Compensation for a delayed or cancelled Austrian Airlines flight

Compensation for a delayed Austrian Airlines flight

Passengers can claim compensation of €250 to €600 for a delayed Austrian Airlines flight if they reach their final destination 3 hours or more late. The arrival delay is counted until at least one of the aircraft doors is opened and passengers can leave the aircraft, not until the moment of landing.

What are your rights when your Austrian Airlines flight is delayed?

In extraordinary circumstances - for example, severe weather, air traffic restrictions or certain airport problems - Austrian Airlines may be released from paying compensation if it proves that this particular circumstance caused the delay of that particular flight and that the delay could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Ordinary technical faults and problems within the airline's own organisation - for example, a crew member suddenly falling ill - are, as a rule, not extraordinary circumstances.

A strike by the airline's own staff - pilots or cabin crew - is, as a rule, not an extraordinary circumstance when it concerns the employees' demands on the airline. Strikes by staff outside the airline - for example, airport security or air traffic control - may be an extraordinary circumstance, but even then Austrian Airlines owes you care at the airport.

Missed a connection in Vienna?

Many journeys with Austrian Airlines from Bulgaria continue with a connection in Vienna. If all flights are on a single booking, they are treated as one journey. You are entitled to compensation if you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late - even if the first flight from Bulgaria was only a few minutes late but made you miss the next flight.

Compensation is based on the distance between your departure airport in Bulgaria and your final destination, not Vienna. So a short delay on the Sofia - Vienna flight that makes you arrive in New York 3 hours or more late may mean compensation of €600. On flights of more than 3,500 km, if the delay at the final destination is between 3 and 4 hours, the compensation may be reduced by 50%.

Why does the short connection time in Vienna matter?

Austrian Airlines sells connecting flights via Vienna with very short connection times - very often only 30-40 minutes. With such a connection, even a small delay on the first flight is enough to make you miss the next one. When the flights are on a single booking and you miss the connection because the first flight was delayed, your rights are assessed for the whole journey to your final destination, not only for the delay to Vienna.

Do you lose your compensation if Austrian Airlines re-routes you quickly?

If you miss a connection, airlines usually rebook you straight away on the next flight. The new flight, however, does not replace compensation. Your right to compensation depends on when you actually arrive at your final destination: if the new flight gets you there 3 hours or more late, you can claim compensation if the other legal conditions are met, however quickly you were re-routed.

This also applies when the onward flight is operated by a partner airline, as long as it is on the same booking. If the flights are on separate bookings, they are, as a rule, treated as separate journeys, and you can only claim compensation for the delayed flight if it reached its own destination 3 hours or more late.

If you miss a connection on a single booking and the conditions of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 are met, you are entitled to care - meals, refreshments and, if necessary, a hotel and transport between the airport and the hotel.

Example compensation for a journey from Sofia with a connection in Vienna

The examples are for a journey on a single booking from Sofia with a connection in Vienna. Some of the routes are seasonal. Austrian Airlines also flies to Vienna from Varna and Burgas - if you depart from there, the distance is different. Distances are calculated using the great circle method, as required by Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. The amount shown is the possible compensation - your entitlement depends on the other conditions of the Regulation, and in certain cases the compensation may be reduced.

Who owes compensation if the flight is operated by another airline?

Flights with an Austrian Airlines (OS) flight number are not always operated by the airline itself. For example, some flights between Varna and Vienna are operated with an airBaltic aircraft and crew under a wet lease agreement. Under such an agreement, liability for compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, as a rule, remains with Austrian Airlines, which organises the flight and bears operational responsibility for it.

Your booking usually shows which airline operates each flight ("operated by"). On a stand-alone flight, compensation is, as a rule, owed by the airline that actually operates the flight, not necessarily the one whose code is on the ticket. On connecting flights on a single booking, however, the airline that operated another flight of the journey may also be liable.

Compensation for a cancelled Austrian Airlines flight

If Austrian Airlines cancels a flight and passengers are told less than 14 days before the scheduled departure, they can claim compensation of €250 to €600, unless the airline proves that an extraordinary circumstance caused the cancellation of that particular flight and that the cancellation could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, or it offered re-routing that meets the conditions of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004. Besides financial compensation, the Regulation also gives you the right to choose between a refund of the ticket price and re-routing to your final destination, as well as the right to care - meals, refreshments and, if needed, accommodation. Care is owed even when the cancellation is due to extraordinary circumstances.

If the cancelled flight is part of a journey on a single booking - for example, with a connection in Vienna - the compensation is based on the distance to your final destination.

How much compensation does Austrian Airlines have to pay?

Under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the amount of compensation depends on the flight distance:

If you are re-routed, the airline may, under certain conditions, reduce the compensation by 50%.

Check how much compensation you can get for your Austrian Airlines flight

Refund of the ticket price and other expenses

If your flight is cancelled or you are denied boarding, the airline must offer you a choice between re-routing to your final destination and a refund of the ticket price. The choice is yours - Austrian Airlines cannot force an alternative flight on you instead of a refund. If your flight is delayed by 5 hours or more, you have the right to give up the trip and ask for a refund of the ticket price.

When can you ask Austrian Airlines for a refund of your ticket?

• your flight was cancelled and you chose a refund instead of re-routing;
• your flight was delayed by 5 hours or more and you decided not to travel;
• you were denied boarding and chose a refund instead of re-routing.

The refund covers the price of the unused parts of the ticket and is due within 7 days. It is paid in cash or by bank transfer, and a voucher or credit for a future flight can only be given with your written agreement.

A ticket refund is not compensation. These are two separate rights, and getting one does not cancel the other. If your flight is cancelled or you are denied boarding, you do not lose your right to compensation under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 just because you accepted a refund of your ticket or re-routing.

What other expenses can you claim from Austrian Airlines?

• the cost of meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation and transport if you waited for the delayed or replacement flight, including in Vienna after a missed connection, and Austrian Airlines did not provide them;
• the costs you incurred to reach your final destination if you were not offered a choice between re-routing and a refund and had to arrange the journey yourself.

How does the process of collecting your compensation work?

You can follow the progress of your claim in your personal account, and we email you whenever there is a change in your case. If you have any questions, you can always contact us by phone too.

Did the airline refuse to pay you?

The airline’s refusal does not necessarily mean that you are not entitled to compensation. The reason given in the refusal is not always sufficient to release the airline from liability.

See why airlines refuse to pay compensation and how you can proceed.