The flight with Volotea has accumulated delay: Possible solutions
It may be due to an aircraft failure or denied boarding … Passengers can assert their rights to reimbursement + compensation. A complaint is necessary to succeed.
The following rules apply to European flights, that is to say flights departing from or coming from a member country of the European Union (and therefore from France) but also from Norway, the ‘Iceland or Switzerland.
This regulation is also applicable to Community airlines, regardless of the origin or destination of the flight.
Information to retain from passenger rights
First of all, be aware that any airline including Volotea has an obligation to inform passengers of their rights in terms of cancellation, overbooking or significant delay.
It must post the conditions of compensation and reimbursement in the registration area and distribute a written notice to all the victims of the disturbances.
In addition, in the event of a strike, you can be informed by email or SMS if your flight is delayed or canceled. The airlines’ websites also set up a real-time information service.
To be compensated? Certain conditions must first be met
To receive compensation or a refund, the passengers concerned must naturally have a reservation in good and due form on the flight in question and comply with the required check-in times (generally 45 minutes before boarding time) ).
Boarding impossible due to unavailability of seats (Overbooking)
The company that practices overbooking must first offer passengers who accept it to give up their flight, for compensation.
She must then offer compensation and assistance to passengers whose boarding she refuses.
The cost of compensation granted by Volotea to its customers:
In the event of denied boarding against your will, you can benefit from compensation which depends on the distance of the flight. This amount is set at:
– 250 € in the case of flights up to 1500 km;
– 400 € in the case of flights within the European Union of more than 1,500 km and from 1,500 to 3,500 km for other flights;
– 600 € for flights over 3500 km.
Flight canceled at the last minute
Passengers who are victims of a flight cancellation must also receive compensation under the same conditions as for overbooking. However, compensation in the event of cancellation is not compulsory in any of the following cases:
If the flight cancellation is due to exceptional circumstances or a case of force majeure, provided that the company has taken all measures to limit the effects. It can be an exceptional climatic phenomenon, political circumstances occurring in the country of destination, an airplane struck by lightning.
If the Spanish company proves that it informed the passenger at least two weeks before the day of departure;
If it has managed to deliver the passenger to the arrival airport at a time comparable to that initially planned
If, on the other hand, the traveler has not used his unforeseen plane ticket, arriving late at the airport, forgetting the passport. The Consumer Code provides that he is entitled to the reimbursement of airport taxes included in the price of his ticket. Reimbursement must take place within 30 days of the date of receipt of the request by the air carrier or the ticket seller. The law specifies that the reimbursement request can be sent by any means, including online on the internet. The professional may possibly invoice the passenger for fees, but on two conditions: their amount must be less than or equal to 20% of the amount reimbursed and the reimbursement request must not have been sent online, because in this case, no fees can be applied.
Late plane: How to fix the resulting dispute?
In the event of a significant delay at the departure of a flight, the carrier must provide assistance to passengers waiting at the airport (hotel, meal, etc.).
This assistance obligation is provided when your plane is delayed by at least:
– 2 hours in the case of flights up to 1500 km;
– 3 hours for flights within the European Union of more than 1,500 km and 1,500 to 3,500 km for other flights;
– 4 hours in the case of flights over 3500 km.
In the event of a flight delay of more than 5 hours, you can request the reimbursement of your plane ticket if you give up your trip, knowing that you can also obtain financial compensation.
In the event of a delay of 3 hours or more in your plane upon arrival, you can claim the same compensation as that provided for denied boarding (see above). Unless your carrier demonstrates that this delay is due to extraordinary circumstances.
To determine the actual arrival time of your flight when calculating the number of hours late, you must take into account the time when your plane opened, not the time when airplane landed on the airstrip (CJEU stop of September 4, 2014).
Your rights during a strike?
In the event of a strike, two cases must be distinguished.
If the strike is not due to the personnel of the carrier, the latter must nevertheless compensate you. However, he will not have to compensate you in the event of force majeure, that is to say when the company succeeds in demonstrating that the strike was unpredictable and that no re-routing solution was possible.
If the strike is due to the staff of your Volotea airline, the latter must compensate you in all cases.
Obtain a minimum of 250 euros in damages
Passengers who are victims of a significant delay or of a flight cancellation or denied boarding can always request additional compensation for the damages they may receive for the compensation of the financial and possibly moral damage that ‘they suffered: loss of their deposits in the event of rental, vacations canceled, loss of working days, etc.
Benefit from financial compensation: How to do it?
First, the victim must send all supporting documents to a firm that specializes in repairing disputes arising from injuries suffered by passengers, poorly transported by their airlines.
It is possible to use legal experts online by sending them electronically (through our form).