Airport fiasco: Harder ends up in Zurich instead of Crete!

Airport fiasco: Harder ends up in Zurich instead of Crete!

Hard, Österreich - An unfortunate flight to sunny Crete ended in a traumatic experience for Jacqueline from Hard and her friends. Originally arrived to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday, the travelers found themselves in Zurich after two days without having reached their goal. The flight DE1234 from Zurich to Heraklion, which had 137 passengers and six crew members on board, was redirected several times due to extreme weather conditions at Heraclion Airport and finally led to an unexpected stop overnight in Thessaloniki.

Condor, the holiday airline to which the flight belonged to, apologized to the passengers and pointed out that the safety of travelers and the crew had a top priority. According to the official information, due to a high traffic in Athens, it was not possible to unload passengers' luggage. Condor recommends affected passengers to contact customer service directly to clarify options for reimbursements and rebookings.

background to Condor and passenger rights

Condor is an important holiday airline that transports over 7 million customers annually to around 80 destinations worldwide. The headquarters are located in Frankfurt am Main and the airline belongs to the Thomas Cook Group. The EU Airklit Gastrecht Regulation applies to passengers who travel with Condor. This regulation faceted compensation for delays and failures. Passengers are entitled to compensation in the event of a delay of more than three hours and at flight cancellations can have a compensation for two hours.

The compensation amounts are staggered after flight routes: there is 250 euros for short -haul routes of up to 1,500 km, while medium -sized distances up to 3,500 km offer 400 euros and long distances over 3,500 km 600 euros in compensation. However, this only applies if exceptional circumstances like the bad weather do not exist, which the airline has to prove. The obligation to proceed and become limited by claims after three years are also relevant points that should consider passengers.

claims and support for passengers

According to the Passenger Rights Ordinance, passengers are also entitled to compensation and alternative transport or reimbursement for cancellations and overbooking. In long waiting times, airlines are also obliged to offer support services, including meals and drinks, regardless of whether there are extraordinary circumstances or not. Passengers can contact arbitration agencies if doubts about the justification of the airline.

In addition, it is important for the passengers to know that they can also assert claims for rebookings and missed connection flights if they have been booked as a uniform flight. The airline of the contractual partner and thus for claims remains responsible for flights via online portals. If claims for damages exist, it is important to collect all evidence properly in order to assert them in good time if necessary.

The developments of the past few days illustrate the importance of passenger rights and the need to find out about their own claims as a passenger.