Passengers whose flight is heavily delayed or cancelled have the right to compensation under European law.
Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers are entitled to up to £460 in compensation when their flight lands at their destination more than three hours late.
Airlines can avoid paying out if the delay is caused by an extraordinary circumstance, such as bad weather or crew strikes.
Previously, airlines routinely refused to pay out for delays caused by a technical fault, claiming they counted as extraordinary events. Yet last year, two landmark Supreme Court rulings declared that carriers should pay out when a delay was caused by a technical fault.
Compensation: A new landmark ruling in the UK means that customers should be able to get compensation from airlines if they're subject to delays
Compensation: A new landmark ruling in the UK means that customers should be able to get compensation from airlines if they're subject to delays
How does it work?
Under EU rules, airlines must pay compensation for cancelled or heavily delayed flights, however, they can escape this under some 'extraordinary circumstances'. This can include sudden severe weather events, such as the hurricane and the volcanic ash cloud episode almost three years ago will fall into this bracket.
Compensation is €250 (£190) for inter-EU flights of 930 miles or less, €400 (£310) for flights between 930 and 1,860 miles and €600 (£460) for other journeys.
It applies to any flight leaving an EU airport and any flight into the EU on an EU-based airline.
It is important to remember that
WHAT IF EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES DO OCCUR?
Airlines have a duty of care to look after stranded passengers, even if cancellations are due to extraordinary circumstances out of their control.
If you have been left stuck and out of pocket by your airline, then you will need to keep a record of what you have spent, including receipts and try to reclaim from airline using the EU rule.
The ruling that outlines these rights is Regulation (EC) 261/2004 and it applies to all flights wholly within the EU/EEA or Swiss region, or departing an EU/EEA or Swiss airport, or arriving in the region and run by an EU/EEA or Swiss airline.
This means any direct flight from the UK should be covered, along with any flight to it run by a European airline.
Originally this ruling only covered cancellations or denied boarding, although passengers could argue if a flight was delayed beyond a certain point it was effectively cancelled.
However, in 2009 the ECJ ruled in the Sturgeon case that compensation should also apply to long delays of more than three hours.
Passengers can claim by telling the airline their flight number, names and reason for the delay. If rejected, they can take their case to court.
Airlines will often try and claim extraordinary circumstances to wriggle out of paying, often this use to involve citing technical faults as being covered by this.
However, extraordinary circumstances are judged to be something unexpected and out of an airline's control, and it was argued that an airline should be prepared for mechanical problems as a matter of course - and thus that these are not extraordinary.
Airlines trying to run their operations on a shoe-string have been accused of failing to put in back-up plans to get parts, repairs or replacements in place swiftly.
The nub of the matter is that if your flight is delayed by more than three hours, cancelled or overbooked, you may be able to claim.
Taken from this is money.