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A couple has been reimbursed a total of 700 euros for a major inconvenience on an Iberia flight. A Spanish consumers' organisation (Facua) took up their complaint after the airline ignored them, and then Facua escalated it to Aesa (Spain's aviation safety agency) and its Italian counterpart Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile (ENAC). The persistent attempts eventually caught the airline's attention and it eventually reimbursed the claim.
The pair were supposed to travel from Rome to Madrid. Following a 40-minute delay at the Italian airport, the passengers boarded the flight but were told that the plane had to divert to El Prat Airport in Barcelona in the middle of their journey. The reason: smoke was coming out of the cockpit.
Once at Barcelona airport, Iberia gave the couple a voucher for food and drink worth 16 euros each, as stipulated by European law, without guaranteeing when they could be put on a new flight. The pair then decided to buy two AVE high-speed train tickets to Madrid and take a taxi to the Sants train station in Barcelona. They eventually arrived in Madrid more than five hours late.
When they decided to claim compensation from the airline company, they were met with a refusal. Iberia simply apologised. The couple then turned to Facua.
Facua added that Iberia did not respond to complaint on behalf of the couple, so the organisation turned to the Aesa, which decided to transfer the case to its Italian counterpart, Enac. Once Iberia was aware that these authorities had been involved in the case, the airline agree to the compensation request.
As it was a flight with a distance of less than 1,500 kilometres, the couple were entitled to 250 euros for each ticket for the Rome-Madrid flight (500 euros in total), in accordance with Regulation EC 261/2004 of 11 February 2004 of the European Parliament and the Council.
In addition, the airline also had to reimburse the AVE rail tickets (163.30 euros) and the taxi fare (42.85 euros), as stipulated in article 12 of the aforementioned regulation, which states that passengers have the right to "obtain additional compensation" for any damages they may have suffered. Therefore, Facua's efforts resulted in compensation of 706.15 euros.
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