التعويض عن تأخير الرحلات الجوية: متى يحق لك الحصول عليه وكم قيمته؟

If your flight departs from an EU airport, or lands in the EU on an EU carrier, and it is cancelled or reaches your final destination three hours or more late, you are entitled to fixed compensation of €250, €400 or €600 under EU Regulation 261/2004. The main exception is a disruption caused by extraordinary circumstances that the airline could not have avoided even with all reasonable measures.

The Regulation itself only mentions cancellation, but the Court of Justice of the European Union extended the right to long delays in the Sturgeon judgment of 19 November 2009 (C-402/07 and C-432/07). Passengers who reach their final destination three hours or more behind schedule are treated the same as passengers on a cancelled flight.

متى يحق لك الحصول على تعويض؟

تنطبق ثلاثة شروط: أن تكون الرحلة قد أقلعت من مطار في الاتحاد الأوروبي، أو هبطت في الاتحاد الأوروبي وكانت تُشغلها شركة طيران تابعة للاتحاد الأوروبي. وأن يكون لديك حجز مؤكد وقمت بتسجيل الوصول في الوقت المحدد. وأن تصل إلى وجهتك النهائية بعد ثلاث ساعات على الأقل من الموعد المحدد، أو أن تكون الرحلة قد أُلغيت دون إشعار كافٍ.

يُقصد بوقت الوصول لحظة فتح أبواب الطائرة في الوجهة المقصودة، وليس لحظة الهبوط. في حال كان التأخير يقارب ثلاث ساعات، يُمكن لهذا الفرق أن يُحسم المطالبة. كما يُحتسب فوات رحلة المتابعة، شريطة أن تكون الرحلات جزءًا من حجز واحد وأن تصل إلى وجهتك النهائية متأخرًا ثلاث ساعات أو أكثر.

When does a cancellation not entitle you to compensation?

No compensation is due if the airline informed you of the cancellation more than 14 days before departure. With 7 to 14 days’ notice, or less than 7 days’ notice, you are not entitled either if the airline offered re-routing within strict time margins around your original departure and arrival times, according to the European Commission’s Your Europe portal.

ما مقدار التعويض الذي يمكنك المطالبة به؟

The amount depends on the flight distance, not on the ticket price. It is €250 for flights up to 1,500 kilometres, €400 for longer flights within the EU and for other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres, and €600 for flights over 3,500 kilometres. For that longest category, the airline may halve the amount to €300 if you arrive between three and four hours late.

Compensation comes on top of the airline’s duty of care during the delay, such as meals, refreshments and, where needed, accommodation and transport. If the flight is cancelled, it also comes on top of your right to choose between a refund and re-routing.

متى يحق لشركة الطيران رفض الدفع؟

لا تتحمل شركة الطيران المسؤولية إذا كان سبب الاضطراب ظروفاً استثنائية لا يمكن تجنبها حتى مع اتخاذ جميع التدابير المعقولة. ومن أمثلة هذه الظروف: سوء الأحوال الجوية، وقيود مراقبة الحركة الجوية، وعدم الاستقرار السياسي، والمخاطر الأمنية.

Much of what airlines rely on does not qualify. The Court of Justice ruled in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) that a technical defect arising in the normal course of operating an aircraft is generally not extraordinary. In the TUIfly case (C-195/17), it ruled that a wildcat strike among the airline’s own staff, following the airline’s own decisions, is not extraordinary either. The airline has to prove both the extraordinary circumstances and the reasonable measures it took.

ما الذي يجب عليك التحقق منه كراكب؟

Most claims succeed or fail on documents you collect on the day itself.

• Keep your boarding pass, booking confirmation and any messages from the airline.
• Note the time the aircraft doors opened at your final destination.
• Check which airline actually operated the flight; that carrier is liable.
• Ask the airline in writing for the reason of the delay or cancellation.
• Keep receipts for meals, hotels and transport the airline did not provide.
• Note the date of the flight: the two-year deadline runs from the day the flight arrived or should have arrived.

كيف تقدم مطالبة؟

Claim from the operating carrier, not from the travel agent or the airline whose code was on your ticket. State the flight number and date, the scheduled and actual arrival times, and the amount you claim. If the airline does not respond within two months or rejects the claim, you can also complain to the national enforcement body in the country where the incident happened.

That body does not award compensation itself, so for payment you may have to go to court. In the Netherlands, a claim of this size goes to the subdistrict court (kantonrechter), where you do not need a lawyer.

ما هي المدة المتاحة لرفع الدعوى؟

In the Netherlands, two years. Dutch courts apply the two-year period of Article 8:1835 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) for claims under a contract of carriage by air. This is an expiry period: a letter to the airline does not stop it, so you must start court proceedings within two years. In a 2023 ruling, the subdistrict court of Haarlem declared passengers’ claims inadmissible because the summons came too late (ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2023:501).

ما الذي يمكننا فعله من أجلك بخصوص مطالبة التعويض عن رحلة طيران؟

محامون مدنيون handle claims against airlines for individual passengers and for companies with travelling staff:

• We check whether the Regulation applies and which compensation category fits your flight.
• We assess whether the airline’s reliance on extraordinary circumstances holds up.
• We send a demand letter to the operating carrier with a payment deadline.
• We start proceedings at the subdistrict court in good time before the two-year period ends.
• We bundle the claims of colleagues or family members on the same flight.

ملخص

• A flight cancelled or arriving three hours or more late can entitle you to €250, €400 or €600, depending on distance.
• ينطبق هذا الحق على الرحلات الجوية المغادرة من الاتحاد الأوروبي وعلى الرحلات الجوية المتجهة إلى الاتحاد الأوروبي على متن ناقل جوي تابع للاتحاد الأوروبي.
• The airline does not have to pay if it proves extraordinary circumstances despite all reasonable measures; technical defects and own-staff strikes generally do not count.
• In the Netherlands, you must start court proceedings within two years; a letter does not stop that period.

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