Air passengers owed ‘hundreds of millions’
Passengers failed to claim around £240 million they were entitled to for delayed or cancelled flights last year, but the figure was lower than the £355 million that was left unclaimed in 2012, according to passenger rights specialist refund.me.
The no win, no fee firm, which helps eligible passengers fight for compensation under EU Regulation EC 261, said airlines were getting better at keeping delays under the limits that would trigger payments.
Since 2004, passengers have been entitled to claim compensation of up to £490 for late cancellations of flights or delays of more than three hours, other than due to extraordinary circumstances beyond an airline’s control.
"After nearly a decade of citing poorly justified "extraordinary circumstances" to avoid compensation payments, airlines appear to have turned the corner on both service and post-service quality," said refund.me founder and CEO Eve Buechner.
"Some airlines now have more aircraft on standby or move to pre-emptively smooth things over with passengers by offering vouchers, miles and accommodation more willingly."
Refund.me processed more than 10,000 compensation claims last year, totally more than £3.3 million, and claimed a 94% success rate.
However, it says a planned review of EC 261 by the European Parliament, which is considering amending the legislation so that passengers would not be entitled to compensation for delays of less than five, seven or 12 hours, could jeopardize the progress made so far.
"This would effectively nullify the progress made in the last few years and set passenger rights back to their standards of 10 years ago," said Ms Buechner.
"The airline industry has made significant progress in improving passenger rights in the last two years. Passengers are more aware of their rights and airlines have become more compliant and offer better service as a result. It would be disappointing to undo this progress. It would lead to more delays, more cancellations and more stranded passengers."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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