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UK passengers top Europeans in complaints against airlines

Cause for complaint While the number of claims lodged against individual airlines differed by country, aggregate numbers show that of complaints against all airlines, 13 percent of compensation claims were directed against Spanish low-cost airline Vueling. Easyjet received 8 percent of all claims followed by Ryanair (5 percent), Air France (3.5 percent) and British Airways (3 percent).

MANCHESTER – Flight delay compensation claims processed by refund.me, the passenger rights legal service provider, reached record levels during for the peak summer holiday travel season June through September. The four-month period saw refund.me  process claims for flight delays and cancellations against a total of 151 airlines. UK passengers sought compensation from more airlines than other European passengers, lodging claims against 96 different airlines.

Cause for complaint While the number of claims lodged against individual airlines differed by country, aggregate numbers show that of complaints against all airlines, 13 percent of compensation claims were directed against Spanish low-cost airline Vueling. Easyjet received 8 percent of all claims followed by Ryanair (5 percent), Air France (3.5 percent) and British Airways (3 percent).

Vueling also attracted the highest percentage of complaints from UK passengers during the study period. Of the 96 airlines, Vueling accounted for 11 percent of all claims presented for compensation. EasyJet followed at 7 percent, Ryanair at 6 percent and British Airways and Norwegian tied at 5 percent.

Eve Buchner, founder and CEO of refund.me, says: “Our study confirms the trend for an increase in complaints over travel-intensive holiday seasons. While the data is a snapshot from the UK and select European countries, it highlights that overall, charter and low-cost airlines consistently underperform in comparison to scheduled carriers.  Passengers endure more travel disruption and we are seeing a significant upsurge in passengers asserting their rights to compensation under EU law.”

The worst performers ranked by percentage of claims per country

  Germany UK France Spain World
Airlines claimed against 68 96 52 30 151
1. Air Berlin (8%) Vueling (11%) Vueling (21%) Vueling (41%) Vueling (13%)
2. Germanwings (7%) easyJet (7%) easyJet (16%) Ryanair (18%) Ryanair (5%)
3. Lufthansa (7%) Ryanair (6%) Air France (7%) easyJet (8%) easyJet (8%)
4. Condor (6%) British Airways (5%) TAP (6%) Iberia (6%) Air France (3.5%)
5. easyJet (5%) Norwegian (5%) British Airways (4%) Air France (4%) British Airways (3%)

Under EU regulation 261/2004 airlines are obligated to compensate customers in the event of flight delays exceeding three hours, cancellations or re-bookings. Compensation ranges from 250 to 600 euros depending on the nature and duration of travel disruption. Roughly one in four hundred flights is affected.

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Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

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