the essential
A passenger who had booked a flight to Madagascar in 2022 was never able to leave. Air France canceled the plane the same day, did not offer him any replacement solution and did not reimburse him. The passenger took legal action, which condemned the airline.
For this passenger, the stay in Madagascar must have been a change of scenery. The man was to go there on January 19, 2022 for association reasons. On the day of departure, in January 2022, Air France warns him that the flight is canceled. The airline informed him of the cancellation while he was already at Marseille Provence airport. Air France does not offer him any transfer to another flight, nor any refund of his 1,200 euro ticket.
There is no question of giving in for this passenger from Ardèche. Supported by the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir in his department, he decided to take legal action to win his case. A long procedure begins, the airline tries to save time. The Marseille court delivers its judgment in mid-December 2024 and orders Air France to reimburse the passenger.
He will receive €1,162.64 in reimbursement for his ticket, €600 lump sum in application of European regulations that Air France did not respect and €500 in legal costs.
Don’t give up when you are in the right
The passenger’s lawyer explains to France Bleu Drôme Ardèche that you should not give up in such a case and not get discouraged. “In general, don’t let yourself be fooled. Of course, the procedures are long and that’s why the big companies hope to make the consumer run out of steam. But you have to take your breath,” says Mr. Wissam Bayeh.
The passenger took the next flight to Madagascar in January 2022, for which only business class seats remained, and had to pay €2,875.18. He wanted the courts to reimburse him for the delta of the price of the two tickets. He is considering possibly appealing.
Canceled flight: what does the law say?
As the Ministry of the Economy reminds us, if a flight is canceled, the passenger has the right to re-routing on another flight – paying the hotel and catering costs – or to reimbursement of the ticket within a period of 7 clear days, to possible damages and interest on the cancellation resulting in particular harm, and financial compensation: €250 for a flight of less than 1500 km, €400 for a flight of more than 1500 km in Europe or from 1500 to 3500 km outside the EU or €600 for flights of more than 3600 km outside the EU. There are three cases in which there is no compensation:
- If the company informed the passenger of the cancellation no later than 2 weeks before the flight
- If, within less than 2 weeks, the passenger has been offered a place on another flight at a similar time
- In the event of exceptional circumstances (weather, security risk, etc.)
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