The volcanic ash cloud over much of northern Europe last week left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded around the world as flights to and from the continent were cancelled for the better part of six days. Now that the ash has temporarily cleared, the dust hasn't quite settled on the issue of passenger compensation. The volcanic ash cloud was not of the airlines' making, so who should pay for your inconvenience?

In 2004, the European Commission drafted EC rule 261/2004 which spelled out rules for compensating passengers in the event of denied boarding, cancellations or long delays. A review of EC 261/2004 will show that the regulations, however well-intentioned, allow airlines sufficient leeway under an exemption defined as "extraordinary circumstances." This exemption applies when situations beyond an airline's control, despite all reasonable efforts by the carrier, result in long flight delays or cancellations. Weather is the most obvious of these exemptions. However, this exclusion only applies to monetary compensation. What else would you be entitled to?

The first thing to understand about EC Rule 261/2004 is its scope. Does every airline have to comply? The rule applies to any carrier that is based in the EU. It applies to flights wholly within the EU and between the EU and other countries when operated by EU-based airlines. This means that if you are flying from the United States to France, and your airline is Delta, the rules do not apply even though you are flying to a country in the EU. If your carrier is bound by the rules, you next have to determine when they apply. The recent ash cloud cancellations were considered a weather event. As a result, airlines facing delays and cancellations due to air traffic congestion and closures had an "out" from some of the compensation rules, but not all. Even if an "extraordinary circumstance" prevented your flight from taking off, the airlines still had to comply with rules requiring them to notifying you; to refund your money if rerouting alternatives were not to your satisfaction; and to provide meals and accommodations if necessary. How are you supposed to know what you're entitled to? The airlines have to tell you. According to the rule, "Passengers should be fully informed of their rights in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, so that they can effectively exercise their rights."

In the aftermath of the air traffic chaos, some airlines and airline associations have publicly skewered the air traffic decision-makers and oversight agencies over what they consider to be an overreaction to conditions that may not have been as widespread as reported. In addition, a few airlines have challenged the applicability of some of the compensation rules. Ryanair and bmi first announced that they would not follow the EU guidelines but later recanted after pressure from regulators.

Airlines have largely been vague on the amount they are willing to reimburse for things such as meals and accommodations, often insisting on a "reasonable amount." In a report in The Telegraph, James Fremantle of the Air Transport Users' Council (AUC) said: "The airlines could have done better in terms of offering clear guidance on limits of what people can spend on meals and hotel rooms. The best advice we can give is for passengers to keep all of their receipts, which they will have to submit when they get back."

Some airlines, especially budget carriers, have used this recent event to highlight what they deem to be punitive flaws in the EC regulations. Michael O'Leary, the outspoken president of low-cost airline Ryanair said: "The airlines are required by regulation to meet potentially unlimited expenses, in circumstances where there has been a catastrophic closure of European airspace over the past seven days, as EU governments and regulators wrongly applied a blanket ban on flights over European airspace." But without these passenger protections, would the airline response have been far worse? These rules could be the only silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud. The growing number of mergers, alliances, code-share flights and other partnerships could start blurring any lines we are able to discern. If you have a mix of EU-based and non-EU-based carriers, the rules could differ depending on who is doing the flying. We hope that airlines, which frequently stress the benefits of streamlined check-in, ticketing, baggage transfers and many other virtues of code-share partnerships and alliances, put the same priority on streamlining policies and compliance with rules that protect the rights of their passengers.

IAPA members based in the EU may benefit from the following list of National Enforcement Bodies for EC261/2004. These are the agencies entrusted to assure airline compliance with the regulations.

For the latest updates on the volcanic ash related delays, visit:

• EUROCONTROL
• CFMU NOP Portal
• Air Transport Association (ATA)
• Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO)
• NATS: The UK's leading Air Navigation Services Provider

Source: The Telegraph (UK)