Big delay on an Air Caraibes flight: What does it take to be compensated?
If your flight has been significantly delayed, the French airline must take care of you immediately. You can also claim compensation up to € 600. Often ill-informed of their rights, passengers only claim them in 5 to 10% of cases. Here is what you need to know to be properly compensated.
We determine your rights
When the departure of your flight is delayed, European regulations stipulate that the company is required to take care of you while awaiting departure and to compensate you in the event of a significant delay on arrival. In addition to this standardized and immediate compensation, the Montreal Convention provides for compensation for the damage caused by the delay.
European regulations cover all flights departing from the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland, regardless of the nationality of the company and your destination. It also covers flights to these same countries, regardless of the departure airport, as long as they are operated by a European company. The Montreal Convention, for its part, concerns international flights between its 124 signatory states. It has been extended to domestic flights by European regulation EC 889/2002.
Air Caraïbes provides assistance at the airport
As soon as your flight is delayed by at least 2 hours for a short flight (- 1,500 km), 3 hours for an average flight (1,500 to 3,500 km, or intra-Community flight of more than 1,500 km) or 4 hours for a long flight (more than 3,500 km), the airline company must offer you free refreshments, enough to eat and allow you to make two calls or send two messages.
If your flight has to leave the day after the scheduled day, it will organize and pay for your hotel accommodation and the means of getting there.
Extraordinary circumstances, such as the eruption of a volcano, do not exempt him from this obligation (CJEU of 31.1.13, n ° C-12/11). However, this support can be limited or refused if it risks causing additional delay to passengers.
Get reimbursed and compensated by Air Caraïbes
If the delay announced is at least 5 hours, you can waive your departure and choose to be reimbursed. The reimbursement must be made within 7 days and include the parts of the trip not completed. For example, the price of the return flight if it was a round trip) and those already made but no longer needed. If you were in transit, the company must also organize and take care of your return as soon as possible.
But, beware, from the moment you choose to be reimbursed, the company is no longer obliged to provide you with assistance.
In the case of a connecting flight if, due to the delay of the first flight, you have missed the second, the carrier must leave you the choice between reimbursement, or a return flight, or the continuation of your journey on another flight.
This re-routing must be carried out under comparable transport conditions, as soon as possible, at no additional cost and with pick-up during the waiting period for the next flight. The company should avoid offering you additional connections and the duration of the journey should be as close as possible to the original duration of the journey. If the arrival airport is a different airport than the one originally planned, the company must bear the transfer costs between the two airports or another nearby destination, agreed with you.
If the replacement flight is also delayed on arrival, you will have a new right to compensation (communication from the European Commission No. 2016 / C 214/04, OJEU of 15.6.16).
If you arrive at your destination at least 3 hours late compared to the scheduled time, you are entitled to compensation (see evaluation p. 92) which is the same as for a canceled flight (CJEU of 19.11. 09, n ° C 432/07 and C-402/07). You do not have to provide proof of any damage and this compensation can be combined with the reimbursement due by the company. The extent of the delay is calculated in relation to the scheduled arrival time at the final destination, i.e. the arrival time of the last flight taken in the event of a connection (CJEU of 26.2.13, C-11/11 and cass. civ. 1st of 16.4.15, n ° 14-13736). The actual arrival time is the time at which at least one of the doors of the aircraft opened, authorizing passengers to leave the aircraft (CJUE of 4.9.14, C 452 / 13).
If you have accepted a flight to an airport other than that provided for in your reservation, the arrival time to be taken into account is the arrival time at the airport initially planned or another agreed nearby destination ( and the company must cover the transfer costs between the replacement airport and the airport originally planned).
If the delay caused you to miss a connection, you are still entitled to compensation if the late flight was from a European country. For example, compensation is due in the event of a flight from Paris to Kuala Lumpur, with a stopover in Dubai (cass. Civ. 1st of 30.11.16, n ° 15-21590). On the other hand, if the flight which caused you to miss the connection was coming from a country outside the European Union, you can only claim the compensation if it is operated by a European company (as in the case from Air Caraibes). No compensation is due if you missed your connection due to long delays at security checks or if the flight boarding time was not respected at the transit airport (communication n ° 2016 / C 214/04 above).
European consumer law provides that the airline company is obliged to compensate you for material damage resulting from a delay. You must provide proof of your damage and the link with the delay. Furthermore, only foreseeable damage at the conclusion of the contract is repairable. Thus, a company does not have to compensate passengers who missed the departure of their cruise due to the delay of their plane if they were not aware, at the time of purchasing the tickets, of the existence of this cruise. purchased from another provider. On the other hand, a company can be held liable to an employer for damages resulting from the delay of a flight on which its employees were passengers and must compensate him for the additional costs.
Flight delayed if weather conditions are poor
Or other extraordinary circumstances, suddenly, the company can evade the payment of the lump sum compensation if it proves that the delay is due to extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided, even by taking all reasonable measures. A technical problem occurring on an aircraft is, in principle, not considered as such unless it arises from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier’s activity and escape its effective control. On the other hand, were considered cases of force majeure, the closure of the airspace following the eruption of a volcano of bad weather conditions an unexpected strike of the personnel of the company or the air traffic controllers, or even the untimely and unpredictable triggering of two evacuation slides before takeoff.
Evaluate your damage by yourself
The amount of the lump sum compensation provided in the event of a delay of more than 3 hours depends solely on the distance of the flight. It is the “orthodromic” distance between the departure point and the final destination which must be retained and not the addition of the distances of the various flights making up the journey. The amount of the compensation is set at € 250 up to 1,500 km and at € 400 for an intra-Community flight of more than 1,500 km (including French overseas, therefore) and for all flights from 1,500 to 3,500 km. The compensation is € 600, for all other flights, unless the delay is less than 4 hours; the air carrier can then reduce this compensation by half.
Refund of costs at the airport:
In addition to the lump sum, you have the right to the reimbursement of your expenses as far as they were necessary, appropriate and reasonable, if the company did not take care of your meals, your accommodation and that you had to pay them On the other hand, if you have refused the assistance offered by the company and have made your own arrangements, it is not required to reimburse you In any event, reimbursement is limited to the sums it would have incurred if you had accepted his care. Remember to keep invoices and receipts. If you have not incurred costs, or if you cannot prove it, you will not be able to obtain compensation for the damage suffered for failure to take charge. If you have missed your correspondence, and the company does not has not offered a re-routing or a return flight under comparable transport conditions and as soon as possible, it must reimburse you for the price of the tickets you bought to end your trip. If she has unilaterally decided to reimburse you, you are entitled to a supplement if the new ticket is more expensive than the one she reimbursed you.
Claim compensation from Air Caribbean
The compensation to which you are entitled will not be paid to you automatically. You have to claim it. To achieve this goal, do not hesitate to contact an online compensation company (fill out the form).