Indemnisation vol annulé Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus cancellations: what is specific

The cancellation e-mail or app notification is the notice; its timestamp decides the 14-day rule. Aer Lingus will offer a refund or a rebooking; on transatlantic routes the rebooking is often the next day, which keeps the full €600 due if the arrival is more than 4 hours later than planned. Hotel and meals in Dublin meanwhile are owed whatever the cause.

Flights operated by Aer Lingus UK from Manchester fall under UK261 (£220–£520) rather than EU261, with the same structure.

The three questions that decide a Aer Lingus cancellation claim

1. When did Aer Lingus tell you? Informed 14 days or more before departure: no compensation, but a refund or re-routing and care. Less than 14 days: compensation is due unless a replacement flight met the windows below or the cause was extraordinary. Aer Lingus must prove when and how it informed you — keep its cancellation e-mail or app notification with the timestamp.
2. What replacement did Aer Lingus offer? Between 7 and 14 days’ notice, no compensation if the re-routing departed no more than 2 hours early and arrived less than 4 hours late; under 7 days’ notice the margins shrink to 1 hour early and 2 hours late.
3. Why was it cancelled? Weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, security and external strikes are extraordinary; Aer Lingus’s technical problems, crew shortages, rotation planning and its own staff’s strikes are not.

What you always get, whatever the reason

Compensation may depend on the cause, but three rights never do. Aer Lingus must offer you the choice between a full refund of the unused ticket (within 7 days, in cash or bank transfer — a voucher only with your agreement) and re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity or on a later date of your choice. While you wait for the re-routing Aer Lingus must provide meals, refreshments, two calls or e-mails and, when an overnight stay becomes necessary, a hotel and transport to it. If it leaves you to arrange this yourself, keep receipts and claim the reasonable amounts.

How much Aer Lingus owes when compensation is due

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger under EU261, set by the distance of the flight (or of the whole journey on one booking). Aer Lingus may halve the long-haul amount to €300 when the replacement flight it offered arrived within the reduction windows (2 hours late for short flights, 3 hours for medium, 4 hours for long).

How to claim a cancellation from Aer Lingus

1. Keep the cancellation notice, the original booking and the details of any replacement flight offered (departure and arrival times).
2. Ask Aer Lingus in writing for the reason for the cancellation.
3. Submit the claim through Aer Lingus’s official channel (https://www.aerlingus.com/support/), or by post to Aer Lingus Limited, Customer Relations, Dublin Airport, Co. Dublin, Ireland, stating the notice date, the replacement offered (or not) and the amount per passenger.
4. If Aer Lingus refuses or stalls for 8 weeks, escalate to Irish Aviation Authority (NEB), then to the courts within the limitation period of the departure country.