What are your rights in the event of delay or cancellation of a SmartLynx Airlines flight?
The regulations are still little known, but you would surely be delighted to learn that when a major delay or flight cancellation occurs, passengers are entitled to compensation. Perhaps as an expatriate, you have already paid for it yourself? Overbooking, for example, is very common with certain companies.
The companies including SmartLynx Airlines do not treat passengers with the same attention and do not all apply the European regulations to the letter. Companies specializing in assistance to air passengers who have suffered significant delays or flight cancellations are now proposing to initiate compensation claims procedures in place of travelers.
Think about this when you book your next flight, because in case of boredom it might be better to pay slightly more for your ticket, and have the assurance of being properly compensated in the event of a problem.
When can we be compensated?
– If you are denied boarding: between 250? and 600? depending on the distance of your flight,
– If you are more than three hours late on arrival,
– If your flight is canceled (the compensation is cumulative with the reimbursement of your ticket,
– If you choose not to be routed on another flight that the company offers you). Please note, however, the compensation may be reduced depending on the delay in arrival and the fact that a flight remains in Europe.
European regulation EU261 / 04 allows travelers whose departure or arrival of the flight is in Europe – including Switzerland, signatory of a bilateral agreement on the matter – to obtain a lump sum compensation in the event of excessive delay, and this, up to five years after the incident: 250 euros if the distance is more than 1,500 km, 600 euros if more than 3,500 km and 400 in between. 2 to 3% of flights would be affected, that is to say between 40,000 and 50,000 passengers every day.
Please note if your departure airport is outside Europe (the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are not counted outside Europe), and the company is not European (this is not the case for Smartlynx ) then you will not be able to claim compensation. One more criterion on which we must therefore pay attention when booking a flight.
The cause of the problem should not be an extraordinary circumstance independent of the company. For example, a strike by air traffic controllers that results in the cancellation of your flight does not allow you to be compensated, while a strike by airline pilots that results in the cancellation of your flight entitles you to compensation.
Companies sometimes know how to play on this notion of extraordinary circumstance to avoid compensating passengers. Case law is provided for many types of problems: injection of birds into an aircraft engine (bird hazard), impacts from a gangway on the aircraft, impacts from baggage carts on the aircraft, etc.
To be compensated without initiating legal proceedings?
A Geneva start-up offers travelers whose flight is delayed to obtain compensation from the company that may even exceed the value of the ticket. A European legal possibility hitherto little used.
The start-up offers travelers who experience a delay to assert their rights via a downloadable application that can be used quickly (or via the website directly). Just fill out a short form, take a photo of the boarding pass and passport, and sign directly on the touch screen or with the mouse. L8flight then takes over the entire legal process. All procedures and registration are free, and a 25% commission is levied on the compensation, only if successful.