or more before departure or offers alternative flight that does not delay passenger more than 2 or 4 hours.
(3)Two, three or four hours depending on distance flight.
LET THEM PAY!
* So passengers out of Punta Cana or Phuket on that Community Carrier are also entitled to the similar treatment.
=A rather stupid opinion about this matter can be found here, clicking this line
But I wouldn't click it as you'll loose your time reading it!
" I thought it should be Boeing 767-300.
