Freetown-Europe flight delay: €600 compensation per passenger

Freetown Lungi International (FNA) is Sierra Leone's gateway to Europe, and almost every route runs through a hub. Which airline carries you decides whether you are owed a fixed €600 or nothing at all, and the answer is not the same in each direction.

Are you eligible? The rule in 30 seconds

EC 261/2004 applies in two cases:

• The flight departs from an EU airport: covered whatever the airline, even a non-European one.
• The airline is European: covered in both directions, including departures from Freetown.

The 3-hour threshold is measured on arrival (doors open), not at departure. Distances from Europe to Freetown are far above 3,500 km, which puts you in the top bracket of €600.

Your outbound is always covered

This is the asymmetry that surprises most travellers. Your outbound from Brussels, Paris or London-adjacent EU hubs is covered whatever the airline, because it departs the EU. Your return from Freetown is only covered if the operating airline is European. Same journey, same passenger, two different answers.

So if your return is on a non-EU carrier, do not conclude you have nothing: your outbound leg, if it was delayed, remains claimable at €600, and Sierra Leone is a party to the Montreal Convention, which covers your real expenses on the return with receipts. See what the Montreal Convention actually covers.

Connecting flights

If your ticket is a single booking with a connection, the delay is measured at the final destination (Folkerts, CJEU 2013). A connection missed in Brussels that lands you 3 hours late opens the right to compensation, calculated on the total distance, even if one leg was operated by a different airline.

The airline's excuses: valid or not

The airline only escapes compensation for an extraordinary circumstance it could not have avoided.

Valid: extreme weather, airspace closure, air traffic control strike.

Not valid, the compensation remains due: technical fault (Wallentin-Hermann, CJEU), aircraft late from its previous rotation, a strike by the airline's own staff (Krüsemann, CJEU), understaffing or poor organisation.

Family: every passenger counts

Compensation is due per passenger, regardless of age. A family of 4 on a Freetown-Europe flight arriving 4 hours late: €2,400 recovered, of which €1,800 for you (75%) in the amicable phase.

What you receive, in full

Robin des Airs does not work for you: Robin des Airs buys your claim and recovers it in its own name. So you have no fee to pay, you have an assignment price to receive, which depends on what is actually recovered.

• €0 upfront, and €0 if nothing is recovered. The risk is ours, not yours.
• We always start with the amicable phase. You then receive 75% of what is recovered.
• Court only happens if the airline refuses to pay. You then receive 60%, and the lawyer, bailiff and court costs are advanced and borne by us, win or lose.
• Paid to your account within 5 working days of collection.