Starting from April 1st, airlines in Russia are required to pay passengers a fine for flight delays amounting to 100 rubles per hour. This obligation is laid out in the updated Air Code. Lawyer Dmitry Kvasha explained when compensation can be obtained in an article by Vechernyaya Moskva.
Previously, the compensation amount was 25 rubles per hour of delay. As of April 1st, it has quadrupled.
“Russians can receive compensation if, due to the fault of the airline, the airplane arrived later than the scheduled time, the staff didn’t prepare the aircraft for flight on time, or the crew arrived at the airport late. Anything unrelated to aircraft safety,” explained Kvasha.
The lawyer noted that cases caused by situations beyond the airline’s control are not eligible for compensation, labeling it as a contentious issue.
“Under this pretext, anything that benefits the airline can be interpreted. At this stage, it’s unclear which aspects the airline can interpret as ensuring proper flight safety, causing delays,” said Kvasha.
According to the lawyer, to claim compensation for a flight delay, passengers must submit a statement to the airline, attach their ticket, specify the delay time, provide their bank card details for the money transfer. Payment timelines can take up to 30 days.
The new rules may be first applied following a recent incident at Domodedovo Airport, where an airplane collided with a maintenance vehicle. The bottom of the aircraft was damaged as a result of the collision. It was reported that the wait time for the next flight was expected to be around eight hours.