Compensation Clinic: Gulf Air Ex-Europe

A LoyaltyLobby reader contacted us back in July with a question regarding a Gulf Air flight delay ex-Europe and if they were eligible for compensation.

Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Compensation Clinic cases regularly.

Here’s a recap of what happened:

I’m writing today as I’m a little confused about a possible compensation.

I got a one way ticket with gulf air from Paris to Dubai via Bahrain.

I had 1h05 connection but the flight from Paris arrived 1h20 late so I missed my connection and they put me on the next flight to Dubai which was 6hours later.

My question here is am I eligible to claim a compensation as it’s a non EU company but the trip started in the EU.

I advised the reader back then:

The EC 261/2004 legislation applies to all airlines FROM the European Union & EEA (Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland), including Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion Island, Mayotte, Saint-Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands (but not the Faeroe Islands), and all community airlines (list above) when flying to the above-mentioned area.

As the reader’s delay was more than three hours to the final destination and the flight was not within the EU/EEA, and the distance exceeded 3,500 kilometers, they are eligible for a compensation of 600 euros.

The airline can only deny the compensation if they can demonstrate that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances and what can be classified as one is very limited.

The reader first needs to contact Gulf Air and request 600 euro compensation per EC 261/2004 due to more than three-hour flight delay arriving at their destination. They should not accept a voucher as compensation unless significantly higher value, and they are sure that they can use it within the validity period, but a cash payment.

And Success!

First update:

Many thanks for this, I’ll take it now to Gulf Air tough I have doubts they’ll offer me anything.

I’ll go thru all the channels and update you at the end.

Second update:

Just an update to let you know that I wrote to Gulf air requesting 600euros for the delay on July 6th.

I received a reply on August 10 tough they claim that they wrote to me on July 26th but I never received that email so good on them that they followed up offering me the 600euros ans requesting to send my bank details with my passport.

48hours later and the money is already in my bank account.

I’m quite impressed at how easy and quick it was.

Conclusion

I am always glad when we can guide our readers in the right direction so that they can claim what is lawfully or rightfully theirs, especially when it comes to these delay compensations.

Tomorrow, we have a long case about Finnair and several lawsuits with high legal bills.