Delay - If you've suffered a delay in your flight over 3 hours then you will be entitled to flight delay compensation if the airline can not prove that there were extraordinary circumstances outside of their control. Weather is an example of extraordinary circumstances, however, the backlogged flights when the weather is clear should not be affected. If your plane is delayed over 3 hours when the weather is clear then you may be entitled to claim flight delay compensation.
Cancellation - In the event of a flight cancellation you will be entitled to the same compensation relating to a long flight delay. The exception of this is if the passenger/s are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled flight departure; or, they are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before scheduled departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled arrival; or, they are informed less than seven days before the scheduled flight departure offering re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival. Finally, if the airline can prove extraordinary circumstances, no compensation will be due.
Denied Boarding - An airline must call for volunteers to surrender their reservations in the event of overbooking a flight. If an insufficient number of volunteers come forward then the airline may deny boarding to passengers against their will. The airline should immediately offer flight compensation to these passengers.
Compensation for delayed flights - CJEU C-581/10 (Nelson and Others and C-629/10 (TUI Travel and others) in the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The CJEU has confirmed with this ruling his previous decision (Sturgeon and Others) that passengers whose flights have been delayed for a long time may be compensated, on the basis of the provisions of the Regulation No 261/2004/a>.The Regulation does not specifically give a right to a compensation for passengers whose flights have been delayed, just to those whose flights have been cancelled. In the Sturgeon judgment the CJEU compared the situation of passengers whose flights have been delayed (as long as they arrive more than 3 hours later at their destination) to those whose flights have been cancelled and gave them the same right to monetary compensation.In today's decision the CJEU once again mentioned the principle of equal treatment, pursuant to which the same rights should be granted to passengers who are suffering the same inconvenience - the loss of time (more than 3 hours), regardless whether as a result of cancellation or a long delay. The airlines are protected from having to pay this compensation only in cases where the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances.What is especially important in this ruling is that the CJEU states that there is no need to limit the temporal effects of the present judgment. The CJEU refused the airlines' request to confirm that the passengers whose flights were delayed could only apply for this compensation if their flight has been delayed after the date of the delivery of the judgment.
