In case of cancellation of a flight, passengers must be given the assistance and maintenance service, including the possibility of rerouting. Also, passengers have the right to receive compensation, with a series of exceptions, the Civil Aviation Authority said now that the number of flights has doubled, IPN reports.
In case of cancelation of a flight, the passengers cannot ask for compensation if they have been informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before scheduled time of departure; if they are informed of the cancellation in an interval between 14 and 7 days before the scheduled departure time, and are offered a redirection enabling them to leave with no more than 2 hours before the scheduled departure time, and to reach final destination less than 4 hours after scheduled arrival time; if they are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled departure time, and are offered a redirection to enable them to leave no later than one hour before the scheduled departure time and to reach their final destination in less than 2 hours after the scheduled arrival time.
When passengers are informed of the cancellation, they are given explanations concerning possible alternative transport. Air carrier is not obliged to pay compensation if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not be avoided even if all reasonable measures have been taken. Air carrier has the task to prove that the passenger really has been informed of the flight cancellation, indicating the exact time.
The passengers are entitled to compensation, assistance and service if a flight is delayed, for example, by two hours in the case of flights that are over 1,500 km long or less, by three or more hours in the case of all the intra-community flights that are over 1,500 km long and any other flights that are 1,500 km to 3,500 km long, or by over four hours in the case of all the flights that do not fall into the first two categories.
The value of compensation is €250 for all the flights that are over 1,500 km long or less, €400 for flights that are 1,500 km to 3,500 km long and €600 for all the flights that do not fall into the first two categories.
If the passenger bought a plane ticket from an airline for a regular flight, assistance is to be offered by this airline. The demands and complaints are submitted to the airline and later, if the result is unsatisfactory, to the Civil Aviation Authority. In the case of irregular, charter flights, when the passengers purchased a travel package from a travel agency and do not have direct contractual ties with the airline, they should submit demands and complaints to the travel agencies and later, if the result is unsatisfactory, to the Civil Aviation Authority.
