EU airlines, late for connection flight due to lines on passport control

Several days ago I had 1 hour connection in Amsterdam and I got my plane but I was the last one, after me they closed the gate.

Now I need to buy a new ticket and thinking about the same route. Is airline obliged to pay 250€ compenstion in case of missing connection due to very long queues on passport control, slow security check, delay in a bus form previous flight?

I my case I should arrive at 16 00, but I arrived in 16 10, 10 minutes in a bus, after it 10 minutes running between gates, 10 minutes for security check and 30 minutes on passport control. All of this was quite extremely.

So in case of late in such situation will airline pay a compensation if next flight depart in more than 3 hours?

Best Answer

In this situation, there are few things to take into consideration :

if you have a single booking reference for all the itinerary, then the airline considered that you could make it as they have allowed this booking and so you'll be booked on a later flight if for some reasons you aren't able to make it
if you have two separate bookings, then it will most of the time be your problem unless you can find an agreement with the airline but if you missed it for 10 minutes delay, it won't be enough to justify a free rebook on a later flight with most companies
as mentioned in one of the comments, you should let the airline crew know about your situation. They'll call some staff on the ground to escort you and make the connection happen.
I doubt that you'll get a monetary compensation for being delayed in this situation. If the flight had 10 minutes delay, it isn't enough to entitle you for a compensation, even if this generates further delay because of missed leg. The only thing you'll eventually get is vouchers to drink something or a hotel night if the rebooked flight is the day after. The monetary compensation is usually related to flight delay, not to missed flight (ie when you aren't able to take the flight).

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What happens if you miss a connecting flight because of a delay?

If you miss your connection due to a delay, usually the airline is responsible for providing you with a replacement flight to your destination. They will have to book you on the earliest possible flight available.

What happens if you miss a connection due to customs?

You'll get through customs in a couple of minutes (unless you are stopped for extra checks). It's immigration that can take time. If you have booked this as a single ticket and you meet the minimum connection time then the airline is responsible for getting you on the next available flight at no extra cost.

Do airlines compensate for missed connections?

If you are connecting on a different airline, airlines are not required to provide compensation if a delay on the first flight causes you to miss your connection. However, if your first flight is delayed for more than 3 hours, you may be entitled to compensation from the airline that caused the delay.

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