CAS-0815-4711: Compensation Claim | Flight Cancellation: TAPulatorMR 23 AUG TER PIX | Booking Reference ABCXYZ
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
since there is no progress in the above mentioned compensation claim, I see myself forced to set a deadline for solving the case, which is pendent since my first request on August 25th, 2024. A copy of this email is sent to the Portuguese Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) as a formal complaint and I reserve the right to hire a lawyer and take the case to court if it is not solved by SATA until May 5th, 2025.
The intention of the Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 was to compensate passengers in case of flight irregularities such as delays, cancellations, downgrades or denied boarding. There was no intention to add a months- or years-long delay for compensation payments to even add more to passengers inconvenience already caused by the flight irregularity.
Here once again the facts:
On June 6th, 2024 I made a flight reservation ABCXYZ with the itinerary:
23AUG2024 09:25 10:00 SP 0626 TER PIX.
The flight SP 626 from TER to PIX was cancelled due to operational reasons of the airline, and I was rebooked to the much later flight:
23AUG2024 19:20 19:44 SP 0622 TER PIX.
I reached my destination with a delay of 9 hours and 44 minutes.
According to EU 261/2004 article 7 (1a and 2a) a compensation of EUR 250.00 should be paid for the given flight distance and time of the delay of the alternative flight.
The initial compensation claim was made on August 25th, 2024 by email, which was confirmed with a the process number #4711/2024. On August 26th, 2024 I received another email from SATA Cutomer Care to use the online-form under
https://www.azoresairlines.pt/en/support/contact-us/claim which I did with a confirmation email and the case number CAS-0815-4711 and since then showing the status "Received / Analyzing".
Another request about the status of the compensation claim on November 25, 2005 by email was answered with "Currently, our customer care department is experiencing delays due to a high volume of inquiries." but no further information about the progress in the case. So, if the SATA Customer Care Department is not adequately staffed to handle the "high volume of inquiries" for months the company should also answer the question, what they are doing to improve the situation and which I will also add to my complaint to the Portuguese Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC).
Thank you for a hopefully timely response.
Kind regards.
TAPulator
