How much can I claim under EC Regulation 261/2004

HERTFORDSHIRE, U.K. - April 4, 2014 - PRLog -- Technically, a flight is only counted as “on time” if it operated less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time. Therefore, any flight that arrives on or within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrive time is deemed as on-time. Flights are very often late whether it is due to departing from the airport late or arriving at the destination airport late, it is quite normal for flights to arrive later than anticipated. However, some airlines such as ultra-low cost carrier Ryanair maintain a track record of punctual flights, which is why it remains as Europe’s number one customer service airline. They even state in their mission statement that in 2012, 93% of Ryanair flights were on-time and most recently in 2013 out of 54,000 flights 94% of them arrived on-time, setting a new record for Ryanair.


However, these statistics can’t be said for all airlines. Flights may well be on-time for the majority of the time, but it is not uncommon for flights to be heavily delayed. The reasons for these delays are sometimes out of the airline’s control, but most of the time the airline is to blame. Mechanical failures, over-booking, staffing problems and technical faults are just a handful of the different types of issues that could easily cause a flight delay. Whenever you are flying in or out of the European Union, on board a European airline and one of these issues occurs (causing a delay) you could be entitled to European Flight Delay Compensation.


EU Regulation 261/2004 states that if the delay has caused your arrival at your destination to be at least 3 hours late then you can claim for European Flight Delay Compensation. The compensation is fixed, regardless of the flight cost. The longer the delay, the more compensation you get! For example, for a flight length up to 1,500km (e.g. London to Paris) with a flight delay of 3 hours or more you can claim 250 euros. For a flight length between 1500km and 3500km between two EU member states (e.g. Manchester to Malaga) with a flight delay of 3 hours or more then you can claim 400 euros. If you were flying between any EU and non-EU airport (but flying with a European airline) 3500km or more and your delay was over 4 hours then you could claim back 600 euros worth of Flight Delay Refunds. Therefore a flight between London and New York delayed over 4 hours could entitle each passenger to 600 euros of Flight Delay Compensation at http://www.flightdelayrefunds.com/how-it-works.php. However, if you were on the same flight 3500km or more but your delay was only 3 hours then you would only be entitled to claim 300 euros. This is a significant difference in compensation for just an hour’s difference in time. As if the delay was 3hr 45 you could only claim 300 euros, yet for an additional 15 minutes of delay you would be entitled to 600 euros. This does seem bizarre but it is simply following the EU Regulation 261/2004.