Passenger rights in the event of denied boarding

Bekijk deze pagina in het Nederlands

Denied boarding

These are 2 examples of situations that fall under "denied boarding":

• If you arrived on time for check-in or boarding and you were then told that you could not board, for example, because your flight was overbooked, this is considered denied boarding.
• If you are at risk of missing your connection due to a delay, your flight will often be rebooked before landing. If you still arrive on time for your original connecting flight, you are still entitled to board that flight. If the airline refuses, this constitutes denied boarding.

If you are booking connecting flights through a travel agency or ticket seller rather than through the airline, pay close attention to the transfer times. If you miss your connecting flight because you have too little transfer time, this is not considered denied boarding.

Please note: There are situations in which the airline may refuse to allow you to board. For example, if you have a serious contagious disease or if you do not have the correct travel documents. In that case, it is considered denied boarding, but you are not entitled to any compensation.

What to do if you are denied boarding

If you have you been denied boarding, arrange the following:

• Collect evidence, such as a photo of a screen clearly showing the status of the flight, which also shows the time and date of the photo.
• If you are denied boarding against your will, the airline must compensate you immediately. If the airline does not do so, ask for a written commitment to compensate you.
• You are entitled to rebooking onto another flight. You are also entitled to assistance, such as food, drink and a place to stay, with transport, if necessary. The airline must offer this to you. If the airline does not do so, ask for it yourself.

Submit your complaint to the airline first

Always submit your complaint about denied boarding to the airline first. The airline must respond within 2 months.

If you are unable to reach an agreement with the airline or you have not received a response to your complaint after 2 months, you can report your complaint to CAA NL.

Submit your complaint to CAA NL

You can submit your complaint about passenger rights to CAA NL if:

• Your flight departed from the Netherlands.
• You flew to the Netherlands with an airline established in the EU and you departed from outside the EU.

You can report your complaint to CAA NL using the online form Report a complaint about air passenger rights. You can do this up to 1 year after the flight.
 

After submitting your complaint

CAA NL will investigate your complaint. CAA NL will then decide on your complaint.

The outcome may be:

• CAA NL agrees with your complaint. CAA NL will then take enforcement action. In this way, CAA NL wants to prevent this violation from happening again. You may be entitled to compensation. However, CAA NL cannot force an airline to pay compensation. In the Netherlands, only the kantonrechter (subdistrict court) an do this.
• CAA NL disagrees with your complaint. In that case, the airline has not violated the rules. Or it cannot be proven that the airline has violated the rules.

This decision is final. You cannot lodge an objection, nor can you appeal.

Disagreement with your complaint

CAA NL will disagree with your complaint if, for example:

• You are not allowed to board for safety or health reasons. For example, you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you are behaving inappropriately, or you have a contagious disease.
• You are not allowed to board because you do not have the correct travel documents. For example, you do not have the correct visa or the name on your ticket is different from the name in your passport.
• You are not allowed to board and CAA NL cannot prove who is right.