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DaClaiming compensation for overbooked flights?
New ruling on denied boarding
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Rights for overbooked flights
The Airline Regulation states that you are entitled to immediate payment of flight compensation if you are denied boarding by airline staff when you present yourself for boarding at the airport.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that it is irrelevant whether the denied boarding is due to an overbooked flight or other reasons, such as operational reasons, (unjustified) claims by the airline of insufficient or incomplete travel documents, etc.
If you are denied boarding, we recommend that you document your presence at the airport. For example, take a photo to prove when you were there and where you tried to check in. You can also ask for a written explanation of the denied boarding from the airline.
On May 21, 2024, lawyer Eva Persson won a case in Copenhagen City Court for passengers. The case involved
a journey from Milan to Copenhagen.
Compensation from Ryanair
According to passenger tickets and announcements from Ryanair, passengers could check-in in advance online, but also had the option to check-in at the airport upon departure – albeit for a fee of Euro 55.00.
That this is an option is evident from Ryanair’s website and the company’s terms and conditions of carriage.
However, the passengers were turned away at the airport when they tried to check in for their flight, as Ryanair staff informed them that they should have checked in online. As a result, the passengers had to buy new flight tickets with SAS from another airport in Milan.
During the case, Ryanair claimed that the passengers never showed up at the airport, but the court found the passengers’ testimony credible and found that the passengers had been present and tried to check in more than 45 min. before departure, but that the passengers had been refused.
On this basis, Ryanair was ordered to pay the passengers flight compensation and to reimburse the passengers’ expenses for new flight tickets with SAS.
Rebooking a return flight
If you – for one reason or another – do not use your outbound tickets, your return tickets will automatically be canceled.
This is at least the case if the trip was “booked as a single booking”, i.e. you purchased the outbound and return tickets at the same time.
In other words, if you are denied boarding on your outbound flight, it is particularly important that you contact the airline if you want to make sure you still have your return tickets.
Have you experienced something similar? Contact us today so we can help you.
