Air Berlin: Passenger rights in the event of injury
A German airline may, at any time and for any reason, decide to cancel a flight for which you have an airline ticket and a reserved seat. We will explain to you what your rights are provided for by European regulation EC n ° 261/2004 and the options available to you in this case.
Flight canceled due to a technical fault or staff strike, … what are the causes that give access to compensation?
Closure of an air link, modification of the frequencies of a line, low filling or lack of profitability of a particular flight,… Air Berlin or the other air operators have the commercial freedom to cancel their flights as they wish .
Operational considerations such as the unavailability of an aircraft, a chain of delays to be broken, degraded weather conditions, a strike or a geopolitical crisis, … also lead to flight cancellations.
There are many reasons for carriers to cancel flights. They can be fully responsible for the facts just as they can endure a situation beyond their control. If some cancellations are planned and should therefore be notified to the passenger in advance so that he can organize himself accordingly, others also intervene at the last minute, placing the passenger in an embarrassing situation.
Surprise flight cancellations always cause inconvenience
For flights whose passengers are protected by European regulation EC n ° 261/2004, the airline which cancels a passenger’s flight is required to respect 3 passenger rights defined in the regulation: right to reimbursement or re-routing, right to care, right to compensation.
Assistance, reimbursement and re-routing: All that Air Berlin owes you by causing you an inconvenience
Once your flight is deleted, you have the option to:
– abandon your trip and get a refund for your plane ticket
– continue your trip as soon as possible on another flight offered by the airline
– reschedule your trip to another date of your choice, subject to the availability of seats.
If you choose to reimburse your plane ticket, the airline has 7 days to reimburse you for flights not carried out. In the case of the cancellation of a connecting flight, the company must also reimburse unnecessary flights and re-route you as soon as possible by a return flight at its expense to your original departure airport.
If you choose to continue your trip as soon as possible and the company offers you a flight to a different airport from the one originally planned, it must bear the transfer costs between the arrival airport and the airport originally planned or another nearby destination agreed with it.
Air Berlin must also take care of you at the airport
If you have opted for the continuation of your trip as soon as possible or for the reimbursement of your plane ticket and a return to your initial departure airport during a connecting flight cancellation, the airline must take you into charge pending your re-routing.
The management of the company consists in offering you, free of charge:
– refreshments and meals taking into account the length of the wait,
– the possibility of making 2 phone calls or sending 2 emails.
When the re-routing is planned for the day after the canceled flight or even later, the airline company is also obliged to insure your accommodation at the hotel for the necessary night (s), as well as the round-trip transport. return between the airport and the place of accommodation.
It is up to the airline to organize this support. If it does not do so, the company must reimburse you for your reasonable and justified costs, and pay you compensation as soon as possible.
Compensation is provided for by European regulations only when you have been informed of the cancellation of your flight 14 days or less before the scheduled departure time.
The compensation is fixed, its amount depends on:
– The distance of the journey to the final destination
– Delay on arrival at final destination if you have chosen to continue your journey as soon as possible.
The cost of the lump sum compensation varies depending on the route
In the European Union Between the EU and a third country:
– Up to 1500 km 250 € (125 € if delay ≤ 2 hours) 250 € (125 € if delay ≤ 2 hours),
– From 1,501 km to 3,500 km € 400 (€ 200 if delay ≤ 3 hours) € 400 (€ 200 if delay ≤ 3 hours),
– From 3501 km and more 400 € (200 € if delay ≤ 3 hours) 600 € (300 € if delay ≤ 4 hours).
Compensation is waived if the airline is able to prove that the flight delay is due to extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances: poor weather, closure of airspace, … Note that this same CJEU judgment came confirming that a technical problem inherent in the normal exercise of the air carrier activity is not an extraordinary circumstance. With rare exceptions, compensation is therefore due in the event of a flight delayed due to a technical problem on the plane.
If you have opted for reimbursement of the air ticket, the flat-rate compensation can also be waived: you must have actually traveled on board the delayed flight to benefit from this right to compensation.
Compensation cannot be paid to you in the form of vouchers without your consent.
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