Compensation for advanced flight

What does it mean?

Everyone is talking about delayed and canceled flights; however, lately, it's becoming a common practice for airlines to also anticipate flights. Some of you might get confused by such a scenario, but let us briefly explain what an anticipated flight means.

Imagine you have a night out with your friends before a well-deserved holiday in Greece. The night is young, your flight is tomorrow at 5 PM, and you have all the time to pack your luggage tomorrow morning. In the middle of a lively conversation about places to visit and food to try, you receive an email from the airline informing you that your flight will depart at 10 AM instead. The night is over as you have to leave your friends, rush home to pack your bags, make sure to bring your cat to the pet hotel tonight, do last-minute shopping for missing items, and try to get some sleep as well.

Sounds fun, right? Well, the CJUE decided back in 2021 that this is not fun at all and issued a judgment clarifying that moving a flight forward by at least one hour qualifies as a flight cancellation and is eligible for compensation. By moving a flight forward, the airline is affecting your time in the same way as canceling or delaying a flight.

Why are flights being moved forward?

Our experience shows that 80% of flights moved forward are charter flights. The airlines are trying to optimize their fleet and scheduled flights to generate the highest possible revenue. Sometimes requests to accommodate new flights may be placed on short notice, causing a significant challenge for the operational departments of the airline and shuffling the entire fleet to accept the new flight request. The final impact is on the passengers of the other flights scheduled for the day. This is not necessarily the scenario applicable in 100% of the cases, but it is the most common reason we have encountered so far. To properly assess your particular case, please submit a claim by filling out this form.

Lawsuits won, compensations paid

Of course, just like everything else that is new and does not have many precedents, the airlines are trying hard to fight back and deny paying compensation to passengers affected by flights moved forward. This is why we made sure to sue several airlines for such practices and successfully won the lawsuits in all cases. For instance, a Tarom flight from Hurghada to Bucharest moved forward by 10 hours, literally shortening tourists' holidays by one day, which Tarom considered not a big deal and denied paying compensation, arguing that a flight moved forward does not fall under EC261/2004 regulation. The passengers handed over the case to us and received the compensation that we enforced based on the court judgment. If you contacted the airline directly and your compensation was denied, feel free to submit it again with us to get objective feedback on your case. Fill out the form here. If the airline's response is unjustified, Trouble Flight, together with our legal partners, will sue the airline at no cost to you.