What compensation is available if my flight in the EU is delayed or cancelled?

EU air passenger compensation regulations were introduced in February 2005 to prevent airlines cancelling flights and abandoning passengers at airports without reimbursing them. You can find a summary of the rules here.

When will I be entitled to compensation?If you fly within the EU and your flight is delayed or cancelled, or you are "bumped" off a particular flight because of overbooking, you may be entitled to compensation.

Which flights does it apply to?The new rules apply to all scheduled and charter flights within the EU, as well as any other flights offered by a European airline - including so-called no-frills airlines - where the delay is deemed to be the fault of the airline.

Do you have to live in the EU to be eligible?No - all passengers flying within the EU who suffer delays and cancellation have the same entitlement to compensation regardless of nationality or country of residence.

What compensation is available?

DelaysThe amount of compensation you are entitled to varies depending on the length of your journey and how long a delay you suffer.

In the case of delays of two hours on a journey of up to 1,500km you should be eligible for free meals and refreshments, two phone calls, emails or faxes. For a journey of between 1,500 and 3,500km, you must be delayed by three hours for this entitlement; and if your.....continued below

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journey is 3,500km or more, the delay must be at least four hours.

If you are delayed by five hours or overnight you will also be entitled to a full refund of your ticket price - if you decide not to travel - and hotel accommodation, and you may be eligible for a free flight. If you are not offered these you should complain immediately to the airline operating the flight.

Cancellation and denied boardingIf you are denied boarding or your flight is cancelled compensation varies depending on, among other things, the length of your flight, but you will be entitled to a full refund and a return flight to the first point of departure or rerouting. In addition, you should receive assistance at the airport in the form of free meals and refreshments, telephone calls and, where appropriate, hotel accommodation.

When canceling a flight or denying boarding the airline must provide each passenger with a leaflet outlining their rights and the amounts of compensation due.

As a guide, in the instance of short-notice cancellations where the journey length is 1,500km or less you may be entitled to compensation of €250 (£170), while journeys of 1,500 to 3,500kms could cost the airline €400 (£273). Compensation for cancelled flights of more than 3,500kms is set at €600 (£410).

To complicate matters, the amounting compensation for cancelled passengers who are rerouted depends on the resulting delay to their journey.

How do I get compensation?

Refunds must be paid within seven days and in the event of cancellations, passengers have to contact the airline for compensation. If you are denied boarding, you are supposed to be given compensation immediately.

What happens if they don't pay out?There is a heavy incentive to ensure they do - airlines face fines of up to £5,000 a passenger for failing to comply with the regulations. If they don't, you have a right of appeal to the Air Traffic Users' Council.

Are all delays covered?The rules state that airlines won't have to pay compensation if the cancellation is caused by "extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided", and there has been confusion over what constitutes a delay within the airlines' control.

Examples of "extraordinary circumstances" include political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes. In the event of technical problems with the aircraft, you may still be eligible for compensation, but adverse weather conditions, for example blizzards, would be considered beyond the control of the airline (although you would be offered hotel accommodation if the flight was postponed overnight). These get-out clauses have led to criticism that airlines are misleading passengers about the cause for delays.

Airlines do not have to compensate passengers if they have given at least two weeks' notice of a cancellation or provided passengers with another flight at time of the original.

Do the regulations work?Anecdotal evidence suggests the rules were routinely ignored by many airlines immediately after their introduction. The airlines - especially low-cost firms - argued that the rules were unfair, in part because the level of compensation is at a flat rate and is not related to the amount paid for the fare. In some cases, compensation could exceed the original cost of a ticket paid for their tickets, and this is of particular concern to the budget airlines.

Two groups representing airlines - the International Air Transport Organisation (IATA) and the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) - challenged the legality of the regulations at the European court of justice. The court dismissed this challenge in January this year.

So, will the rules be enforced now?In theory, now that the European court of justice has upheld the regulations, passengers have a much stronger case for compensation. However, there is widespread confusion over the ambiguous wording of the regulations, which leaves them open to different interpretation by those in the airline industry and consumer groups.

And then there are concerns about the regulatory body, the Air Transport Users Council, which has reportedly received so many complaints from passengers with rejected claims it has admitted it can't cope with the numbers.

However, two compensation cases have already been won in the small claims courts this year, demonstrating that consumer law is coming down on the side of passengers.

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