Basics
What rights do you have in Spain if your flight is cancelled?
By h.b. - May 24, 2011 - 10:18 PM
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Photo EFE
Once again volcanic ash is threatening to bring disruption to air travel and the cancellation of flights.
In a case such as this passengers do have rights if their flight is cancelled. Their ticket price should be repaid, or they should be placed on another flight, but because if is a case of force majeure passengers have no right to compensation for damages caused.
The Spanish Consumers Users Organisation, OCU, has supplied the following information...
Cancellation: - What rights does a passenger have?
In the case of the cancellation of a flight:-
The airline has in the first place to meet the obligation of informing, as soon as possible, about the cancellation of the flight and the existence of alternative routes in other dates or companies.
Passengers have the right to the return of their ticket price or being placed on a later flight.
Passengers cannot obtain compensation for the damages caused by the cancellation if volcanic ash is the cause, given that it is a force majeure and not the fault of the company.
The companies should however, in principle, meet the cost of support or accommodation for those it is placing on another flight.
Information is fundamental.
In a situation such as this, as in 2010, it is important that the airlines and bodies responsible, such as AENA, correctly inform passengers. The lack of information makes the possible inconvenience for the affected travellers even greater, as they find themselves defenceless.
What do I do if they do not meet their obligations?
The user can present a complaint to the airline. EU norms establish the possibility of claiming compensation and assistance in the case that boarding is denied, through cancellation or after long flight delay. In Spain the competent body is the AESA State Agency for Air Safety. You can find detailed information on their webpage – (in Spanish)
here.
They supply the forms to use in the case of being denied boarding, flight cancellation, or flight delay. Once filled in, they should be sent by registered post to the Ministerio de Formento, Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea, Despacho A-259, Paseo de la Castellana 67, 28071 Madrid, enclosing a copy of all the communications you have had with the airline, information on the ticket and any other document of interest such as invoices and receipts.
The AESA can fine the airline for not meeting the norms, but it does not have the power to oblige compensation is given to the user. Usually its intervention makes the company more disposed to try and find a solution beneficial to all.