Compensation in case of delay

Martin D. Galea asks:

On March 14, 2006, I was flying back to Malta from Lisbon on TAP Airlines (Air Portugal). I had a connection in Rome on Air Malta and my connection time was 55 minutes. The flight from Lisbon left 40 minutes late, the captain advised, due to late arriving passengers from a connecting flight.

Eventually I lost the flight to Malta and after several attempts to find a connecting flight via other airports proved futile, I had to be content to spend a night in Rome. The airline put us up at a hotel in Ostia and gave us a voucher for lunch, dinner and breakfast for the next morning, when I boarded an Alitalia flight to Malta.

Given the EU compensation laws introduced recently , am I entitled to some form of financial compensation, bearing in mind that I had other business commitments in the afternoon of March14, which I had to postpone?

As I see it, in this case the reader is not entitled to financial compensation.

EU law provides for compensation in cases where a traveller is denied boarding despite holding a valid ticket or where the flight has been cancelled. This does not seem to be the case here because the reader missed his connecting flight to Malta because his first flight from Lisbon left late and not because it was cancelled or because he was denied boarding.

Since I receive several complaints about incidents of this nature, it is worth explaining the rights that may be claimed in cases of delays, denied boarding and flight cancellation.

Your rights in cases of a delay depend on the duration of the delay and the distance you will be travelling.

If you face a delay of more than two hours in the case of a flight covering a distance of less than 1,500km (for instance, Rome to Malta) you will be entitled to claim your rights. For flights covering a longer distance in the EU, your rights kick in if the delay is more than three hours long (Malta to London). For other flights outside the EU, the delay cannot be more than four hours.

Your rights in cases of delays apply when you face a delay at any EU airport (for instance, Lisbon) irrespective of your destination. But they also apply when you are flying from outside the EU to an EU country and on an EU airline (for instance, flying from Tunis to Malta on Air Malta).

In such cases you are entitled to be given assistance by the airline. This consists of a meal and refreshments that are reasonable in relation to the delay. You will also be entitled to two free calls or faxes or e-mails.

Moreover, if the departure is postponed to the day after, you are entitled to hotel accommodation and to transport to and from the hotel.

And in cases of delays of more than five hours, you are entitled to a reimbursement of the full cost of the ticket (at the price at which you bought it) for the part of the trip that was not made or for the entire trip if your original travelling plans have been ruined.

This reimbursement must be paid to you within seven days. Alternatively you can claim a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity.

In cases of delays, EU law does not provide for financial compensation over and above what is described above. So in this case, since the delay from Lisbon to Rome was of only 40 minutes, strictly speaking, none of the above rights come into play.

Moreover, it seems to me that the connecting time of just 55 minutes between the arrival of the Lisbon flight in Rome and the departure to Malta from Rome was rather short and therefore the reader was cutting it fine. In the event, the 40-minute delay in Lisbon cost him his flight to Malta.

One should always allow a reasonable time, usually not less than one hour but ideally more, for connections.

It must also be said that in cases when one is travelling on the same airline for both portions of the trip (that is, Lisbon to Rome and Rome to Malta), airline companies normally do their best to delay the second flight reasonably until all passengers in transit have made it on board. The reader was doubly unlucky because he was changing airlines and therefore Air Malta could hardly have been expected to wait for him.

In case of denied boarding and flight cancellation, passengers are entitled to the rights listed above but also to financial compensation.

The compensation amounts to €250 for all flights of 1,500 km or less; €400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 km, and for all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km and €600 for other flights.

Of course, re-routing also applies in cases of denied boarding and cancellation.

If you happen to face a delay or lose a flight because of denied boarding or cancellation you should raise a complaint immediately with the airline, claiming your rights. Airlines are required to place clearly visible notices at check-in counters to inform you about your rights in case of delays, cancellation or denied-boarding.

If you feel that an airline has not given you your rights, you may submit a written complaint to the national competent authority of the country where the incident happened. In our case, this is the Department of Civil Aviation at Luqa Airport.

Readers wishing to raise issues or ask questions can send an e-mail to contact@simonbusuttil.com or visit www.simonbusuttil.eu