Have you ever been the victim of a delayed or canceled flight due to weather conditions? Is this an excuse for airlines?
What does the European Air Passenger Regulation say about this? Are you entitled to claim compensation in this case?
In order to answer these questions, we propose some simple and informative paragraphs at the same time, allowing you to understand more about this.
What does the European regulation n ° 261/2004 say?
It is true that in case of delay, cancellation or overbooking of your flight, you have the right to claim compensation from the airline, responsible for the disruption of your flight.
This flat-rate compensation is fixed according to the route of the flight and not its price, in accordance with the European regulation n ° 261/2004 which protects air passenger rights, unless the flight has been disturbed by so-called "extraordinary circumstances" .
Extraordinary circumstances are conditions not controlled by the airline, such as extreme weather conditions, information related to flight safety, or a critical political condition. The airline is exempt from paying compensation to the passenger.
In case of a delay of 2 hours for flights of 1500 km or less, 3 hours for delays for intra-community flights between 1500 and 3500 km, and 4 hours late for other flights over 3,500 km, the airline must guarantee you a care, including refreshments, meals, two communications and accommodation, if you are forced to spend the night at the airport.
The famous excuse of airlines "extreme weather conditions".
Certainly, extreme weather conditions are among the list of extraordinary circumstances that release the airline from its obligation to pay you compensation. Unfortunately, some carriers use these conditions, on a delay, or flight cancellation at the time you claim your compensation, while it was the responsibility of the airline ... this is a good excuse to escape their obligations to the passengers.
However, you can check this information, observing if the other flights are also disturbed, in this case you can not claim compensation ... but if the other flights are done as normally as possible, then you are entitled to make you compensate ... find out!
What are the weather conditions that are part of the extraordinary circumstances?
It is difficult to identify the extraordinary circumstances, there is still no exhaustive list. The weather conditions you are entitled to claim compensation, this can be:
● Natural disasters such as a storm, a hurricane, .. ect.
● A very thick fog or cloud of ash, for visibility reasons.
● Snow, freezing rain or a very strong thunderstorm.
call on a company specializing in passenger rights
Sometimes it is very difficult to verify if the flight disturbance is actually due to adverse weather conditions. Applying to a specialized compensation company allows you to entrust this procedure to professionals, who have access to different databases, and so check the excuse given by the airline.
Thanks to the forensic experts, your claim can be the subject of a legal procedure if the team considers it necessary. The good news is that it is without any financial risk for you. If the company succeeds in making you compensate, it takes a percentage of the amount of your compensation (paid by the airline) and you will pay the rest. Otherwise, all these procedures are free.