Air Austral practices overbooking, the phenomenon that affects hundreds of its travelers each year
Overbooking is a commercial technique of taking more reservations than available places. The companies that use this practice thus wish to anticipate potential withdrawals in order to maintain a maximum occupancy rate in their aircraft.
However, if the number of cancellations is lower than the provisions, there will not be enough places for all the travelers who have reserved. However, overbooking is a legal practice and strictly framed by European regulation EC 261/2004.
To avoid being overbooked, it is advisable to confirm your reservation as soon as possible. Indeed, it is now possible to proceed to online check-in 24 hours before departure. Do not hesitate to show up for boarding well in advance. If these precautions are not enough, the French airline must offer you alternative solutions.
In the event of an overbooked flight, Air Austral asks passengers if volunteers agree to give up their seat in return for compensation.
These people will then have to choose a replacement flight under similar transport conditions and as soon as possible. Pending the departure of this flight, Air Austral is expected to take charge of the voluntary passenger (catering, telephone calls, accommodation). Please note, however, if you volunteer, you will lose your right to compensation. It is therefore important to be well informed about the compensation offered which varies according to the transport companies.
If you are a volunteer and ultimately wish to give up your trip, the French carrier will offer you a refund of your ticket within 7 clear days. In this case, you will also lose your right to compensation.
Finally, if for lack of volunteers, the company denies you access to boarding, you will have the choice: opt for the proposed replacement flight or for a refund of the ticket within 7 days.
In either case, you will not be deprived of your right to compensation. Don’t forget to ask for an overbooking certificate and keep your proof of reservation. Without this document, it will be difficult to prove the existence of overbooking.
Evaluate your compensation yourself
Air Austral, which denies a passenger access to boarding, must give them a written notice detailing the procedure to follow in order to make a financial compensation request. This request must be sent by letter ordered with acknowledgment of receipt.
The amount of compensation depends on the total delay on arrival and the length of the planned journey.
Thus, for flights up to 1,500 km, compensation is € 250 or € 125 if the delay does not exceed 2 hours. For journeys in the European Union of more than 1,500 km, compensation is € 400 or € 200 if the delay is less than 3 hours. For all flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, compensation is € 400 or € 200 if the delay is less than 3 hours. Finally, for all flights over 3,500 km, compensation will be € 600 or € 300 if the delay does not exceed 4 hours.
Be aware that airline response times can be up to 2 months. If at the end of this period, you still have not received a response or if the response received is unsatisfactory, you can contact companies which undertake to accompany the victims and process their files. These are startups that have already allowed several thousand passengers to be compensated by sending them only their contact details and their reservation data.