APR FAQs

You may be entitled to compensation if you arrive at your destination 3 hours or more after your scheduled arrival time. The amount of compensation payable depends on the distance of your flight. If your flight is classed as:

• short haul, the amount payable is €250 per person.
• medium haul, the amount payable is €400 per person.
• long haul, the amount payable is €600 per person.

However the amount payable may be reduced by 50% if you arrive at your destination less than 4 four hours after the scheduled arrival time.

If your flight is delayed by certain prescribed timeframe, your air carrier is obliged to take care of you. They should provide you with meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting period, access to a telephone, computer or fax, hotel accommodation where necessary and transport between the airport and the hotel.

If the delay is more than 5 hours long and you no longer wish to travel you are entitled to a full refund.

If your flight is delayed for a long time then your air carrier must take care of you. They should provide you with meals and refreshments, access to a telephone, computer or fax, hotel accommodation where necessary and transport between the airport and the hotel.

If the air carrier fails to provide this care and you are forced to make your own reasonable arrangements, then you should keep all your receipts. You should then submit copies of these receipts to your air carrier as soon as possible thereafter (some air carriers request original receipts in which case you should keep copies for your own records).

There are no specific laws governing schedule changes, although the air carrier’s terms and conditions will usually refer to them. You will usually only be entitled to a refund where the schedule change is greater than two hours. There is no right to compensation in the case of schedule changes.

Where a town, city or region is served by several airports and your air carrier offers to re-route you to a different one, it must bear the cost of your transport from that alternative airport to the original one. If you do not specifically need to go to the original airport, your air carrier may instead agree to pay for you to be transported to a nearby destination.

You are only entitled to a refund for the unused (cancelled) flight from the original airline. Furthermore the original air carrier has no liability for any expenses you incur whilst waiting for your new flight.

Baggage complaints are usually governed by the Montreal Convention. There is no designated body in Ireland for that Convention.

You should first contact your air carrier directly to resolve your complaint.

• For further advice in relation to complaints against air carriers registered in Ireland, you may consider contacting the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Their website is www.ccpc.ie
• In cases where the air carrier is based in another EU country or Norway or Iceland, we suggest you contact the European Consumer Centre Ireland (ECC). Their website is www.eccireland.ie 

In both cases, you need to submit your complaint as soon as possible, since the Montreal Convention requires they be made within a certain timeframe. Please do not send complaints to the IAA as we have no powers to assist you.

If you cancel your reservation, you are bound by the terms and conditions agreed at the time of booking/purchase. Some tickets are fully refundable (i.e. you get back the ‘fare’ plus any ‘taxes and charges’) while others, particularly ‘low-fare’ tickets, are usually non-refundable except for the ‘taxes and charges’ element. Claims for all refunds – including refunds of the taxes and charges only, should be made directly to the air carrier as soon as possible. Some air carriers charge an administration fee for carrying out these refunds.

A full refund will only be due if your air carrier cancels the flight and you have not already cancelled your flight. If it does not, then you would be bound by the conditions agreed to at the time of booking. In most cases airlines will be aware of a travel advisory and will offer refunds. Otherwise, if you have travel insurance, you may be able to claim from your insurer.

You are entitled to a refund of the full cost of your ticket together with a return flight to Dublin. You are also entitled to meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation as necessary whilst waiting for that return flight as well as 2 telephone calls, emails or faxes. You may also be entitled to compensation unless the air carrier can prove that the cancellation was the result of extraordinary circumstances.

No. Bookings made separately are regarded as separate contracts and under the terms of the Regulation a refund will only be due for the cancelled flight. However if the bookings were all made with the same air carrier you may receive a refund at their discretion.

There are several possible ways in which you can pursue your complaint:

• You can engage directly with your air carrier;
• You can bring a claim against your air carrier in the Small Claims Court (the following link provides information about this process: https://www.courts.ie/small-claims-procedure
  
• You can submit a claim against your air carrier using the European Small Claims Procedure (the following link provides information about this process https://www.courts.ie/european-small-claims-procedure
• You can forward your complaint to the competent NEB and ask that they investigate it for you.
  

Sometimes complaints are made up of items which fall within the scope of the law this Office enforces and items that don’t fall within that law. In those situations passengers might have to adopt a 2-step approach to resolving their complaint.