Budget Airlines Forced To Payout For Delays

We all look forward to our yearly break and do not want anything to go wrong. However, when the flight to or from our destination is delayed or even cancelled this can ruin anyone’s holiday. Particularly bad, it seems, are the so called budget airlines who offer cheaper prices for less frills.

In recent news budget airlines have lost their battle to continue denying passengers compensation over delays and cancellations.

Cheap and cheerful airlines, headed by Ryanair and EasyJet, claimed that the payouts would cost the industry £400 million a year and force up ticket prices.
Until now passengers have been forced to rely on their travel insurance for any kind of cover against delayed or cancelled flights.

The European Court of Justice has now overruled the carriers however, and ordered them to pay compensation for cancelled flights under a certain distance.

"Responsible airlines have been providing compensation on a voluntary basis for years," a Conservative MEP has commented.

"This judgment now means that the cowboys in the airline industry will be forced to change their ways."

Delays and cancellations can be caused for all sorts of reasons some of which it is up to the airline to fix. For example if the flight is delayed or cancelled due to the lack of trained staff then this is the responsibility of the airline to roster employees properly. If a plane is delayed for more than 24 hours it can be classed as cancelled.

EU law says passengers can claim compensation payments if the flight is scrapped. In the event of long delays they can claim food, the cost of phone calls and – in some cases – overnight accommodation.

In the event that you have a problem with a flight the best course of action is to contact the airline in writing setting out the details of the incident. The website of the airline will have a complaints procedure that you must follow in order to get compensation.

If you would like to know more about flights why not ask AnswerBank Travel.