Charter delay, loss of a day of rest. What to do if your flight is delayed? Why notify the hotel, because I already booked and paid for the room?

A day, twelve and “happiness” if it’s 5-6 hours. A lost paid day of rest, the agony of waiting at the airport, crying children, nerves. This season this picture could be seen almost every day at Russian and foreign airports. resort countries. What is it: a charter crisis or the greed of airlines?

News about significant delays in charter flights to foreign (and some Russian) resorts has been coming almost every week since the beginning of the 2017 season. For example, on September 15 it was reported that passengers were at the airport.

According to statistics from the Federal Air Transport Agency in August 2017 (there are no data for September yet), the leaders with delays in charter flights from Russian airports of more than two hours are IRAERO (24%), Red Wings (21.2%), Vim -Avia" (12.3%) and "Yakutia" (12%).

For the most part, delays in charters to warm foreign seas have occurred and are not due to weather conditions, but because of technical malfunctions of the airliners, which have to be repaired almost on the fly. Because airlines either don’t have reserve planes, or they are simply greedy to send them.

It is cheaper to pay a fine for a flight delay, which is simply “a drop in a drop of water” for the company. For example, on August 20, RIA Novosti reported that the court fined AZUR air after delaying two flights back in May (Voronezh-Heraklion and Omsk-Antalya-Omsk).

The prosecutor's office noted that, contrary to the requirements of the law, the airline did not provide reserve aircraft to transport passengers.

The amount of the fine that the airline must pay is... 200 thousand rubles. For the delay of two flights to foreign resorts. For the torment of hundreds of passengers. For their ruined vacation.

This season (and especially in the first half of September) frayed a lot of nerves for tourists and tourists. In particular, its flights from Moscow to Corfu and back departed with delays of 6 hours or more.

One can only imagine how the passengers of this airline’s flight, heading on September 6 from Vnukovo to Kirkira (Corfu), felt when they were already informed that they were preparing to take off. Passengers fastened their seat belts, watched a “cartoon” about safety, but suddenly they were asked to leave the plane due to technical malfunctions.

As a result, exhausted passengers who had to cross the Russian border twice (pass passport control at the airport), having lost a day of rest, we flew to Corfu with a seven-hour delay and the thought: will this plane actually make it?

Because, as passengers were told, the reason was a failure of the brake system. Having learned about this, some passengers wanted to abandon the flight altogether, but still took the risk.

Already in Corfu, tourists who arrived there by Yakutia airlines shared information with each other, and it turned out that everyone different days September I had to sit at the airport for six or more hours.

A similar situation was observed with the return flight. For example, the flight from Kirkira to Vnukovo on September 13 departed with a 9-hour delay.

There was one consolation: some travel companies, knowing about the existing problems, did not take tourists out of their hotels until the flight took off from Moscow, and they had to sit at the airport.

Everyone's good

True, this system failed during the flight on September 16 by the same Yakutia airline. The plane arrived in Kirkira surprisingly on time, the travel company took the tourists to the airport, but when they went through passport control and found themselves in the “free zone,” information about the flight simply disappeared from the board.

For a couple of hours, Yakutia passengers could neither get a representative of the airline to come out to them and explain the situation, nor get an explanation from their travel companies.

So, for example, a representative of Tez Tour, who took tourists to the airport, answered by phone that she was already taking other tourists from the airport, and could not help those “stuck” in the drive.

As for the central office of the tour operator, calling this number will only waste your nerves and money.

Since you have to listen, while in international roaming, to a cheerful mechanical voice that broadcasts for several minutes: “Your call is very important to us! Thank you for choosing our company! If you need to connect...” (followed by a list of numbers from zero to 9 ), and when the operator finally answers, all that remains is obscene language.

The long-suffering passengers of "Yakutia", after almost three hours of ignorance in the "free zone" of Kirkira airport, were finally invited to board. Outraged people tried to find out what was the reason this time? And then it turned out that “everyone is good.”

In this case, according to information anonymous source, which was later indirectly confirmed to Vestyam.Ru in the tourism industry, the reason for the delay of the flight was the non-payment of airport services by the host travel company in Corfu.

As it turned out later, the debt to the Kirkira airport was incurred by Russian law enforcement agencies, which were taken over in August.

And it is difficult to imagine that the largest Russian tour operators working with her did not know about the existing debt to Corfu airport.

In a commentary to Vestyam.Ru, a source familiar with the situation, on condition of anonymity, said that this debt was long-standing, the Greeks were waiting for payment, but it was on September 16 that their patience ran out and they arrested the Russian aircraft.

And only after this happened and angry calls from tourists to offices began, travel companies operating in Corfu “chipped in” and quickly paid the debt of the bankrupt Ted Travel.

The source also said that a similar situation cannot be ruled out soon in Antalya, it’s just that the Turks are still waiting for payment for airport services. But one day, like the Greeks, their patience may run out, and before receiving payment, the Turks will take some Russian aircraft “hostage”, and tourists will be forced to “cook” at the airport.

However, Vestei.Ru has no official confirmation of this information. Yes, no one will give it of their own free will. So it will be possible to find out whether it is true only when cries for help from stranded passengers are heard from Antalya airport.

"The pilot is tired and goes to bed"

At the very beginning of September, Rossiya Airlines also became famous. Her flight from Larnaca (Cyprus) to Moscow was delayed for 16 hours. Moreover, people were forced to spend several hours in a stuffy cabin. Many people felt bad.

It turned out that for technical reasons the pilot was unable to start the engines, and then, as they explained to the passengers, he “got tired and went to sleep.”

You can imagine the feelings experienced by tourists who had to sit during the crew's rest at the airport. Of course, the reserve plane was not sent for them.

A source in aviation circles explained to Vestiam.Ru that this practice is not just normal, but determined by law. The pilot and crew are not allowed to exceed a certain number of hours spent on a flight. Therefore, if something goes wrong and the crew does not have time to fly to their home harbor on time, they are sent to a hotel to rest for 10 hours.

Another couple of hours of delay, and the crew of Yakutia Airlines would also have gone to sleep for 10 hours. In this case, passengers (many with small children) would be forced to sleep on the floor or on benches in the “free zone” of the airport.

Because many have Schengen visas exclusively for the duration of the trip, and they would not be able to cross the EU border again even if they had good will tour operator to take them back to the hotel.

Of course, as in other cases, there was no point in dreaming that a reserve plane would be sent from Moscow to pick up the tourists. Because the airline simply does not provide it for these purposes: the same plane flies to Corfu, which, if it breaks down, disrupts the entire flight schedule.

Vestey.Ru's interlocutor says that airlines that have "sagged" with their only aircraft breaking down every now and then (on this route) could resolve the issue in favor of tourists. For example, by sending a reserve aircraft after them (if “the pilot got tired and went to sleep”). Or by temporarily sharing your charters with other airlines that do not have such problems.

However, both options would mean the airlines would lose significant funds: they would either have to share with competitors or spend money on an additional flight.

In such a situation, as practice shows, airlines make a choice in favor of their own benefit. What about the passengers? But the passengers will wait.

ATOR: this is not a crisis, but a mess

ATOR Executive Director Maya Lomidze, commenting on the situation in the tourism sector in general and with air transportation in particular to Vestiam.Ru, noted that it can only be solved in one way: there must be responsibility for both tour operators and air carriers with whom they enter into contracts for the transportation of tourists.

However, air carriers really do not have this responsibility. this moment No. They recruit charter programs, while there is no proper control over them from the Federal Air Transport Agency. In particular, this applies to reserve aircraft, which the airline should have at its disposal, but in fact they do not.

As a result, situations arise in which thousands of tourists become hostages, who are forced to sit at airports and wait for flights delayed due to technical problems of the airliners for 10, and sometimes more, hours.

In addition, according to Lomidze, in this case, significant fines for delays should be introduced by law.

Perhaps at the price of the cost of the flight, and not those amounts that are a drop in the ocean for airlines, so even if there is a reserve plane, it is easier for them to pay a meager amount for the delay than to send a reserve plane for stranded tourists (of course, if there is one).

At the same time, it is on the part of government agencies that there should be control over whether this or that company will be able to service the declared charter flights during the tourist season, and not take their word for it.

And if, Lomidze says, after an inspection by a state regulatory body it turns out that the airline can really only operate on two, and not 30 tourist destinations(as she states), then information about this should be communicated to tour operators who are going to enter into an agreement with her for the transportation of tourists.

Moreover, these issues need to be resolved several months before the start of the season (maximum in March), and not after the fact, when tourists stuck at airports begin to sound the alarm through social networks and the media.

As for tour operators themselves, the collapse in this market began in 2014. This is a matter of competition, when the weakest “die out,” notes Maya Lomidze.

Although, despite the existing legislation and the need to register in the Unified Register of Tour Operators, there are also travel agencies whose financial capabilities, due to the opacity of mutual settlements, cannot be accurately verified. And in such situations, a “pyramid” arises, which sooner or later results in situations with unpaid hotels or services foreign airports(as was the case in Corfu on September 16 with the bankrupt Ted Travel).

The solution to the issue, the head of ATOR believes, could be the experience of European countries, where there is strict control and strict measures are provided for violators of the rights of tourists, including huge fines.

At the same time, there cannot be a single body that could simultaneously supervise both air carriers and tour operators. But in order to systematically solve the existing problem, an Interdepartmental Commission is needed with the involvement of employees of the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Federal Agency for Tourism, and public organizations, uniting tour operators, and fiscal authorities, which would systematically deal with inspections of both airlines and real financial affairs in a particular travel company.

At the same time, Maya Lomidze believes, there is no systemic crisis in the tourism industry, but there is a mess in general: a lack of control and, as a result, problems for people who are thus spoiled, and sometimes completely disrupted, their well-deserved vacation.

They will resist

On September 20, a meeting is to be held at the Federal Air Transport Agency, at which sanctions for delays in charters will be discussed with airlines and tour operators. The ATOR expert says that tour operators are ready to inform about how many programs they order from carriers.

At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency must be able to check whether this carrier will be able to fulfill all these programs or not. “If he declares that he can, and then disrupts the programs, then he must answer for this,” the expert notes.

In the Ministry of Transport, which are aimed at increasing the responsibility of charter air carriers - even to the point of banning flights abroad.

In addition, it is proposed to analyze the aircraft turnover schedule for its compliance with the carriers’ fleet, taking into account the carrying capacity, and also to check the availability of the required number of flight technical personnel at the airline.

Experts in the tourism industry said that, having learned about this, airlines have already expressed their displeasure with such possible harsh sanctions. However, if they are not accepted, similar situations with monstrous delays of charter flights breaking down every now and then will continue into the next tourist season.

The flight to Turkey was delayed, and we lost two days of rest because of this delay. If we spent two days out of seven at home (at the airport) and not at the resort, can we demand compensation from the tour operator, because flights are also included in the price of the tour package. What should we do at the airport and what are our next steps?

Situations where both charter and regular flights On popular tourist destinations, departures are late - this is not at all uncommon. I hope that my answer will be useful not only to those who buy a full tour package, which already includes the cost of the flight, but also to those who book air tickets on their own.

In accordance with Art. 9 of the Federal Law “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities”, the tour operator is responsible for the actions of suppliers who provide services included in the tourism product. At the same time, in accordance with the same article, the tour operator is not responsible for the actions of service providers if there are special legal acts that directly provide for their liability. In this case, there are such acts, these are the Air Code and the Federal Aviation Regulations, which stipulate that in the event of a flight delay, the air carrier bears responsibility for all property and moral damage caused to the passenger.

If you booked and purchased air tickets yourself, you will need to prove that your rights were violated. To do this, you need to create a package of documents:
air ticket with a note about flight delay (or cancellation);
a certificate indicating the reason for the flight delay;
documentary evidence of all independent expenses: checks, invoices, etc.;
a ticket that had to be purchased due to being late for a scheduled connecting flight.

Then submit a claim to the airline in writing, attaching copies of documents confirming the right to compensation. If the appeal was ignored or the perpetrators refused to compensate for the costs, you can sue them in court.
And who will answer to the tourist if, for example, due to a late flight, he actually lost a whole day of paid vacation or, as we see from the letter, as many as two?

According to the law “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation,” the duration of the tour is an integral part of the contract. And any change in travel dates must be agreed upon with the tourist. So you can send a claim to the tour operator - most likely, it will be satisfied. But there are some nuances here too. Travel times are based on dates, not hours. And if a tourist arrives at the vacation spot not in the morning, as expected, but in the evening - having lost the light part of the day, but still on the date specified in the contract - it will not be possible to receive compensation.

A tourist, buying a tourist product with air travel included, completes the transaction with a number of documents. One of these documents is an agreement between him and the air carrier (ticket), which regulates all aspects of the provision of air transportation services. It states that the airline is responsible for any flight delays. The same provision is spelled out in the regulatory document on flight delays - the Federal Aviation Rules, approved by Order of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation dated June 28, 2007 No. 82.
However, there is a Resolution of the Plenum supreme court RF dated June 28, 2012 “On the consideration by courts of civil cases in disputes regarding the protection of consumer rights,” which clarified the responsibility of the carrier and operator for the services they provide:
clause 50 When applying legislation on the protection of consumer rights to relations related to the provision of tourism services, courts should take into account that responsibility to the tourist and (or) other customer for the quality of fulfillment of obligations under the contract for the sale of a tourism product, concluded by the travel agent as on behalf of the operator, and on its own behalf, is borne by the tour operator (including for failure to provide or improper provision of services to tourists included in the tourism product, regardless of who should have provided or provided these services), if federal laws or other regulatory legal acts Russian Federation It has not been established that a third party is responsible to tourists (Article 9 of the Federal Law of November 24, 1996 No. 132-FZ “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities”).

In this regard, draw the attention of the courts to the fact that, for example, in cases and disputes arising in connection with the implementation of charter air transport passengers within the framework of the execution of an agreement on the sale of a tourism product, the proper defendant and executor of the contract of carriage with the consumer is the tour operator, which, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 638 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, has the right, without the consent of the lessor, under a lease agreement (time charter) vehicle enter into transportation agreements with third parties on its own behalf.

Thus, the new resolution actually divided responsibility between the carrier and tour operator for different types transportation. Behind regular transportation the carrier is responsible, as provided for in the Air and Civil Codes. But the charter is managed by the tour operator and you can make claims
now you will need to go to him, as stated in the second paragraph [clause 50 of the Resolution], but the documents that need to be submitted to the tour operator will remain the same as when booking yourself.
In this regard, the question arises: who will then be responsible for ensuring proper conditions for passengers while waiting for the departure of a delayed flight? So, let us remind you that the obligation to provide accommodation and hot meals to passengers lies with the air carrier in accordance with the Federal Aviation Regulations, and no one has removed it from it and is unlikely to remove it. The carrier still performs this function, and the operator will be responsible to the tourist, since charter transportation is part of the tourism product.

So don’t be afraid and demand money for your ruined vacation, because you’ve been earning it all year.

For the most part, delays in charters to warm foreign seas have occurred and are occurring not because of weather conditions, but because of technical malfunctions of the liners, which have to be repaired almost “on the fly.” Because airlines either don’t have reserve planes, or they are simply greedy to send them.

It is cheaper to pay a fine for a flight delay, which is simply “a drop in a drop of water” for the company. So, for example, on August 20, RIA Novosti reported that the court fined “” after the delay of two flights (and) back in May.

The prosecutor's office noted that, contrary to the requirements of the law, the airline did not provide reserve aircraft to transport passengers.

The amount of the fine that the airline must pay is... 200 thousand rubles. For the delay of two flights to foreign resorts. For the torment of hundreds of passengers. For their ruined vacation.

The airline ““ has frayed a lot of nerves for tourists this season (and especially in the first half of September). In particular, its flights from Moscow to Corfu and back departed with delays of 6 hours or more.

One can only imagine how the passengers of this airline's flight on September 6 (Corfu) felt when they were already informed that they were preparing to take off. Passengers fastened their seat belts, watched a “cartoon” about safety, but suddenly they were asked to get off the plane due to technical malfunctions.

As a result, the exhausted passengers, who had to cross the Russian border twice (go through passport control at the airport), having lost a day of rest, flew to Corfu with a seven-hour delay and the thought: will this plane actually make it?

Because, as passengers were told, the reason was a failure of the brake system. Having learned about this, some passengers wanted to abandon the flight altogether, but still took the risk.

Already in Corfu, tourists who arrived there by Yakutia airlines shared information with each other, and it turned out that everyone had to sit at the airport for six or more hours on different days in September.

A similar situation was observed with the return flight. For example, the flight from Kirkira to Vnukovo on September 13 departed with a 9-hour delay.

For a couple of hours, Yakutia passengers could neither get a representative of the airline to come out to them and explain the situation, nor get an explanation from their travel companies.

As for the central office of the tour operator, calling this number will only waste your nerves and money.

Because you have to listen, while in international roaming, to a cheerful mechanical voice that for several minutes broadcasts: “Your call is very important to us! Thank you for choosing our company! If you need to connect…” (then a list of numbers from zero to 9 follows), and when the operator finally answers, all that remains is obscene language.

The long-suffering passengers of “Yakutia”, after almost three hours of ignorance in the “free zone” of Kirkira airport, were finally invited to board. Outraged people tried to find out what was the reason this time? And then it turned out that “everyone is good.”

In this case, according to information from an anonymous source, which was later indirectly confirmed to Vestyam.Ru in the tourism industry, the reason for the delay of the flight was the non-payment of airport services by the host travel company in Corfu.

As it turned out later, the debt to the Kirkira airport was incurred by the recently bankrupt company Ted Travel, which was taken over by Russian law enforcement agencies back in August.

And it is difficult to imagine that the largest Russian tour operators working with her did not know about the existing debt to Corfu airport.

And only after this happened and angry calls from tourists to offices began, travel companies operating in Corfu “chipped in” and quickly paid the debt of the bankrupt Ted Travel.

“The pilot is tired and goes to bed”

It turned out that for technical reasons the pilot was unable to start the engines, and then, as they explained to the passengers, he “got tired and went to sleep.”

You can imagine the feelings experienced by tourists who had to sit during the crew's rest at the airport. Of course, the reserve plane was not sent for them.

Another couple of hours of delay, and the crew of Yakutia Airlines would also have gone to sleep for 10 hours. In this case, passengers (many with small children) would be forced to sleep on the floor or on benches in the “free zone” of the airport.

Because many have Schengen visas only for the duration of the trip, and they would not be able to cross the EU border again even if the tour operator had the good will to take them back to the hotel.
Of course, as in other cases, there was no point in dreaming that a reserve plane would be sent from Moscow to pick up the tourists. Because the airline simply does not provide it for these purposes: the same plane flies to Corfu, which, if it breaks down, disrupts the entire flight schedule.

Vestey.Ru’s interlocutor says that airlines that have “sagged” with their only aircraft breaking down every now and then (in this direction) could resolve the issue in favor of tourists. For example, by sending a reserve aircraft after them (if “the pilot got tired and went to sleep”). Or by temporarily sharing your charters with other airlines that do not have such problems.

However, both options would mean the airlines would lose significant funds: they would either have to share with competitors or spend money on an additional flight.

In such a situation, as practice shows, airlines make a choice in favor of their own benefit. What about the passengers? But the passengers will wait.

ATOR: this is not a crisis, but a mess

However, air carriers really do not have this responsibility at the moment. They recruit charter programs, while there is no proper control over them from the Federal Air Transport Agency. In particular, this applies to reserve aircraft, which the airline should have at its disposal, but in fact they do not.

In addition, according to Lomidze, in this case, significant fines for delays should be introduced by law.

At the same time, it is on the part of government agencies that there should be control over whether this or that company will be able to service the declared charter flights during the tourist season, and not take their word for it.

And if, Lomidze says, after an inspection by the state regulatory body it turns out that the airline can actually operate only on two, and not 30 tourist destinations (as it claims), then information about this should be communicated to tour operators who are going to enter into an agreement with it for the transportation of tourists.

As for tour operators themselves, the collapse in this market began in 2014. This is a matter of competition, when “natural selection” occurs and the weakest “die out,” notes Maya Lomidze.

Although, despite the existing legislation and the need to register in the Unified Register of Tour Operators, there are also travel agencies whose financial capabilities, due to the opacity of mutual settlements, cannot be accurately verified. And in such situations, a “pyramid” arises, which sooner or later results in situations with unpaid hotels or services at foreign airports (as was the case in Corfu on September 16 with the bankrupt Ted Travel).

The solution to the issue, the head of ATOR believes, could be the experience of European countries, where there is strict control and strict measures are provided for violators of the rights of tourists, including huge fines.

At the same time, there cannot be a single body that could simultaneously supervise both air carriers and tour operators. But in order to systematically solve the existing problem, an Interdepartmental Commission is needed with the involvement of employees of the Federal Air Transport Agency, the Federal Agency for Tourism, and public organizations uniting tour operators, and fiscal authorities, which would systematically deal with inspections of both airlines and real financial affairs in one or another travel companies.

They will resist

The Ministry of Transport has developed proposals that are aimed at increasing the responsibility of charter air carriers - even banning flights abroad.
In addition, it is proposed to analyze the aircraft turnover schedule for its compliance with the carriers’ fleet, taking into account the carrying capacity, and also to check the availability of the required number of flight technical personnel at the airline.

Problems with air transportation often affect the quality of rest of our tourists. Increasingly, you can hear about blatant cases of delays or cancellations of flights by seemingly quite large and well-known airlines. For example, the recent problem that arose among tourists with VIM-Avia caused a lot of noise. Of course, you can talk a lot about who is to blame for this, speaking on lengthy topics, but it is worth remembering that first of all, living people suffer from this, who have planned their vacation or are forced to fly to another city or country due to some family circumstances . And these people may be hoping that they will get on another connecting flight to continue their onward journey. But suddenly they find out that their flight is canceled or delayed, and it doesn’t matter whether it is direct or charter. What should they do in this case, what steps should they take? How to get compensation for a ruined vacation?

It is difficult not to get confused in such a situation, especially if it happened to you for the first time, or your flight was a connecting flight, or you were tied to the time of your arrival. But it is worth remembering that your plane ticket is nothing more than an agreement with this airline, which has undertaken to deliver you, as a passenger, to the point of the planet you need and at the time you need, otherwise, it undertakes to take care of its passenger, if circumstances did not go according to plan.

Every passenger should know that the Civil Code of the Russian Federation stipulates cases when the air carrier is not responsible for cancellation or delay of a flight, these are: various natural phenomena - fires, snow drifts, hurricanes, floods; bad weather conditions; sudden military action; complete cessation or restriction of cargo transportation in a number of directions; in some cases, during a strike by airline or airport personnel, in the presence of malfunctions that pose a threat to the life and health of air passengers. In all other cases, the fault lies with the airline that violated its obligations under the contract.

First, let's look in detail at what happens when you cancel a direct or charter flight by airline.

- The flight may be canceled several days before the plane departs for its destination.

In this case, the airline traditionally offers passengers several ways to solve the problem of canceled flights: an alternative to flying on another route of the same air carrier or a flight from another company, but the destination remains the same.

The passenger has the right to demand a full refund of the cost of his air ticket. For example, if you purchased one air ticket for a flight with transfers, then you are required to refund the amount for the entire route. If a passenger bought two tickets, for example, Moscow-Barcelona and separately Barcelona-Valencia, and the first flight to Barcelona was cancelled, then you will only be refunded the amount spent on the air ticket from Moscow to Barcelona, and you will need to return the ticket from Barcelona to Valencia at normal rates. If the flight cancellation affected the second part of the air travel – Barcelona-Valencia, and alternative options you were not provided, but the trip has lost its meaning, then the air carrier is obliged by law not only to refund the money for the air ticket to Valencia, but also to fly you back to Moscow free of charge. Regarding the refund for round trip tickets, you will be able to get a refund of their full cost if the flight is canceled and if you purchased them not separately, but as a “round trip”, that is, two tickets on a single form.

- The flight may be canceled or delayed when the tourist is already at the airport.

The airline is required to give you clear information about the reason and time for which the flight was delayed. You have the right to demand this information from an employee of your airline, and he is obliged to offer tourists options for their further actions. Often, an airline employee makes a proposal to transport tourists to their destination on another aircraft or on a flight from another carrier. And provided that the air carrier is at fault, this flight will be free for the tourist.

Not all passengers who have suffered moral and financial problems due to canceled or delayed flights are aware of their rights to receive compensation. This compensation varies depending on the timing of the transfer and cancellation of the flight, as well as the distance to the desired point. If the airline is at fault, it is legally obligated to give the passenger three percent of the cost of his air ticket for every hour he spent waiting, as compensation for the flight delay. This is stipulated in Article 28, paragraph 5 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”. In addition, pay as a fine twenty-five percent of the minimum wage for each hour of waiting, but this amount cannot exceed half the price of the air ticket. No other additional compensation is given to canceled passengers when flights are cancelled, but every tourist has the right to have the amount of their tickets refunded or exchanged for a similar flight.

Rights of a tourist passenger when a flight is delayed for more than two hours:

Making two phone calls or sending two emails; - you are required to provide free drinks; - if you have children under seven years of age with you, then you must be given free access to the mother and child room.

Tourist rights when a flight is delayed for more than four hours:

The passenger must be fed a free hot meal, and fed every six hours during the day and every eight hours at night.

Rights of tourist passengers when rescheduling a flight by more than eight hours during the daytime and more than six hours at night:

The airline must bring you and check you into a hotel at its own expense, and provide you with a free transfer there and back. According to the law, tourists do not have the right to be placed in the same room with strangers. If the passenger does not like the room provided or the hotel offered, then he can find a suitable option, and the airline must pay an amount that will be equal in price to the initial accommodation option offered to it. A tourist can pay the price difference for the more expensive room he has chosen or pay for his stay in full, but in this case we recommend that you keep the receipt of payment in order to thus return part of the money spent if there are objective reasons for refusing to stay according to the option offered by the air carrier . But, it is worth knowing that if you refuse the room offered by the airline, you lose the right to a free round-trip transfer, but the air carrier is obliged to store your luggage at its own expense.

Where can tourist passengers complain to receive compensation for a canceled or delayed flight?

If there was a cancellation or delay of a domestic direct or charter flight Russian company, then claims are considered in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. Passenger complaints about foreign airlines who have not fulfilled their obligations to them on the territory of the Russian Federation. But when an airline postpones or cancels a flight abroad, litigation is conducted in the country and according to the laws where this happened, and the place where the air carrier is registered will not play a role.

Claims are submitted by the passenger personally at the airport of departure or upon arrival. When there is no representative office of your airline at the airport or its employees are not on site, the claim is submitted through the airline’s website. Although emails can often be ignored, it is better to send your claim by registered mail to the airline, make a detailed list of the enclosed documents and keep a copy of your statement, confirmation of dispatch, as this can be used in legal proceedings if the air carrier ignores you or refuses you compensation. According to our Russian legislation, a passenger has the right to present his claims to the air carrier within six months from the date of cancellation or delay of the flight.

I would like to touch on another important point for tourists, which is very topical for Moscow airports. Very often, passengers are taken to an airport different from the one indicated on their ticket. In this case, the airline is obliged to deliver the tourist passenger to his desired destination using free transport. And this rule applies to all airports in the Russian Federation.

Who among us has not flown at least once to another country or city? Surely many. And some are faced with the fact that the plane’s departure is delayed. So what to do in such situations?

I offer you excerpts from paragraph 99 of the Federal Aviation Regulations “ General rules air transportation of passengers, baggage, cargo and requirements for servicing passengers, shippers, consignees" (approved by Order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated June 28, 2007 No. 82).

Your flight is canceled or delayed

First of all, the airline must organize luggage storage and provide a mother and child room for a passenger with a child under seven years of age.
If the flight is delayed for more than two hours, you should be provided with refreshments, and you should also be given the opportunity to make two calls or send two emails.
If you wait more than four hours, you will be provided with hot meals (and then every six hours during the day, and every eight hours at night).
There are cases when the flight is delayed for more than six hours at night, in which case you must be accommodated in a hotel and provided with transportation to the hotel, and you must be accommodated if the flight is delayed for more than 8 hours during the day.
The airline must do all this at its own expense, i.e. completely free for you. And regardless of the reasons for the flight delay.

If the cause of the delay is not force majeure, then the airline is obliged to pay you compensation in the amount of 3% of the air ticket price for each hour of waiting as compensation for being late (according to the Consumer Protection Law, Article 28, paragraph 5), as well as 0.25 minimum wage for each hour of waiting as a fine (according to Article 120 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation). But no more than 50% of the ticket price. Usually major airlines comply with these legal requirements, but there are often cases when these norms are ignored by carriers.

What to do if your rights are not respected?

You can dine yourself and present the bill for lunch to the airline, and it will be obliged to pay it.

You need to go to the check-in counter and get a certificate indicating the flight delay time, or put a special stamp on your ticket. By this you documented confirm the flight delay. And further down the list: two hours passed - drinks, four - a hot lunch. Be sure to keep all receipts and invoices for these services.

After this, you must write a statement to the airline asking to reimburse all expenses and pay compensation for the delay. The application must be accompanied by all receipts, a certificate of flight delay and the ticket itself. Usually airlines do not take the case to court, because... For them, this is obviously a lost cause and they reimburse all the passenger’s expenses associated with the flight delay. If there was no force majeure, then there will be no problems with compensation. But if there is no answer, feel free to go to court. All these rules apply to both scheduled and charter flights.

I wish you pleasant travels and flights without delays

Questions and answers on the topic “What to do if your flight is delayed or cancelled”

Vadim (10/27/2009):
What should I do if my flight was postponed to a later time (until 10 o'clock) and I missed the train, tickets were purchased in advance and I did not have time to return them, because... was in another country.
Evgeniy (12/10/2009):
Hello! Tell me, this is the situation! I bought tickets Tyumen-Krasnodar, as well as Krasnodar-Tyumen, a month before departure. 3 days later the airline called me and said that the flight back was cancelled. They offer to come and hand over your ticket. The problem is that no one else offers direct flights back except this airline. They offer to take a connecting flight through Moscow, but tickets cost almost 3,000 rubles more. and in Moscow I will have to move from airport to airport and wait about 15 hours. What can be done in such a situation? (most likely, if I had known, I would not have bought tickets at all)
Valentina (04/05/2010):
Hello. On September 12, Siberia Airlines delayed the departure of the flight to Moscow Domodedovo Airport for 13 hours for technical reasons, the ticket was marked. We were late for the flight from Domodedovo to Frankfurt, Lufthansa Airlines. A representative of Siberia Airlines did not take proper measures to help with the rescheduling of the flight and had to buy new tickets at a more expensive price; the old ones disappeared. The airline company persuaded them to buy it and promised that we would be compensated for our losses, but our written claim was refused. We are going to sue. We are preparing documents. What are our chances? Sincerely.
Ilya (04/25/2010):
Hello!
I bought return tickets. Departure in the afternoon.
At the airport I find out that the flight has been canceled and they offer to fly tomorrow at the same time. I was ready to fly with other airlines, but there are no flights...
The ticket was electronic. At the cash register the money was returned to me. 1350 rub. Fully. I asked that on mine itinerary receipt made a note about the flight cancellation. Done. With stamp and signature.
Can I count on compensation for the cost of concert tickets? A ticket to the concert cost 7,000 rubles.
Airline "Avianova".
Igor (04/28/2010):
If, in the event of a delay or cancellation of a flight due to the fault of the airline, in order to catch the event I am forced to buy more expensive tickets from another airline, can I, in accordance with Article 28 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, demand compensation from the first airline for the difference in the cost of air tickets?
Igor (11.05.2010):
What is considered a cancellation and what is a flight delay? For example, at the airport they announced to me that my flight had been postponed for a day (2, 3 weeks, a month...) - is this a postponement or actually a cancellation of the flight?
Valentina (12.05.2010):
An old board, an almost worn-out resource, will naturally break down often. The airline is in no hurry to replace the plane until the last minute, as it can still squeeze money out of it. And all breakdowns are called delays due to technical reasons. Supposedly they are worried about the lives of passengers. Maybe it’s better to buy a new board that won’t break down often, this will take care of the passengers, and not screw our brains, hiding behind the instructions that they themselves came up with for themselves.
Greetings. As I understand it, if the flight is delayed and I don’t catch the train, then I’ll buy it myself new ticket, and only then demand compensation. and another question, is it possible in such a situation (if the flight is delayed and with the required mark on the ticket) to exchange tickets issued according to “REQUIREMENT” (VPD)? thank you in advance.
Oksana Nagovitsyna (07/23/2010):
the question is still ripe... it’s not entirely clear about charter flights... what rights do passengers of such flights have, for the most part there is only one answer - “it’s your own fault for buying a charter ticket, having bought a ticket you agreed with all the circumstances... “This is how they respond when a flight is delayed or departs early. What should I do?
Alexander (05.08.2010):
Hello!
Through the On Board company in Moscow, within 2 months I purchased tickets for the whole family for a flight from Turkey to Moscow with Turkish Airlines on August 28. Already in Turkey I checked my e-mail. On Board reported that our flight was cancelled. They offered to return the money or fly on another flight 29 with a transfer in Istanbul with a daily wait. It is unrealistic to refuse to return home; buying new 5 tickets at the height of the season will cost 2 times more (if they are available). Turkish agents and representatives of Turkish airlines in Dalaman stated that this issue can only be resolved by the agent who sold us the tickets, i.e. company "On Board". And the On Board company does not respond to my e-mail message.
What to do and what can you count on?
Inna (08.08.2010):
Hello! was issued e-ticket Ufa-Moscow-Syktyvkar. The flight from Ufa was delayed due to fires in Moscow. Naturally, we were late for our connecting flight in Moscow and also landed at another airport. The representative office did not take any measures, there was a refusal - you should not have been here, this is not our flight. No water, no food, the child was flying for 8 months, we were also refused to receive a room for the mother and child. They refused to return the tickets because we had already completed part of the journey. There was no choice but to take a train ticket. marked the delay. tell us in Syktyvkar we have any chances to return the ticket price and compensation
Tatiana (08/29/2010):
Hello! We bought tickets for two with a young man from a travel agency. Departure from St. Petersburg on August 29 at 15.30. Arrival back to St. Petersburg on September 7. We have electronic tickets in hand. We accidentally find out that the flight is delayed for unexplained reasons and will take place at 00.00 from August 29 to 30, i.e. delayed by 8.5 hours. With the voucher we lose a day and a night, for which, of course, everything was paid for. What should we do in this case to return the cost of this day and night, lost vacation in Turkey due to the fault of the carrier. Validator 50KOG KOLAVIA SURGUT RU 31300001 0020. Best regards, Tatyana
Olesya (09/05/2010):
Hello!
Electronic ticket Moscow (S7) - Kiev (A9) - Tbilisi and back. The connection back was 5 hours, then A9 rescheduled the flight and the connection was 9 hours (the departure was earlier in the morning, but now at night, and I’m flying with my 2-year-old daughter and must not sleep at night, and in Kyiv there is no room for mothers and children (!)
S7 disclaims responsibility, because A9 changed the departure time. But I bought tickets from S7 and they also received the money, and A9, motivating this, does nothing. What are my actions?
Moreover, at the time of purchase direct flight there wasn’t, but at the moment both companies have it. Thank you.

Olga Stupnitskaya
answers (09/07/2010):
Olesya, good afternoon!
You have connections from different airlines, so in this case the companies are unlikely to reimburse anything. But you try to sue A9, maybe the judge will side with you and oblige the airline to return your money for the flight. But in reality, the chances, unfortunately, are not great.
*Victoria* (09/08/2010):
We also had connecting tickets. Anapa-Moscow-Blagoveshchensk. The plane from Anapa was delayed for 7 hours and we didn’t have time to board the Moscow plane. The airlines were different (Anapa-Kuban airlines, Moscow-Yakutia) So who should we sue? Who should we ask?
Alexey (11/15/2010):
Good afternoon
2 months before departure, tickets (return) were purchased for a certain date... 6 days before departure, the airline warned about the cancellation of the flight and offered to fly on another airline with more expensive tickets...
The difference in tickets was initially paid by the airline, but after returning I had to pay it off!
What can be done in this regard, since the difference is significant
Danila (11/15/2010):
Hello!
I bought a tour package to Thailand. Date 16.11. -25.11. Flight to their Khabarovsk.
I bought tickets to Khabrovsk on November 15, the flight was postponed to November 16 due to weather conditions, i.e. I didn’t make it on time for the flight from Khabarovsk to Bankog. The tour operator refuses to refund the cost of the tour package, is there any chance of getting the money back? Thank you.
Julia (12/14/2010):
Hello! Flight 29222 from Rimini to Moscow should be on December 11, 2010 at 17:50, the carrier is Orenburg Airlines, in fact we departed on December 12, 2010 at 12:30 pm on another Tatarstan airline. I want to receive compensation for a flight delay. Which airline should I apply for?
Elena (12/27/2010):
My brother bought a ticket from a travel agency, and today will be the third night he will spend the night at the airport (the flight has been postponed until an indefinite time due to snowfall). He calls and asks: what should I do? There is no point in flying anymore. Firstly, there is very little time left for rest. Secondly, it is not a fact that they will fly out tomorrow. Can he refuse the trip in this case and get his money back? Thank you.
Svetlana (12/29/2010):
Olga, good afternoon. The day before the famous events, we bought tickets to Egypt, departure on January 6, 2011. We fly with Aeroflot from Sheremetyevo-2.
What do you think is the best way for us to proceed? Should we hope for better weather conditions or is it still better to return our tickets? If we pass, what do we lose? Who will pay the cost of the tour and the ticket price? Who should I contact with this question? Thank you.
Natalya (12/29/2010):
Good evening. I purchased a Moscow-Rome-Milan-Moscow tour package from 291210 to 050111. Departure on an Aeroflot flight, flight cancelled. Is Aeroflot or the tour operator obliged to resolve the flight issue with compensation? If I purchase a ticket on another airline, will I be reimbursed for losses and by whom? Can I purchase a ticket to another city in Italy that is available? Let's say Milan and expect compensation from a hotel in Rome for the days of stay used?
Thank you very much in advance
Olga (December 30, 2010):
Good afternoon On December 28, 2010 at 6.55 I was supposed to fly on an Aeroflot flight from Krasnoyarsk to Moscow. There I had to take the train at 15.42 and continue on bus tour in Europe. The flight was delayed for a day, the group left without me, and the ticket was lost. Who should reimburse me for the trip in this case? The tour operator refers to its charter where, if the tour is canceled on the day of departure, it reimburses no more than 5% of the cost.
Olga (01/11/2011):
Hello. 12/27/10. My brother was supposed to fly with Siberia Airlines from Moscow to Kemerovo at 23:40......instead, he flew out only the next morning at 11:00. No food, no hotel were not provided. Unfortunately, he lost his ticket. Now there are electronic tickets, is it possible to somehow restore it? What can be done in such a situation. And where to go. Thank you.
Nikolay (01/14/2011):
Hello!
On December 26, 2010, I was supposed to fly to Eilat on 12.15 flight SU501.
I lost 1.5 days of my expensive tour.
Aeroflot offers for this, as indicated on the website, some kind of mythical vouchers.
I would actually like to receive not vouchers, but real compensation for 1.5 days of my vacation lost due to the fault of Aeroflot (the lack of icing can in no way be considered force majeure) and moral damages.
Can I count on this or not?
Please reply to my email address.
Thank you in advance for your response.
Lesik (01/14/2011):
Hello Olga.
My husband and I were supposed to fly on December 26, 2010 at 10:30 on an Orenburg Airlines flight to Turin. In fact, the departure took place on December 28, 2010 at about 15-00. During our stay at Domodedovo airport, we were not offered any hotel, no hot food, no hotel, and the airline representative refused to communicate with us at all. As a result, our stay in Italy was shortened by 2 days.
The air tickets were paid for by the travel agency, we paid the travel agency for the entire tour, without allocating the cost of air tickets.
In this case, who should we file a claim with: the travel agency (with whom I have an agreement) or the carrier (we have air tickets on hand, but they do not indicate the cost)?
And can we count on compensation for two lost days or only penalties in the amount of 25 rubles for each hour of flight delay?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
Alina (01/25/2011):
Hello.
Two different tickets were purchased and different airlines. Last Sunday there was heavy snowfall and flight 1 was delayed so that it was impossible to catch flight 2. We are very afraid of a similar situation, because... We are leaving in 1.5 weeks. How should you behave in such cases?
Elena (02/08/2011):
Hello! I had paid for a Krasnodar-Larnaca ticket from January 30 to February 10. But due to the cancellation of the flight on the 10th, I was asked to fly either on February 6 or 13. I had to fly on the 6th, without having time to do all the business for which I flew to Cyprus. (From February 11 to February 14, tickets to Moscow with another airline had already been paid for) I lost half of the days planned in Cyprus. Can I demand from the airline a second flight at their expense, since my trip was in vain. Thank you.

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