Indemnisation vol annulé Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines cancellations: what is specific

Strike-day cancellations are usually announced a day or two ahead — inside the 14-day window, so compensation is due unless the strike qualifies as extraordinary for your flight. Cancellations of Africa flights are rarely replaced the same day; a re-routing arriving more than 4 hours late keeps the full €600, and hotel and meals in Brussels are owed meanwhile.

Belgian law gives you two years from the flight to sue (Article X.49 of the Code of Economic Law), so send the claim and, if refused, escalate without delay.

The three questions that decide a Brussels Airlines cancellation claim

1. When did Brussels Airlines 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. Brussels Airlines must prove when and how it informed you — keep its cancellation e-mail or app notification with the timestamp.
2. What replacement did Brussels Airlines 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; Brussels Airlines’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. Brussels Airlines 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 Brussels Airlines 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 Brussels Airlines 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). Brussels Airlines 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 Brussels Airlines

1. Keep the cancellation notice, the original booking and the details of any replacement flight offered (departure and arrival times).
2. Ask Brussels Airlines in writing for the reason for the cancellation.
3. Submit the claim through Brussels Airlines’s official channel (https://www.brusselsairlines.com/en-be/customer-service), stating the notice date, the replacement offered (or not) and the amount per passenger.
4. If Brussels Airlines refuses or stalls for 8 weeks, escalate to FPS Mobility and Transport (Belgium NEB), then to the courts within the limitation period of the departure country.