Gatwick Airport
While airlines will only offer compensation where a flight has been delayed by more than 3 hours and the delay is the fault of the airline, passengers who have signed up with the app are entitled to compensation for any delays over one hour, no matter the cause of delay.
Over the last month more than 1,000 savvy flyers have managed to obtain compensation for flight disruptions which airlines wouldn’t pay out for.
These passengers were able to gain compensation for disrupted flights which airlines wouldn’t have paid out for, by using the flight compensation app Colibra.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, the company has paid out over 40,000 euros in compensation for over 1,000 delayed flights.
There is absolutely no upfront cost for signing up to the service, and passengers are guaranteed compensation if their flight is delayed by 1 hour or more.
While airlines will only offer compensation where a flight has been delayed by more than 3 hours and the delay is the fault of the airline, passengers who have signed up with the app are entitled to compensation for any delays over one hour, no matter the cause of delay.
The company first set up in June 2019 and have successfully helped many passengers claim compensation they otherwise wouldn’t have received, during that time.
Take one passenger who signed up with Colibra before their Ryanair flight between Lisbon and Sofia, which was delayed by 2 hours and 27 minutes. Under EC261 legislation, Ryanair would not be obliged to offer financial compensation for a delay of less than 3 hours, but thanks to the app this passenger was able to gain a compensation of €60 through the app, which was processed and awarded to the customer within 24 hours.
Another passenger who was also delayed on a flight between Lisbon and Sofia gained a €59 compensation for his delay of 1 hour 35 minutes – a delay time which no airline would have to offer compensation for.
So how does the company manage to pay their users compensation where the airlines won’t pay out?
The app works somewhat like a ‘Robin Hood of flight compensations’, using a solidarity model for compensation. The company file compensations which are eligible for EC261 compensation from airlines in large batches. Rather than giving this compensation directly back to only those passengers who were eligible under EC261, Colibra shares the compensationreceived among all of their users who have faced a delay of 1 hour plus.
This means that rather than only a few passengers getting a large payout for excessive delays, a larger number of passengers are able to get a smaller payout for all delays of 1 hour plus.
Given that the chance of a 90 minute delay is 30x greater than the chance of a 3+ hour delay, the app offers a solution which means passengers are more likely to be paid more often.
Since the operation began in June 2019, the company has paid the most claims to passengers who flew with British Airways from Gatwick or Heathrow, as more than 20,000 flights get delayed by 1 hour+ every year from those airports.
Even for those passengers who are delayed by over 3 hours, the app offers a simpler solution than passengers filing claims directly with the airline. While 85% of eligible claims are never claimed by passengers to the airline, Colibra can automatically process and pay compensation within 24 hours of delay.
Miroslav Zaporozhanov, Co-Founder & CMO of Colibra says: “Our service works by ensuring that all passengers receive a guaranteed payout for any flight delayed by more than one hour, no matter the reason, which guarantees a fairer compensation system for everyone. We are very proud to be making a difference in the world of passenger rights.”
Colibra can be downloaded on both the AppStore and Google Play. Passengers must register their flight on the app before departure.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
