The law or text created by European Union legislation EC 261/2004 aims to protect passengers against delays, cancellations and especially overbooking. The law stipulates that each airline based at an EU airport is supposed to pay compensation to each passenger who is expelled from the plane due to overbooking.

Criteria for compensation of a flight in case of overbooking

First, it must be confirmed that the geographical scope is respected. That is to say, it must be confirmed that his operator is from an EU member state or his flight took off from an airport located in a country that is part of the European alliance.
Important: Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are countries that are not members of the EU, however, they are concerned by the law and the rules protecting overbooked passengers.

Intra-Community flights, ie flights that are served between two EU airports, are systematically eligible for flat-rate compensation even if the airline is African, American or Asian, etc.
The criteria for compensation of a flight in case of delay or cancellation.

If your flight is delayed by more than three hours upon arrival, you are entitled to compensation. However, unlike overbooking, airlines may in some cases be exempted from paying compensation to the victims of cancellations or excessive delays.

Cases allowing air operators to avoid compensatory compensation:

– Extraordinary circumstances: As the weather (hurricane or snowstorm, …) preventing the takeoff of the aircraft on time.

– Disabling strike at the airport, announced by airport staff or air traffic controllers.

– Complicated political situations including attacks, civil wars, …

Your flight is postponed, besides monetary compensation, what more can you ask your airline?

If a delay of several hours has been caused, and the airline has decided to postpone its flight to the next day, the latter must offer you an overnight stay at the hotel which is located near the airport in addition to a routing solution between the airport and your place of accommodation.

Important: In the event that your flight has a delay of five hours, you can decide between embarking on another flight or not flying with your operator by canceling your reservation. Therefore, your carrier must refund the full amount of your ticket, “in addition to a compensation of 250 euros, 400 or 600 euros.