Delays and cancellations of Brussels Airlines flights, the situation which turns headache for air passengers
Know your rights in case of delay, cancellation or overbooking of your flight with the Belgian national airline (the famous overbooking, which can be a reason for denied boarding!)
Indeed, few people really know (I understood, before I look into the subject) what are the possible options in the event of a dispute with an airline.
However, the amount of compensation can go up to € 600, regardless of the amount of the original ticket and up to flights made 5 years ago.
To see the phenomenon, here are some recent figures for Belgium:
– 1.5 million Belgians have their flight delayed “excessively”
– 500.0000 are left with a completely canceled flight
– Over 100,000 are victims of overbooking
Hundreds of millions of passengers pass through Belgian airports each year, it may sound ridiculous but it’s still 4%. But only 5 to 10% of people who can claim compensation actually do this!
Claim compensation? What you need to know before claiming
The best is to look in detail at the explanations on this site, here is what you need to remember:
Excessive delay accuses the flight:
For this it is necessary to define; what a “big” delay. The answer depends on the relationship between the duration of the delay and the distance of the flight in question. This is therefore considered important, when the flight is delayed compared to the scheduled departure time:
– At least 2 hours for flights up to 1,500 km.
– At least 3 hours for flights within the European Union of more than 1,500 km and for all other flights from 1,500 to 3,500 km.
– At least 4 hours for all flights over 3,500 km.
In the event of a delay, the company simply has the obligation to assist passengers, by providing certain services, such as:
– refreshments and catering options depending on the waiting time.
– accommodation at the hotel if the planned departure can only be made the next day, taking care of any transfers to a replacement airport.
In all cases, if the delay is at least 5 hours, you are entitled to the reimbursement without penalty of your ticket if you renounce the journey, to a re-routing to your final destination or the handling of the return ticket if you are en route and wish to turn back.
Knowing that according to the sites where I found the information (see here for example), sometimes they say that if the delay exceeds 3 hours on arrival (whose exact time is determined by the time of the opening of the door of the plane and not the landing itself, according to a judgment of the CJEU of September 4, 2014, you can claim the same compensation as in the event of denied boarding.
No compensation is due by the carrier in the event of significant delay contrary to what is provided in the event of denied boarding due to overbooking or cancellation.
What is certain is that if the delay is shown to be due to extraordinary circumstances (it can be a natural disaster, exceptional weather phenomenon, war, etc.), you simply do not receive any compensation.
What if the disruption is due to a strike?
Two cases must be distinguished in this case:
If the strike is not due to company personnel, the company must compensate you. In the event of force majeure, that is to say when the company demonstrates that the strike was unpredictable and that no redirection solution was possible, there it does not have to compensate you.
If the strike is due to the staff of the Belgian airline, the latter must compensate you in all cases.
It should first be specified in which cases compensation in the event of cancellation is not compulsory:
If the cancellation is due to exceptional circumstances (or a case of force majeure, provided that the company has taken all measures to limit the effects.
If the company has informed the passenger at least two weeks before the day of departure
If it manages to deliver the passenger to the airport of arrival at a time comparable to that initially planned.
In other cases, the compensation that can be requested and obtained will be lump sum depending on the distance of the flight:
– 250€ for a flight up to 1500 km,
– 400€ for a flight within the European Union of more than 1500 km and from 1500 to 3500 km for other destinations.
– 600 € for a flight of more than 3500 km.
It should be noted that the company that practices overbooking must first offer passengers who accept it to give up their flight, for compensation.
It must then offer compensation and assistance to passengers whose boarding it refuses.
The amount of this compensation is based on the same amount as in the event of cancellation (therefore € 250, € 400 or € 600 depending on the distance).
You may have already seen a nice lady of the staff, desperately looking for good souls ready to delay their flight overnight, in exchange for a refund of 300 € more obviously the management of the overnight stay. As such it can be interesting. If this offer is intended for you, do not refuse it, due to overbooking, you benefit from an upgrade.
Claim damages for the inconvenience suffered
If you are the victim of a significant delay, a flight cancellation or a denied boarding, you can then ask for additional compensation for damages, which you can receive for the repair of a possible financial and / or moral damage, for example, you lose a night at the hotel, an important meeting,…
To do so, you must
– Firstly: Send all supporting documents (receipt of tickets, reservations made, etc.) to lawyers in compensation for damage arising from air disputes. They prefer to initiate an amicable procedure, however in case of refusal, they do not hesitate to initiate legal action
Being compensated: How is the operation going?
How do we get these compensation and the sub that interest passengers, this is the question frequently asked by victims of different types of damages (which arise from delays and cancellations or overbooking of aircraft).
First note that all the rules explained in this article apply according to European law, therefore to flights from a member country of the European Union (and therefore from Belgium) but also from Norway, the ‘Iceland or Switzerland.
For flights from an airport outside Europe, only flights operated by a European company such as Brussels Airlines are affected by this regulation, regardless of the destination of the flight and its origin.
To make it simpler, you can use an intermediary site, certainly they take 25% of the amount of compensation obtained, but with a success rate of more than 90%, it is better than nothing.
Otherwise, by doing the steps yourself, you must do the process with the airline directly, then submit the response to bring the dispute to the Directorate of Economic Regulation. However, your chances of getting what you want are less than 10%.
You can also contact a mediator if you were unable to obtain an amicable settlement directly by contacting the airline (Brussels Airlines) or travel agency.
The best way to do this is to have specialists in dispute resolution. Legal experts have the ability to seek an amicable solution or go to court. Fill out our form to transmit all the data and important information about your case, so they can design the compensation file for you.
They deal with disputes relating to the purchase of a dry flight or a tourism package when the problem concerns: a travel agency, a tour operator or any air carrier, etc.