EU Regulation 261/04: your rights as a passenger

The Regulation applies:

• to passengers departing from Switzerland or the EU and passengers arriving in Switzerland or the EU
• only if you hold a confirmed reservation for the flight concerned
• only if you checked in before the indicated last check-in time (unless your flight was cancelled)
• or if no time was indicated, no later than 45 minutes before the published time of departure
• only if you are travelling on a fare that is available to the public

These are: meals appropriate for the waiting time, overnight hotel accommodation where necessary, inc. transfer costs and the option of two short phone calls, faxes or e-mails. The airline is not obliged to provide you with these care services if it would delay your departure further.

If you were denied boarding for your booked flight against your will due to overbooking, you are entitled to receive care services from the airline. You will also be offered alternative transport to the final destination you booked. This will take place at the earliest opportunity and on comparable conditions.

Subject to seat availability, you may instead choose to be re-routed to your final destination at a later and more convenient date, although in this case you would have to bear the cost of food, accommodation and transfer yourself. If you have been denied boarding against your will or voluntarily, you have the right to an alternative flight or a refund and compensation that can also be paid by cash card, bank transfer or, with your agreement, in the form of a voucher. The amount of this payment depends on the distance of the scheduled flight leg and on the alternative transportation offered to you:

• compensation is €250 for flights up to 1,500 km
• €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km and flights within Europe
• €600 for flights of more than 3,500 km

The basis for determining the distance is the last destination at which the passenger arrived after the scheduled arrival time as a result of being denied boarding or cancellation.

The compensation payment will only be 50% of the above amounts, i.e. €125, €200 or €300, if you are offered an alternative flight where the arrival time does not exceed the scheduled arrival time of the flight originally booked by more than 2 hours for flights of up to 1,500 km, or by more than 3 hours for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, or by more than 4 hours for all flights over 3,500 km.

You are not entitled to the payment and services described above if you were denied boarding due to your own fault, for health or safety reasons or if your travel documentation was missing or insufficient.

If your flight is cancelled, you also have the same rights to alternative transport, care services, reimbursement and compensation specified above.

However, you are not entitled to receive compensation under the EU Regulation if the event can be attributed to extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. This includes, for example, poor weather conditions, political instability, strikes, security risks and unexpected flight safety deficiencies.

There is also no right to compensation if:

• the passenger is informed of the cancellation at least 14 days before departure
• the passenger is informed of the cancellation between 14 and 7 days before departure and the alternative flight departs no more than 2 hours before the original departure time or arrives no more than 4 hours after the scheduled arrival time
• the passenger is informed of the cancellation less than 7 days before departure and the alternative flight departs no more than one hour before the original departure time or arrives no more than 2 hours after the scheduled arrival time.

Delays as defined in EU Regulation 261/04 occur if a flight is delayed beyond its scheduled departure time by 4 hours for flights of more than 3,500 km, by 3 hours for flights of between 1,500 and 3,500 km and flights of over 1,500 km within the EU, and by 2 hours for flights of up to 1,500 km. If your flight is expected to have a major delay, you are entitled to care services from the airline.

For delays of more than 5 hours, you are entitled to a refund within seven days of the cost of the ticket for the parts of the journey not completed or for those parts of the journey already completed if the delay meant that the journey no longer served its purpose. You are also entitled to onward transport to your first point of departure at the earliest opportunity where necessary.

If you are downgraded to a lower class, you are entitled to compensation within 7 days. The amount of this payment depends on the scheduled flight leg and the airfare paid for each segment:

• for distances up to 1,500 km compensation is 30% of the paid airfare per segment
• between 1,500 and 3,500 km and for flights within Europe of over 1,500 km it is 50% of the paid airfare per segment
• over 3,500 km, it is 75% of the paid airfare per segment