Filing a complaint about a flight

If there is a problem, first ask a representative of the airline responsible for the flight – usually the airline that operated, or should have operated, your flight – to take care of your rights. If the airline does not offer the agreed services or compensation required by law, file a written complaint with the airline as soon as possible. The airline has a duty to inform you about your rights if your flight is cancelled or delayed, your seat is downgraded, or if you are denied boarding.

If your flight was part of a package, both the airline and the organiser of the package may be liable. If necessary, file a complaint with both but note that the standard compensation for loss of time, for example, can be taken into account in the price reduction of the package.

If the only reason for the problem was due to the travel agency that booked the flight, your complaint must be filed with the travel agency. If the problem only concerned a flight booking rather than a package tour, the travel agency is not responsible for any problems that were associated with or happened during the flight. Its liability is limited to ensuring that the booking was made as agreed and with due care.

Instructions for filing a complaint

• File the complaint in writing. You should do this as soon as possible after the problem occurred.
• The complaint must clearly show who is filing the complaint, with whom, concerning which flight and why. Also explain what your demands are and what they are based on.
• Check the language of the customer service if you used a foreign airline.
• If you wish, you can use the Complaint Assistant to help you with the complaint. You can use the Assistant in Finnish, Swedish and English. The website of the European Consumer Centre also has a ready-made model for filing complaints in English.
• Alternatively, you can use an EU form for filing a complaint with an airline and/or the national supervisory authority about a violation of air passengers’ rights. Airlines may also have forms for filing complaints.
• Save and keep a copy of your complaint.
• Read instructions for what to do if your luggage has been lost or damaged during a flight.

Airline contact details

If your complaint to the airline does not bring about the results you hoped for, contact the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority’s Consumer Advisory Services. The Consumer Advisory Services provide instructions for dealing with problems with an airline that has an office in Finland, or when the flight in question departed from Finland or arrived in Finland from outside the EU.

If your claim seems justified, the Consumer Advisory Services will guide you with the further steps. In some situations, the Consumer Advisory Services may also mediate in your dispute with the airline.

You should wait patiently for the airline to respond before you contact the Consumer Advisory Services. It may take some time to process your claim.

The European Consumer Centre provides guidance on disputes relating to a foreign airline that has no offices in Finland, or to a foreigner who complains about a Finnish airline. If you have a problem related to a flight you purchased in another EU country, Norway or Iceland, you can contact the European Consumer Centre, which assists consumers in cross-border consumer disputes within the EU.

If an airline breaches your rights as an air passenger, you can file a complaint with the relevant enforcement authority. Each EU country has an authority that enforces air passengers’ rights under the EU Regulation when a flight is cancelled or delayed, boarding is denied, or a seat is downgraded.

You should note that some authorities only supervise compliance with legislation, while others deal with individual disputes and claims for financial compensation.

You may file your complaint with any national enforcement authority, but are well advised to file your complaint directly with the authority of the EU country in which the flight started, as that will be the authority that will handle the matter. If the flight started or was supposed to start outside the EU, you should complain to the EU country that was the flight’s destination. You should file your complaint in English or in the language of the Member State in question.

If you are claiming compensation for damages caused by a cancellation, delay or damaged luggage, or the problem concerns booking errors or other contractual disputes, you should note that the authorities in other EU countries may not always be competent to deal with such claims because they are based on legislation other than the EU Regulation on air passenger rights.

The ienforcement bodies in Finland are the Consumer Ombudsman within the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority and the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.

The Consumer Disputes Board handles individual disputes over compensation

In Finland, individual disputes and claims for financial compensation between a consumer and an airline are dealt with by the Consumer Disputes Board, which is an impartial and free dispute resolution body. Visit the Consumer Dispute Board’s website to find out about the situations in which you should take your complaint to the Consumer Disputes Board.

You should note that before you take your case to the Consumer Disputes Board, you must first complain to the airline. In most cases you should also first contact the Consumer Advisory Services.

Consumer Ombudsman enforces air passengers’ rights

The Consumer Ombudsman, who works within the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority, supervises the marketing, contract terms and practices of airlines operating in Finland in their customer relationships as well as compliance with the Regulation on air passengers’ rights in Finland in the collective interest of consumers.

The Consumer Ombudsman does not handle individual compensation cases or disputes or respond individually to reports from consumers. We can process customer contacts made in Finnish, Swedish or English.

Business passengers and persons with reduced mobility can contact Traficom

Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom enforces compliance with the Regulation on air passengers’ rights for the part of business travellers. This means that business travellers can contact Traficom about problems with flights. Traficom also supervises the rights of passengers with reduced mobility.