Introduction

A cancelled flight, a long delay or a refused boarding leaves the passenger in the airport with one useful question: what the law provides, and how to enforce it. In Europe the answer is set out in the Passenger Rights Charter. It is the set of protections recognised for anyone travelling by air, and it places clear duties on the airline to give information, care and compensation when the journey is interrupted or changed.

The Charter comes from Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the European rule on air travel disruption. It covers the cases that happen most often before departure: a long delay, a flight cancellation and denied boarding, including overbooking. Alongside these, the passenger has separate protection for checked baggage that is lost, damaged or delivered late. Each situation follows its own rule: knowing which one applies is the first step toward a ticket refund, rerouting on another flight or financial compensation.

These rights do not start by themselves. The airline must inform the passenger when the disruption happens, and the passenger needs to know what to ask for, whom to write to and which proof to keep. A travel voucher, a cash refund and a flat-rate sum for the inconvenience are different claims, and each follows its own path.

This guide takes the rights one by one. It first explains what the Charter is and which rules it is made of, then covers flight delay, cancellation, overbooking and care at the airport. It continues with baggage, the complaint to the airline and to ENAC, and the flights to which Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 actually applies. At the end, the frequently asked questions gather deadlines, vouchers and time limits in short answers.

What the air Passenger Rights Charter is

The air Passenger Rights Charter is the tool ENAC uses to make the protections for people who fly easy to read. It is on the authority’s website and in the materials distributed at airports. It sums up the rules and points to the authority where a disruption can be reported. The binding rules remain the European regulations and the Italian laws that apply them.

The core text is Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, on denied boarding, cancellation and long delay. In Italy, Legislative Decree 69/2006 provides penalties for airlines that breach it. ENAC also oversees Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006, on persons with disabilities and reduced mobility. Checked baggage belongs to another source, the Montreal Convention, with its own deadlines and limits.

ENAC is the national body that monitors the application of Regulation 261/2004 at Italian airports. It receives reports, checks whether the carrier met its duties and can impose administrative penalties. That check concerns the airline’s conduct. Payment of the sum to the passenger goes through the tools described in the section on complaints.

From the moment of the disruption it is worth setting aside proof of the journey: the booking confirmation, the boarding pass, the airline’s messages about the schedule or the cancellation, and receipts for expenses paid out of pocket. With these documents the price paid, the waiting time and the schedule can be reconstructed. The baggage form and the text of the claim each have their own place, later in this guide.

Air passenger rights under European law

When a flight stops, the passenger faces different needs at the same time: staying in the airport for hours, deciding whether the trip still makes sense, reaching the destination anyway, and receiving compensation for the time lost. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 answers each of these needs with a specific right. The four air passenger rights are care, a ticket refund, rerouting and financial compensation. They are owed by the operating air carrier, the airline that operates the flight, and each one covers a different part of the inconvenience.

Care is the protection during the wait. It applies from the moment the passenger is held in the terminal, before it is clear whether the flight will leave, whether it will be changed or whether the trip will be given up. The airline provides meals and drinks in proportion to the hours of waiting, so the wait does not stay at the expense of someone who is already at the airport. It also includes two messages, a phone call or an email, to warn whoever is waiting at arrival or to reorganise the day. If departure slips to the next day, or if an overnight stay is needed in order to leave again, care includes a hotel room and transport from the airport to the hotel and back.

The refund applies when the journey, in whole or in part, will not take place. The airline returns the price paid for the sector that will not be flown, including taxes and supplements that were part of the ticket. If a sector already flown has lost all use for the original plan, that share is included in the sum as well. This happens, for example, when the outbound flight of a stay is cancelled and the return alone no longer serves any purpose. If the passenger is already far from home and the ticket included the return, a flight back to the airport of departure can also be requested. With the refund, that part of the contract ends: the price goes back to the passenger, and the airline is no longer required to carry the passenger to the destination on that ticket.

Rerouting is the path for anyone who still wants to arrive. The airline places the passenger on an alternative flight to the final destination on the original ticket, including when the route had a connection. The new flight can be the first one available, or a flight on a later date that is more convenient. The conditions of carriage stay comparable to those purchased. If the seat offered is in a higher class, the upgrade costs nothing extra. If the passenger is placed in a lower class, the regulation provides a refund of part of the ticket price: 30% for flights up to 1,500 km, 50% on medium-haul routes and 75% on longer routes.

Financial compensation covers the inconvenience, and it is separate from the ticket. It is a fixed sum, the same for passengers on the same route, and it is calculated on the distance of the flight: €250 for up to 1,500 km, €400 for intra-EU flights over 1,500 km and for routes between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and €600 for longer extra-EU routes. It is added to the refund or to the alternative flight. If the replacement flight arrives close to the original time, the sum can be reduced by half: the allowed gap is two hours on routes up to 1,500 km, three hours on medium-haul routes and four hours on longer ones. Where extraordinary circumstances exist, the airline can be released from this payment. The flat-rate sum leaves room for a further claim for specific damage the passenger can prove, within the limits of the international conventions on air transport.

The refund and rerouting are the two decisions about the fate of the trip. Anyone who gives up the trip asks for the ticket price back. Anyone who still travels boards another flight. Care covers the hours of waiting in both cases. Financial compensation, when the conditions are met, is added to the decision taken.

Flight delay: when compensation is due and what to do

In a flight delay, the compensation provided by European law is financial compensation. It is due if the final destination is reached at least three hours after the published arrival time. The count is made at the last airport on the ticket. It also applies when a connection is missed because the previous flight on the same booking landed late: what counts is the final arrival, not the single connection.

Care before departure follows different thresholds, based on kilometres. It starts after two hours on flights of up to 1,500 km, after three hours on intra-EU flights over 1,500 km and on routes between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and after four hours on longer routes. If departure moves to the next day, an overnight stay is added to the wait.

After a five-hour delay at departure, the passenger can leave the flight and ask for a refund of the part of the journey not made. Care continues until that withdrawal. Anyone who stays and then departs keeps the right to financial compensation if, on arrival at the destination, the three hours have been exceeded.

The airline is released from compensation if it proves that the delay comes from extraordinary circumstances. These include weather that prevents the flight from operating, a sudden problem affecting safety, and a strike outside the carrier’s organisation. A strike by the airline’s own staff, under European case law, generally remains the carrier’s responsibility.

At the airport, go to the desk of the airline operating the flight and ask for care together with a notice of the schedule. On landing, it is worth noting the actual arrival time, because that is what opens or closes compensation. The request should then be put in writing to the airline, with the booking reference and the boarding pass.

Cancelled flight: how to get a refund and compensation

With a cancelled flight, the passenger chooses one of three solutions. The trip can be closed, with a refund of the price of the sector not flown and of any sector already flown if it has become useless. An alternative flight to the same destination can be accepted as soon as possible. The passenger can move to a flight on a later, more convenient date. The cash refund arrives within seven days, by bank transfer, cheque or another monetary payment. An airline voucher replaces the money only if the passenger accepts it explicitly.

While waiting for the new boarding, care remains due. If the conditions are met, financial compensation based on the distance of the route is added to the choice.

That sum falls away in some cases of advance notice. The airline is released if it gives notice at least two weeks before departure. It is also released with notice between two weeks and seven days, when it offers a flight that departs no more than two hours earlier and arrives less than four hours after the booked time. With less than seven days’ notice, the release applies if the replacement flight departs no more than one hour earlier and arrives less than two hours later. Proof of extraordinary circumstances has the same effect, on the same ground as for a delay.

The request is sent to the airline with the number of the cancelled flight, the solution chosen and, if money is claimed, the IBAN. The attachments needed are the booking confirmation and the message by which the cancellation was communicated: the date and the notice period can be read from there.

Overbooking and denied boarding: passenger rights

Overbooking is the sale of more seats than the aircraft has. When too many passengers are present for boarding, the airline first looks for volunteers willing to stay behind. The benefit is agreed with the person who accepts: it can be a sum of money, a voucher or another flight. Anyone who gives up the seat on their own initiative receives what was agreed and, with it, care and the choice between a refund and rerouting.

If there are not enough volunteers, denied boarding applies to anyone who does not want to give up the seat. Financial compensation, again calculated on the distance, is immediate. Care is added, together with the choice between closing the trip with the ticket price or continuing it on an alternative flight. At the gate it is worth getting a written statement of denied boarding. That document distinguishes a seat refused by the airline from a late arrival at check-in.

Care at the airport: meals, hotel and transport

Meals, messages, a hotel and transfers are requested at the desk of the airline operating the flight, or at the gate if the problem appears at boarding. The request is made while the wait is under way. For food and drink, the airline usually issues a voucher. For the two messages, being able to phone or send an email is enough.

A hotel and transport come in when an overnight stay is needed in order to depart again, or when the passenger has to sleep away from home compared with the original plan. The airline arranges them: it indicates the hotel and the transfer from the airport to the hotel and back. Accepting what is offered closes this part of the wait.

If nothing is provided at the desk, the passenger can advance modest, proportionate expenses: a meal, a transfer to the hotel indicated or, if no indication is given, to an ordinary hotel near the airport. Every receipt should be kept, with a note of the time and of the refusal, including a photo of the departure board or an email. With those receipts, a refund of the amount spent can be requested from the airline. A high-end room, or a transfer much more expensive than the necessary journey, is difficult to recover in full.

Lost, damaged or delayed baggage: what to do and how to claim a refund

Checked baggage follows the Montreal Convention, on a separate basis from the flat-rate sums for delay or cancellation. If the suitcase does not appear on the belt, the passenger immediately fills in the PIR, the property irregularity report, at the desk in the arrival airport, before leaving. The contact is the airline of the last sector. A copy of the PIR and the baggage receipt stay with the passenger.

The time limits for a complaint are short. Damage to delivered baggage is reported within seven days of receipt. A delay in delivery is contested within twenty-one days of the moment the baggage is placed at the passenger’s disposal. A PIR filled in at the airport can already count as a complaint for the delay, even before the suitcase comes back: the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Italian Court of Cassation have made this clear. If the baggage is not returned within twenty-one days of the date on which it should have arrived, it is treated as lost.

Compensation covers destruction, loss, damage and delay, up to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger. The euro value of this unit changes over time. The ceiling rises only if, at check-in, the passenger declared a higher interest in delivery and paid any supplementary charge. The request should include the PIR, the baggage tag, a list of the contents and, where available, receipts for the items or for essential purchases made while waiting for the suitcase.

How to file a complaint with the airline and with ENAC

A complaint for denied boarding, cancellation or a long delay is sent first to the airline that issued the ticket. For package holidays, the organiser is written to as well. The channel is the form on the carrier’s website. The text needs the booking reference, the flight number and date, the route, what happened and the IBAN. The proof already kept is attached. ENAC indicates two years from the date of the flight. It is wise to write within six months, because some airlines reject later requests.

If six weeks pass with no reply, or if the reply departs from Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the passenger can report the case to ENAC using the online form. The authority checks the breach and can penalise the airline. The report is free of charge and is filed in person. The money reaches the passenger through conciliation on ConciliaWeb, the platform of the Transport Regulation Authority, or before a court.

Which flights Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies to

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 covers scheduled and non-scheduled flights departing from an airport in the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland. It also covers flights arriving at these airports from a third country, if the airline operating the flight is European, Norwegian, Icelandic or Swiss, and if the passenger has not already received the protection provided in the country of departure. On a flight arriving in the Union operated by a non-European airline, local law and the contract of carriage apply.

The passenger must have a confirmed reservation and must present themselves for check-in at the time indicated by the airline or the organiser. If that time is missing, the limit is forty-five minutes before departure. Free tickets, or tickets at a reduced fare not available to the public, stay outside the rules. Tickets issued under a loyalty programme are covered.