🪧Passenger rights during flight strikes

Caught by surprise by the strike at the airport

What support are you entitled to?

If you are unexpectedly affected by a strike at the airport and your flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, you are entitled to so-called "care services" from the airline. Depending on the waiting time and flight distance, the airline must provide those affected with the following free of charge:

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Food and drinks

Meals and refreshments in reasonable proportion to the waiting time.
Two free phone calls, emails or fax messages to inform relatives or business partners.
Hotel accommodation if an overnight stay is required.
Transport between the airport and hotel, if hotel accommodation is necessary.

However, only from the following waiting times for the delayed flight or replacement flight in the event of flight cancellations:

from 2 hours for flights up to 1,500 km
3 hours or more for flights within the EU or flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km beyond the EU borders
from 4 hours for all other flights

Learning about the strike before travelling

Contact the airline or, in the case of a package holiday, the tour operator as soon as possible.
Find out whether your flight is affected by the strike, delayed or cancelled.
If your flight is affected, the airline or tour operator must offer you alternative transport at the earliest opportunity. This usually involves rebooking you onto a later flight.

The airline is also obliged to check for replacement flights with other airlines. In the event of a strike, it may also be an option to switch to train or bus if no flights are available – for example, in the event of an air traffic controller strike – and you need to get to your booked destination urgently. Regardless of whether the replacement flight is offered to you at home or at the airport, it is up to you to decide whether it is acceptable to you or not.

You booked the flight separately.

The airline must offer you a replacement flight. To do so, contact the airline staff on site directly or contact the airline's customer support. If your departure is delayed by more than five hours or the flight is cancelled entirely, you may withdraw from the contract and are entitled to a full refund of the ticket price. You can find a suitable sample letter for requesting a refund here.

If airline staff go on strike (pilots or cabin crew or ground staff), you may also be entitled to financial compensation in accordance with the Air Passenger Rights Regulation.

They had booked the flight as part of a package with other services.

Then you should immediately contact your tour operator. In the case of a package tour, the travel company is your contractual contact and must arrange for replacement transport. According to the Frankfurt List, if your arrival is delayed by 4 hours or more, you are entitled to a price reduction. If the tour operator offers alternative transport that differs significantly from the trip you originally booked, you may be able to cancel the entire trip. Whether this is possible depends, for example, on the duration of the trip and the inconvenience caused by the change. If in doubt, please contact us for a legal assessment.

Compensation payment?

Passengers affected by strikes are entitled to financial compensation (compensation payment) if:

the flight is cancelled (flight cancellation)
the final destination is reached with a delay of more than three hours
no exceptional circumstances exist

Whether or not a strike is considered an "exceptional circumstance" depends on who is striking:

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Two possibilities distinguish

Internal airline staff on strike

This means that cabin crew (pilots, flight attendants) or airline ground staff, e.g. at check-in counters, are participating in the strike. Airlines must anticipate industrial action within their companies and be prepared for it.

Only external staff are on strike

This personnel is not directly employed by the airline. This includes, for example, security personnel, airport employees, and air traffic controllers. As airlines have no influence over these employees, their strike is considered an "extraordinary circumstance".

Good to know

Avoid rushing to rebook: Travellers should not rush to book alternative flights or other means of transport, as they will still have to pay for these if the original flight does take place. Instead, they should contact the airline or tour operator to arrange a free rebooking.

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Affected by a flight strike?

Tour operators are obliged to provide an emergency telephone number in the event of cancellations of this kind.
Booking platforms such as Opodo do not usually offer reliable emergency support. Therefore, when booking through a platform, it is often better to contact the operating airline directly (see "operated by" on your ticket).
Airlines are obliged under the Air Passenger Rights Regulation to offer alternative transport. If this does not happen, you can also find a similar alternative transport yourself and suggest it to the airline.

Even with package holidays, you are entitled to financial compensation from the airline in the event of flight cancellation or long delays, and you can claim this yourself. In such cases, tour operators may deduct the compensation paid by the airline from the price reduction offered to travellers. You can obtain our legal assessment to find out whether such a deduction is correct in your case.
Airlines and tour operators must also look after their passengers on their return journey. If the strike makes it impossible to return, they must provide meals. If an alternative return journey is impossible and the stay must be extended, free accommodation must also be provided. It is irrelevant whether the flight crew is participating in the strike or not.

Flight strike checklist

To obtain alternative transport, you should contact your tour operator immediately if you have booked a package holiday. If you have only booked a flight, contact the operating airline.
Regardless of the type of booking, passengers are entitled to care and assistance services from the airline.
In the event of an external strike (e.g. air traffic controllers, security personnel), there is no compensation, so it is important to distinguish whose staff are participating in the strike.
In the event of an internal strike by the airline, compensation may be available. Details can be found here.
Withdrawal from the travel contract for package tours is only possible if the alternative transport deviates significantly from the original travel plan and the entire package tour is significantly affected as a result.
Cancellation of a flight-only booking (individual travel contract) is only possible if the flight is cancelled or delayed by at least 5 hours.