Flight delays hit 43 million air passengers between April last year and March, but tens of thousands of passengers on late running flights aren’t claiming the compensation they’re due.
The summer is the perfect time to jet off for some R&R or an adventure somewhere new. But for thousands of travellers frustrations start the moment they step into the airport.
Only last week, a plane full of holidaymakers flying from Manchester Airport to Corfu was delayed by more than 39 hours. The silver lining for these delayed passengers was that once they’d arrived in Corfu they were handed leaflets on how to claim compensation.
As one frustrated holidaymaker, Paul Kenny, pointed out:
‘We have lost almost a third of our holiday, so a big chunk of it. We’ll make the most of the holiday we have left and then I’ll pick up the paperwork and the arguments when we get back.’
Flight delay compensation
These hapless holidaymakers aren’t alone. Our latest research shows almost a quarter of the two million flights to or from the UK last year experienced delays of 15 minutes or more, affecting a not insubstantial 43 million journeys.
More than ten thousand of these flights were more than three hours late, with 180,000 passengers delayed on long haul flights, and a further 800,000 held up on short-haul flights – making nearly one million delayed air passengers in the past year alone.
These figures are high, but fortunately there is something you can do to make sure you’re not out of pocket when you shouldn’t be. After all, you may be happy to be getting hot and bothered on the beach, but inside an airport is a different matter.
Under the current EU Denied Boarding Regulation, the passengers who travelled on these flights were more than three hours late arriving and so could be due compensation.
This Regulation covers you if you’re flying from an EU airport on any airline, or flying into an EU airport from a non-EU airport on an EU-based airline.
It’s worth knowing that if you’re travelling with a non-EU based airline flying from a non-EU destination, the airline doesn’t have the same duty to look after you. But you should check your airline’s Condition of Carriage to see what compensation you’re entitled to – you’ll be able to find this information out from the airline’s website.
Have you claimed compensation for a flight delay?
No I've not tried before (42%, 589 Votes)
No I've never been delayed (33%, 459 Votes)
Yes I've claimed and I was successful (14%, 199 Votes)
Yes I've claimed but I didn't get compensation (10%, 146 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,393
Loading ...Claiming for a flight delay
If you think you’re due compensation for a flight delay, but you not sure how to go about the claim, we’ve got the tools to make the process easier for you.
Our tools have been used more than 20,000 times – 14,202 of those for delays, and 6,202 for cancellations. If you’ve been hit by a flight delay, you can use our flight delay compensation letter, and for delays, we have a flight cancellation compensation letter.
So have you been caught out by a flight delay or cancellation?
