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TrainsAttention! The following information is valid only for airports in the Russian Federation. In other countries, aviation regulations and the consequences of violating them may differ.
Security controls at the entrance to the airport and before boarding a flight are quite tight and can sometimes take a long time. If you can not fly because of a long inspection, you can get full compensation, but there are several nuances in this matter.
If you are late due to a long screening at the entrance to the airport
Due to the complex terrorist situation, security control at the entrance is carried out at almost all airports. They check passengers, mourners, greeters, in general, everyone who crosses the threshold of the airport, which is why queues can accumulate at the entrance. And if you still find something suspicious, they can conduct an additional personal search and check of items, which can even take hours.
Unfortunately, if you can't get on your flight because of this, there's little chance of compensation. If this happens, you will have to prove in court that airport security or police officers detained you intentionally. But in practice, this is almost impossible to do, since the responding party will simply answer that you yourself did not take care of early arrival and arrived too late at the airport, and they had grounds for additional screening.
If you miss your flight due to passport control or customs
For international flights, in addition to security control, you also need to go through customs and passport control. There are never queues at customs control, but at passport control it is quite possible to get "firmly stuck". If this happens, you need to try your best to pass it sooner: contact those standing in line with a request to let you pass, or for help from the staff. If you are still late, then you should not count on compensation.
If you are late at the security check before boarding the plane
Security control before boarding is carried out after you have checked in for the flight, checked in your luggage, and proceed to the landing zone. All passengers are checked for the presence of prohibited items (weapons, piercing and cutting objects, liquids, etc., see the list of that can not be carried on board the aircraft). If at this stage you "get stuck "and are late, you will be considered a"passenger who was forced to refuse transportation." This status is clearly enshrined in the legislation in Article 227 of the order of the Ministry of transport of the Russian Federation (Ministry of transport of Russia) from June 28, 2007 N 82 Moscow "Approval of Federal Aviation Regulations" general rules of air transportation of passengers, baggage, cargo and requirements for servicing passengers, shippers, consignees". Here is an excerpt:
227. Forced refusal of a passenger from transportation is recognized as a refusal in the case of:
- carriage of a passenger on an aircraft caused by the passenger's delay at the airport due to the duration of his / her inspection, if no prohibited substances and items were found during the baggage inspection or personal inspection of the passenger;
228. In case of forced refusal of the passenger from carriage, the carrier shall make a note in the transport document or issue to the passenger a document confirming the circumstances specified in paragraph 227 of these rules.
All this means that if you are late for boarding because of the inspection, you get the legal right to compensation. Moreover, you can reimburse all expenses incurred, including:
- the cost of air tickets if you miss the connecting flight;
- the cost of the booked hotel;
- the cost of the trip, if due to this case you can not use it;
- the cost of issued visas if your trip does not take place at all due to delay;
To defend your rights, first of all you should contact the representative of the airline with a problem, and demand to put a mark on the ticket about the delay or get a certificate (paragraph 228 of the order). In practice, airlines try to solve the problem on the spot, and will try to send you on the nearest flight if possible, and even try to resolve issues with subsequent connecting flights.
But there are situations when sending the next flights may not suit you, because you, for example, will still be late for a connecting flight or there simply will not be the nearest flight. Then you need to collect as much evidence as possible on the spot in addition to the mark on the ticket. This can be, at least, witnesses to your protracted search, CCTV footage, your video recording of the search. Of course, keep all receipts for additional expenses incurred, if you, for example, have to check into a hotel while waiting for the next flight, or have to buy a ticket yourself.
After that, the first step is to send a registered letter to the airline or to the head of the airport with a request to reimburse your expenses. The basis for the claim will be the above-mentioned order, as well as the law of the Russian Federation "on consumer rights protection". If a written refusal follows, You can go to court. To do this, it is best to hire an experienced lawyer who will represent you in court, while you can also recover the costs of his services.
Well, do not forget that you can get compensation for the delay or cancellation of the flight through the online service without any visits to the lawyers here - compensation for flight delay or cancellation.