KLM canceled a flight from China back to Europe that we had already requested a refund for. Are we entitled to compensation or just refund?
Due to the coronavirus KLM canceled all flights from China about a week ago. Naturally we are entitled to a full refund. According to European Union air passenger rights, passengers are also entitled to up to €600 Of compensation in the case of a canceled flight. However, we requested a cancellation of our tickets five days before they announced the cancellation of our flight but after it became public that China closed down Wuhan with the risk of other cities. So we wanted to leave as early as we could. KLM had given notice that they offer rebookings and cancellations at that time.
Are we therefore also entitled to a 600€ refund Or would we have had to first give KLM the chance to offer us an earlier flight before booking a flight with another airline and canceling theirs? Or should we have waited 5 days until they cancelled the flight to be entitled to receive both the refund + compensation?
So in short, what does the compensation depend on? Also, does the corona virus qualify for the airline to waive the compensation penalty because it’s an “extraordinary circumstance” in the legal sense?
Edit: the cancellation & approval of the refund claim of my ticket came into effect yesterday, 5 days after the flight would have taken place. We received no confirmation of cancellation neither for our specific request nor any warning of the airline itself that the flight was cancelled in general. This suggests that they A cancelled our tickets and therefore B didn’t consider us a passenger anymore at the time of cancellation. Still, it’s odd that they never gave us confirmation of the ticket cancellation. Just a “pending approval for refund request” state.
Best Answer
First off, let’s see what the EU261 regulations say about compensation:
Air carriers should compensate passengers if they fail to do this, except when the cancellation occurs in extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
That does not necessarily mean you are not due compensation, because it depends on what constitutes an “extraordinary circumstance” and that is not defined in the regulations - as such, it would take a court case or a regulatory ruling for any interpretation of the definition to have legal weight.
However, we do have claims companies that are considering cancellations due to cornonavirus as an extraordinary circumstance and thus not due for compensation.
So if claims companies are taking that stance...
Secondly, the situation of you having cancelled your tickets. If you had actually cancelled your tickets with KLM and received acknowledgement to that effect before the airline cancelled the flight, then you no longer have any contract with the airline that would affect you - you would not be eligible to claim compensation even if the flight was delayed or cancelled for an eligible reason.
If the requested cancellation was pending at the time the airline cancelled the flight, I wouldn’t be surprised if the airline refused your claim (assuming the cancellation reason was eligible for compensation) but it would be worthwhile to put a claim in to see in that scenario.
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Does KLM refund for Cancelled flights?
You can always request a cash refund of your KLM flight in the following cases: Your flight was cancelled, and you did not take an alternative flight. You decided not to take your outbound flight within Europe because it was delayed for more than 90 minutes, and your return flight was scheduled on the same day.What happens if KLM cancels my flight?
If your flight was cancelled by KLM, you can: Change your travel dates free of cost. Rebook your new flight free of cost (within the same travel class) if it is 30 days before or after your original flight's date. However, if you rebook beyond this period, a fare difference may apply.Does KLM give refunds?
KLM is not currently offering refunds on non-refundable tickets, even if the airline has cancelled the flight. Instead, it is offering a \u201crefund in the form of a travel voucher\u201d.Can international flights be refunded?
But U.S. travelers have rights in these cases: If you booked a flight that takes off or lands at a U.S. airport, even if the airline is international, DOT regulations require airlines who cancel (or significantly change) a flight to make cash refunds available to customers.KLM Answers: Refunds 💬
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