Compensation for a delayed or cancelled charter flight
A charter flight is a special type of air connection. Charter airlines operate flights only on specific routes, which are most often popular holiday destinations. Unfortunately, charter flights, like regular flights, are often delayed or cancelled due to the carrier's fault. Are you eligible for delayed or cancelled flight compensation on charter flights? What conditions must be met to be eligible for compensation? It turns out that pursuant to Regulation 261/2004 (EC) of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 11th 2004, there is no difference regarding the rights of passengers on scheduled flights and charter flights. Both groups have the same compensation rights.
Charter flights – what is a charter?
Charter flights are connections organised by travel agencies in cooperation with air carriers. They occur during periods of increased tourist traffic, which usually fall during the holiday months. Charter flights therefore usually depart to popular holiday destinations and resorts. Please note that charter flights are available to all travellers, not just travel agency clients. Therefore, as an individual customer, you also have the option of using charter flights offered by airlines.
Charter flight compensation - general rules
The conditions for claiming compensation for a flight brought forward, or a delayed or cancelled flight, are described in detail in Regulation 261/2004 (EC) of the European Parliament and Council of February 11th, 2004. According to this, compensation for a delayed or cancelled flight is due in a situation where the delay is the fault of carrier and not related to so-called extraordinary circumstances.
Within the meaning of the Regulation, extraordinary circumstances are:
• bad weather conditions,
• airport service strikes (however, this does not include an airline employee strike - we have mentioned it here),
• riots, acts of terrorism,
• air traffic control restrictions,
• some of the technical faults considered to be extraordinary.
It is worth knowing that the burden of proof of the occurrence of specific extraordinary circumstances lies with the airline.
Compensation for a delayed charter flight
The absence of extraordinary circumstances is not the only condition for claiming compensation from the airline. To obtain compensation for a delayed charter flight, the delay in reaching the final destination must be more than 3 hours. In the event of delays with a delay of less than 3 hours, the airline is not under any obligation to pay compensation for the delayed charter flight. Moreover, there is no compensation for a delayed flight if passengers have been informed of the delay of the charter flight 14 days before the scheduled departure. The same rules apply when a flight is cancelled. The carrier is obliged to inform passengers that their plane will not depart on the planned date with a minimum of two weeks in advance.
Cancelled or Delayed Charter Flight - Airline Obligations
In a situation where the charter flight is cancelled or delayed due to the fault of the airline, the carrier must take all reasonable measures that may assist the passengers of the unfortunate flight. In a situation where a given charter flight is cancelled, the airline should provide passengers with an alternative flight. If it takes place on a different day, it is additionally obliged to provide overnight accommodation. For passengers waiting for a replacement flight at the airport, the airlines should provide food and, if necessary, allow them to contact their relatives by phone or e-mail.
Charter flight compensation - amount of compensation
The amount of compensation for a charter flight depends on the distance between the departure airport and the arrival airport. These rates per passenger are as follows:
• 250 euro - for flights of 250 km,
• 400 euro - for flights of 1500–3500 km (also for flights over 3500 km, when each airport – both the departure and arrival airport – is located in the EU);
• 600 euro - for flights over 3500 km (when at least one of the airports – either the departure airport or arrival airport – is located outside the EU).
How does one obtain compensation for a charter flight?
In order to be able to claim compensation for a delayed or cancelled charter flight, or a flight departing ahead of schedule, a claim must be submitted to the airline. However, bear in mind that the process of claiming compensation is often very time-consuming and, in addition, airlines are not too eager to pay you any money. Therefore, in the case of individual clients, they often refuse to pay compensation. For this reason, we often prefer to entrust our compensation claims to experts experienced in obtaining compensation from airlines.
AirCashBack is a company with many years of experience in the airline compensation market, which will help you get the money you are owed from the carrier. If you want to apply for compensation with our help, fill in the claim form available on our website or click the button below and we will do the rest!