Air passengers sometimes encounter situations where they are informed by the airline that their booked flight is cancelled. If this happens while passengers are at the airport, they may feel vulnerable and anxious for a quick solution to reach their destination.
In such a scenario, it is crucial that passengers know their legal rights as this would prevent them from taking impulsive actions that may result in unrecoverable costs and unnecessary stress.
In the first instance, if an airline informs passengers that their flight is cancelled, the passengers have the legal right to choose between a full refund and a replacement flight to reach their destination. If they opt for a refund, the amount given should be equivalent to the price paid for the cancelled flight and any other flight that they won’t use in the same booking.
Furthermore, if passengers are halfway through their journey and they do not want a replacement flight, they are also entitled to a flight back to the airport they originally departed from.
In situations where passengers urgently need to reach their destination, before making independent alternative arrangements, it is very important that they first request the airline to provide them with a suitable alternative flight.
Furthermore, if they are inclined to make their own arrangements, passengers should first check the costs of booking another flight, because once they do so and they accept the refund for the cancelled flight, the airline would not have further responsibilities. Hence, passengers would not be able to recover the extra expenses incurred.
If the replacement flight offered by the airline entails a long wait at the airport, the airline is legally obliged to take care of the passengers until they board their flight. This care includes food and drink; access to phone calls and e-mails; and overnight accommodation if the replacement flight is not available on the same day.
Passengers are advised to keep receipts of expenses they incur and then claim for a refund.- Odette Vella
The airline must also cover the costs of the journeys between the airport and the hotel. If the airline does not offer to cover these expenses, passengers should ask for them. If their request is denied, passengers are advised to keep the receipts of the expenses they incur and then claim for a refund of these expenses from the airline.
Air passengers should, however, keep in mind that airlines only pay for reasonable expenses. Hence, passengers are unlikely to get refunded for alcohol, expensive meals or luxury hotels.
Air passengers are also entitled to financial compensation if the reason of the cancelled flight is determined to be the airline’s responsibility. This monetary compensation varies between €125 and €600 depending on the distance of the cancelled flight and the time when passengers reach their destination. In other words, the longer the delay and the distance of the flight, the higher the compensation.
The cancelled flight’s distance is calculated from the first point air passengers are denied boarding and their final destination. The airline is, however, not liable to provide compensation if it manages to provide its passengers with an alternative flight that takes them to their destination at the same time of the original flight.
The financial compensation also does not apply when flights are cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances. These include: extreme weather conditions or natural disasters, disruption arising from war and political instability of any kind where travel is not recommended, bird strike, security risks, as well as strikes and industrial actions that are not within the airline’s control.
Technical or maintenance issues are usually not considered as extraordinary circumstances, unless they arise from an exceptional event beyond the airline’s control.
Air passengers are also not entitled to claim compensation if the air carrier informs them about the cancelled flight at least 14 days before the date ofdeparture, or passengers are informed between two weeks and seven days before the date of departure and are offered an alternative flight that departs not more than two hours early and arrives less than four hours later than the originally scheduled flight.
Should air passengers find themselves in a situation where their flight is cancelled and the airline does not provide them with the care and compensation they are legally entitled to, they must first address their complaint to the air carrier operating the flight.
If complaining to the airline proves futile, then they will need to lodge a complaint with the national enforcement body in the country where their flight was cancelled. Complaints concerning flights cancelled in Malta or outside the EU on a flight to Malta with an EU licensed airline, may be addressed to the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.
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