Delayed flight at Helsinki-Vantaa: compensation

Article 3(1)(a) covers passengers travelling from an airport in the territory of a Member State, and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is in Finland. The airline's nationality normally makes no difference to a departure from there.

If you land in Helsinki the assessment depends on conditions: the flight normally has to come from an airport outside the EU, and the airline has to be EU-registered (Article 3(1)(b)). If you come from another EU airport, the departure there is assessed. The Consumer Disputes Board specifically mentions cases where Finland is the first EU country the flight arrives in.

Tallinn is nearest among the examples (101 km) and New York furthest (6,607 km). Under Article 7 the levels are 250 € for Tallinn (101 km) and Stockholm (399 km), 400 € for Frankfurt (1,538 km), Athens (2,490 km) and Las Palmas (4,696 km) and 600 € for Doha (4,397 km) and New York (6,607 km). For flights entirely within the EU the level is 400 € even when the route is longer than 3,500 km, for example Las Palmas.

The distances are straight-line and the amounts come from this site's rules engine, per passenger if the other conditions are met. The example destinations are distance examples only and do not say which carriers fly there. They do not mean that any carrier does.

Begin with the airline. After that the route depends on how the trip was paid for. If you travelled privately you can turn to KKV's Consumer Advisory Services or take the matter to the Consumer Disputes Board (Kuluttajariitalautakunta), which can process disputes about flights that were delayed, cancelled or where boarding was denied in Finland. The Board cannot process trips paid for by an employer, or flights in another EU country.

If you travelled on business and the trip was paid for by your employer, you can report to Traficom, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency. Traficom itself writes that it does not resolve individual compensation claims or disputes and does not respond to reports individually, and it recommends giving the airline eight weeks to reply.

The Consumer Disputes Board (Kuluttajariitalautakunta) cannot recommend compensation for distress or inconvenience.

Finavia's page about Helsinki Airport shows departures and arrivals, parking, an airport map, dining and shopping, a service for following your flight, a pilot for estimated security queue times and information on liquids. Compensation for delays is not mentioned there.

Under Articles 6 and 9 the airline must offer meals and refreshments in reasonable proportion to the waiting time when it reasonably expects a delay of two hours or more (flights of 1,500 km or less), three hours or more (flights within the EU of more than 1,500 km) or four hours or more (all other flights). If an overnight stay becomes necessary, a hotel room and transport between the airport and the hotel must be offered free of charge.

Finavia offers free assistance, around the clock, to people with an intellectual disability, a visual impairment, hearing loss or reduced mobility, among others, and to the elderly. Book through your travel agent or airline when you book the flight, at least 48 hours before departure, and state any assistive devices such as a wheelchair or oxygen equipment. Helsinki Airport has several assistance call points, including in the parking halls, in front of the building, in the check-in area and at the airport's train station. The assistant accompanies you from the call point to your seat on the plane, and on your return from the plane to the airport building and on to the parking area, bus stop, train station or taxi stand. There is a dedicated security line marked "Assisted", and wheelchairs and other mobility equipment can be borrowed if you have to hand over your own at check-in. Feedback on the assistance can go to the airline or Finavia, and if necessary to Traficom.

Tell us how your journey at Helsinki-Vantaa went and we show what applies.