What regulations guarantee the rights of air passengers?

REGULATION (EC) No 261/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, (hereinafter - the Regulation) establishes minimum rights for passengers when: (a) they are denied boarding against their will; (b) their flight is cancelled; (c) their flight is delayed.

The Regulation shall apply:

1. to passengers departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member Stateof the EU;
2. to passengers departing from an airport located in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member Stateof the EU, unless they received benefits or compensation and were given assistance in that third country, if the operating air carrier of the flight concerned is a Community carrier.

This Regulation shall not apply to passengers travelling free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public. However, it shall apply to passengers having tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or other commercial programme by an air carrier or tour operator.

For your information!!!

If you are denied boarding or your flight is canceled or delayed for at least two hours, ask the employees near the check-in desk or the boarding gate fo the information about your rights, particularly with regard to compensation and assistance.

For more information, please refer to the website of the Consumer Rights Protection Centre.

Denied boarding for the flight

Detailed information on cases falling under the concept of "denied boarding" and on the standard procedure to be followed by the airline, please refer to the "Registration and check-in" section. 

If passengers are denied boarding against their will, the operating air carrier shall immediately pay compensation to passengers in the following amounts:

1. EUR 250, in the case of flights of 1,500 km or less;
2. EUR 400, in the case of flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km;
3. EUR 600, in the case of flights exceeding 3,500 km outside the EU.

If the passenger is offered re-routing to their final destination on an alternative flight, the arrival time of which does not exceed the scheduled arrival time of the flight originally booked for 2, 3 or 4 hours, the operating air carrier may reduce the compensation by 50%.

The compensation shall be paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank orders or bank cheques or, with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers and/or other services.

For your information!!!

If air carrier denies boarding for a flight, he must immediately after the provision of information to issue a written notification, which specifies the conditions of compensation and assistance in accordance with the Regulation. The air carrier in writing to provide the contact information of the authorized institutions in the country.

Flight cancellation

"Cancellation" means the non-operation of a flight which was previously planned and on which at least one place was reserved.

The obligation of the carrier in case of flight cancellation:

• Ensure that the passenger can choose a refund within 7 days (if applicable free return flight to the initial point) or any other possibility of getting to the final destination. 
• To pay compensation in the same amount as in the case of denied boarding on a flight, except as noted below.
• Ensure for the passenger free of charge meals and refreshments, possibility free of charge to make 2 telephone calls, send 2 fax messages or e-mails, if the time of departure is at least on the next day after previously scheduled time of departure – hotel and transport to the hotel;
• The operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children.

When passengers are informed of the cancellation of the flight, they should be provided with the information on possible alternative transport routes. The burden of proof concerning the questions as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation of the flight shall rest with the operating air carrier.

Exceptions:

• One of the following cases:

1. the passengers are informed of the cancellation at least two weeks before the scheduled time of departure; or
2. the passengers are informed of the cancellation between two weeks and seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than two hours before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than four hours after the scheduled time of arrival; or
3. the passengers are informed of the cancellation less than seven days before the scheduled time of departure and are offered re-routing, allowing them to depart no more than one hour before the scheduled time of departure and to reach their final destination less than two hours after the scheduled time of arrival.

• An operating air carrier can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

For your information!!!

If air carrier cancels a flight, he must immediately after the provision of information to issue a written notification, which specifies the conditions of compensation and assistance in accordance with the Regulation. The air carrier in writing to provide the contact information of the authorized institutions in the country.

Delay of the flight

The Regulation applies when an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure:

• for two hours or more in the case of flights of 1,500 kilometres or less; or
• for three hours or more in the case of all intra-Community flights of more than 1,500 kilometres and of all other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres; or
• for four hours or more in the case of all flights outside the EU.

The operating air carrier shall ensure for the passenger free of charge meals and refreshments, possibility free of charge to make 2 telephone calls, send 2 fax messages or e-mails, hotel and transport to the hotel as required.

If the flight delay is 5 hours or more, the air carrier must offer you the refund of the ticket cost (if applicable also a free return flight to the initial point).

In addition, according to a preliminary decision of the Court of the European Union of 19 November 2009 on joint cases C-402/07 and C-432/07, the passengers of delayed flights can be equated to the passengers of canceled flights with rights to compensation, if they arrive in destination for three or more hours later than pre-assigned time. However, such a delay does not give the passengers the right to compensation, if the operating air carrier can prove that the flight delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures are taken, ie they are beyond the control of the air carrier.

For your information!!!

If air carrier expects a flight to be delayed for more than 2 hours, he must immediately after the provision of information to issue a written notification, which specifies the conditions of compensation and assistance in accordance with the Regulation. The air carrier in writing to provide the contact information of the authorized institutions in the country.

Bagage loss / damage

In case of problems with a baggage the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, signed in Montreal on 28 May 1999, shall be applied.

You may claim up to 1,000 SDR (1 SDR = 1,18 EUR) for damages caused by the destruction, damage, loss or delay of your baggage on a flight by an EU airline, anywhere in the world. If the airline does not agree with your claim, you may go to court.

For damage to checked-in baggage, you must claim in writing within 7 days of its return and for delayed baggage within 21 days of its return. You can claim from the airline with which you have a contract or from that actually operating the flight, if they are different.

The rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air

REGULATION (EC) No 1107/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 5 July 2006 concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air sets out:

An air carrier or its agent or a tour operator shall not refuse, on the grounds of disability or of reduced mobility:

1. to accept a reservation for a flight departing from or arriving at an airport to which this Regulation applies;
2. to embark a disabled person or a person with reduced mobility at such an airport, provided that the person concerned has a valid ticket and reservation.

The regulation provides for certain exceptions related to the safety requirements or circumstances, if the size of the aircraft or its doors makes the embarkation or carriage of that disabled person or person with reduced mobility physically impossible.

A disabled person or a person with reduced mobility who has been denied embarkation on the grounds of his or her disability or reduced mobility and any person accompanying this person shall be offered the right to reimbursement or re-routing as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. The right to the option of a return flight or re-routing shall be conditional upon all safety requirements being met.

When a disabled person or person with reduced mobility arrives at an airport for travel by air, the managing body of the airport shall be responsible for ensuring the provision of the assistance in such a way that the person is able to take the flight for which he or she holds a reservation, provided that the notification of the person's particular needs for such assistance has been made to the air carrier or its agent or the tour operator concerned at least 48 hours before the published time of departure of the flight. This notification shall also cover a return flight, if the outward flight and the return flight have been contracted with the same air carrier.

Where wheelchairs or other mobility equipment or assistive devices are lost or damaged whilst being handled at the airport or transported on board aircraft, the passenger to whom the equipment belongs shall be compensated, in accordance with rules of international, Community and national law.

The designates body responsible for the enforcement of the Regulation 1107/2006 in the Republic of Latvia is the Civil Aviation Agency.

Compensation in case of death or personal injury

For damage resulting from bodily injury in the amount of 100,000 SDR (1 SDR = 1,18 EUR) the air carrier does not have the right to dispute any compensation. If the amount exceeds the above, the air carrier may dispute the claim, trying to prove his innocence. In case of injury or death of a passenger, air carrier within 15 days after the personality of the person claiming for the compensation has been clarified, must submit advance payment required for urgent action. In the case of the death the payment amount will not be less than 16,000 SDR.