Know Your Rights When Your European Flight is Delayed

When you’re planning family travel involving airports, there is always a risk of something going wrong. Unfortunately, many things are out of our control, such as flight delays. These unexpected events can have a domino effect, easily unraveling carefully made plans.

Thankfully, the European Union went through a lot of trouble to protect passengers who experience these inconveniences. The EU Air Passenger Rights are a series of regulations that apply to passengers flying within E.U. countries, to passengers on flights arriving in a member country from non-E.U. countries on flights operated by E.U.-based airlines and to passengers leaving the EU on any airline.

Passengers who experience delays of two hours or more are eligible for assistance from the airline. Benefits range from free meals to monetary compensation. The type and amount of compensation (ranging €250–500) is determined by the length of the delay and the distance of the trip.

These compensations are provided when flights are delayed for reasons such as technical difficulties or aircraft maintenance issues. Compensations are not covered when the delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances, such as political instability, severe weather conditions or security risks.

Unfortunately, no amount of planning can stop unexpected flight delays from happening, but it can be a great comfort to know there are regulations in place that help ease the burden just a bit. For help determining if you may be owed compensation, contact your airline or the European Consumer Centres Network.