How to request a refund or compensation in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellation, or extended flight delay

Regulation (EC) no. 261/2004 establishes how to request a refund or compensation in the event of denied boarding (overbooking), flight cancellation, or extended flight delay. Any traveler can personally request a refund and/or compensation (that goes from € 250 to € 600) by going onto the website of the airline company and filling out a form, or sending a request via email or via regular mail. Under Italian provisions, the period within which passengers can request compensation is 2 years from the event.

 1) Introduction 

Regulation (EC) no. 261/2004 establishes how to request a refund or compensation in the event of denied boarding, flight cancellation, or extended flight delay that took place in an Italian airport (and in general in any EU airport). Any traveler (the EU nationality of the passenger and of the airline company are not a requirement) can personally submit a complaint form requesting a refund and/or compensation (that goes from € 250 to € 600) from the airline company of interest or the tour operator with which the traveling contract was signed.

Also passengers travelling with a European airline from a non-EU country to Italy (or any another European country) are entitled to request a refund/compensation in the events indicated above (provided the passengers did not already receive benefits/compensation/assistance in the non-EU country of departure). 

If the airline company does not respond within six weeks or responds inadequately or it declines the claim (it must explain the specific reasons for the denial), the request can be submitted directly to the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC).

Under EU provisions, the period within which passengers can request compensation varies from State to State. For Italy is two (2) years from the occurrence of overbooking, cancellation, or delay of the flight of interest.

2) How to request a refund or compensation from the airline company 

Travelers can usually submit a claim online by filling out a form provided by the airline company of interest on its website (see below for some examples).

In any case, a copy of the ticket, boarding pass, and of the receipts of any expenses which the travelers have incurred as a consequence of the overbooking, cancellation or delay, and of any other relevant document must be attached to the request. We suggest keeping a copy of the undersigned and emailed complaint and its attachments in case of further need.  

ALITALIA

Passengers who were subject to cancellations, delays, overbooking or other inconveniences can submit their request online by filling out the form provided by the airline company by clicking here (then click on the right side of the page “comments or complaints”).  If the traveler lives abroad, he/she can get in contact with the Alitalia Customer Relations Office section in his/her country.

According to the website of the Italian airline company, a refund of a ticket issued by Alitalia or its authorized agents may be requested within 30 days from the date of expiry of the ticket, unless the traveler has agreed to more restrictive conditions at the time of the purchase of the ticket.

AIRONE

The same conditions for Alitalia apply to AirOne.

BLUEXPRESS

This airline company does not seem to have a dedicated webpage and thus all complaints should be sent by regular mail (Raccomandata A/R) to the Company’s Head Office at the following address:

Blue Panorama Airlines S.p.A.

Viale delle Arti n.123, Pal. D

00054 – Fiumicino (RM)

Italia

According to the website of the Company a copy of the boarding pass, the confirmation of booking and any additional documentation required should be enclosed with the request. For more information, the traveler can contact their Customer Care Service at the following Italian phone number +39 06 60214999 (Tuesday to Thursday – 9 am to 1 pm) or email customercare@blue-panorama.com.

MERIDIANA AND AIR ITALY

Passengers who were subject to cancellations, delays, overbooking or other inconveniences can fill out the form provided by the airline company by clicking here, attaching a copy of the ticket, boarding card, and any other relevant document.

The complaint can be sent either by:

– regular mail:

Meridiana S.p.A.

Servizio Relazioni Clienti

Centro Direzionale

Aeroporto Costa Smeralda

07026 Olbia OT

– fax: 

+39 0789 52927

Meridiana S.p.A – Servizio Relazione Clienti

– email: 

customer_relations@meridiana.com

AIR DOLOMITI

This airline company does not seem to have a dedicated webpage and thus all complaints should be sent by regular mail (Raccomandata A/R) to the Company’s Customer Relations Office at the following address:

Air Dolomiti S.p.A. Linee Aeree Regionali Europee

Via Paolo Bembo n.70

Dossobuono di Villafranca (VR)

37062 – Italia

or by email: customer-relations@airdolomiti.it.

For more information, the traveler can contact their Customer Care Service at the following Italian phone number +39 045 288 6111 or email salescenter@airdolomiti.it.

EASYJET

According to the website of the airline company, in order to submit a complaint if the traveler booked the flight through:

• the EasyJet mobile app >> go to the page My Flights;
• easyJet.com >> go to the page My easyJet;
• the airport sales desk or via EasyJet customer services team >> go to the page contact us;
• a third party >> contact the agency with which the flight was booked.

The Company requires that all claims for additional expenses due to a flight cancellation must be accompanied by valid receipts that can be sent in PDF, HTML, GIF, BMP or JPG format.

AIR FRANCE

Passengers who were subject to cancellations, delays, overbooking or other inconveniences can submit their request online by filling out the form provided by the airline company by clicking here, attaching a copy of the ticket, boarding card, and any other relevant document.

Alternatively to the above, all complaints can be sent by regular mail (Raccomandata A/R) to the Company’s Customer Care Center at the following address:

Air France – Europe

Customer Care Center

TSA 21235

75564 Paris Cedex 12

France

LUFTHANSA

Passengers who were subject to cancellations, delays, overbooking or other inconveniences can send their complaints by regular mail or by fax to the Company’s Customer Feedback/Relations Center in the country of domicile. The address of the office of interest can be found here.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

Passengers who were subject to cancellations, delays, overbooking or other inconveniences can submit their request online by filling out the form provided by the airline company by clicking here, attaching a copy of the ticket, boarding card, and any other relevant document.

RYANAIR

Passengers who were subject to cancellations, delays, overbooking or other inconveniences can submit their request online by filling out the form provided by the airline company by clicking here, attaching a copy of the ticket, boarding card and any other relevant document.

3) How to send a request via email or via regular mail  

If the airline company does not provide an online complaint form, passengers can send their request to the airline company of interest (or the tour operator with which the traveling contract was signed) via email or via regular mail using, for example, the air passenger rights EU complaint form or other similar forms.

In case the claimants cannot use an online form and decide not to use the EU form posted above, they should remember to include in their request at least the following information:

• contact details of every passenger including infants (complete name and address, phone number, email, etc);
• flight information (airline, ticket and flight number, travel dates and scheduled times of departure and arrival, air route, etc.);
• confirmation that the passenger presented himself for the check-in;
• what happened and where (overbooking, cancellation, delay, downgrading, what airport, etc.);
• in case of delay specify the length of the delay and the reasons that caused it (if known, otherwise specify that the staff did not inform passengers of what caused the delay);
• any other useful information (if the company provided information on passengers’ rights/assistance/compensation, names of staff members the passengers spoke to and what information they gave passengers, etc.).

Italian airline companies should understand a request written in English. However, it might be advisable to write it in Italian. 

4) How to request a refund or compensation from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC).

If the airline company does not respond within six weeks, or the travelers are not satisfied with the answer they received or for any other valid reason, they may send a refund/compensation request directly to the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) – which is also empowered to impose administrative penalties on the airline companies that did not respect the aforementioned Regulation – by filling out this form. Unfortunately, at the moment ENAC does not provide an English version of this form.

The request can be sent with reference to 1) any denied boarding, flight cancellation, or extended flight delay that took place in an Italian airport, regardless of the European nationality of the airline company, or to 2) any flight from a non-EU Country to Italy involving an EU airline (including Iceland, Norway and Switzerland).

In general, if the denied boarding, flight cancellation, or extended flight delay took place at an airport of departure outside the EU but involved an EU airline, the traveler can send a complaint to the relevant national enforcement body in the EU country he was travelling to.

David

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