Air dispute (flight delay or cancellation): The recommended procedure for obtaining compensation from Alitalia
If you are the victim of a flight delay that does not result from a case of force majeure (war, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, flood, etc.), the law guarantees you rights which the airlines including Alitalia must respect, or travel agencies if you have purchased a package tour from one of them. In the event of a problem, do not hesitate to assert them by using the legal remedies available to you. Be aware, however, that your rights are not quite the same depending on whether the flight concerned can be considered a European flight or not.
Your rights if your flight with Alitalia is delayed?
If the flight concerned is operated by the Italian national airline, you benefit from the protective provisions of European Regulation No. 261/2004 of February 11, 2004, which came into force on February 17, 2005. You will therefore be entitled to:
– a ground assistance service: this service necessarily includes two telecommunications (by telephone, fax, telex or email), refreshments, catering and accommodation services as well as the transport services resulting therefrom.
– a voluntary return service: in the event of a delay of at least 5 hours, you will be able to give up your trip while benefiting from the reimbursement without penalty of your plane ticket for the part of the journey not completed and possibly d ” a free return flight to your original point of departure.
– lump sum compensation: beyond a certain threshold and except in cases of force majeure (storm, tsunami, volcanic eruption, attack, civil war …), you can claim the benefit of lump sum compensation. Its amount, identical to that applicable in the event of flight cancellation or overbooking (overbooking), is calculated according to the following scale:
250€ for a flight of 1,500 km or less (125€ if the delay is 2 hours or less), € 400 for a flight between 1,500 and 3,500 km (200€ if the delay is equal to or less than 3 hours) and 600 € for a flight greater than 3,500 km (300€ if the delay is equal to or less than 4 hours)
The above flat-rate compensation does not arise from the application of European Regulation n ° 261/2004 of February 11, 2004, but from Community case law (judgment n ° C 402/07 of November 19, 2009, Court of Justice of the European Community). Consequently, if this is in your interest, you may very well demand compensation for actual damage by requesting the strict application of the European Regulation.
Can your rights change if you take a non-European flight?
When your flight cannot be considered as a European flight (served by a non-European company, departing from an airport located outside the old continent), European Regulation n ° 261/2004 of February 11, 2004 is not applicable .
– No lump sum compensation: The concept of non-pecuniary damage is non-existent.
If the passenger is delayed because of a technical failure?
According to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Community, technical failures do not constitute a case of force majeure unless they arise from “events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier concerned and beyond its effective control ”(CJCE, 19/11/2009, N ° C-402/07 and C-432/07, Sturgeon / Condor Flugdienst GmbH and Böck ea)
Specialists help you
There are two types of remedies in the event of an aircraft delay, amicable and judicial remedies.
In both cases, you must choose a firm specializing in moral damages. Its lawyers can take care of any legal procedure necessary for the defense of your rights and interests:
Legal experts may send Alitalia or your travel agency a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, specifying the amount of the lump sum compensation and its calculation methods, i.e. the exact amount of the damage suffered accompanied by the corresponding supporting documents, and all facts which motivate your complaint,
They can also resort to justice
In the absence of a response as in the event of an unsatisfactory response, it only remains to bring the matter to justice.
Air passengers who have suffered an inconvenience caused by Alitalia are entitled to claim compensation from it. The preparation of their files online can only take three minutes. Before making any contact with a compensation expert, you can first check and confirm the eligibility of your flight for repair. Millions of passengers are helped in their compensation claim procedure every year, join them!