Air Caraïbes flight delay and cancellation compensation

Air Caraïbes flight delay or cancellation: what are your rights?

Air Caraïbes is a French airline linking Paris Orly with the Caribbean — Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba — alongside inter-island flying. Its French operating licence makes it an EU carrier, and that decides everything about coverage:

• Departing any EU airport — Orly, but equally Pointe-à-Pitre and Fort-de-France, because Guadeloupe and Martinique are French departments and EU territory — EU261 applies.
• Arriving into the EU from outside it — Punta Cana to Paris, Havana to Paris — EU261 also applies, because the carrier is EU-licensed.
• A UK departure or arrival would fall under UK261, though the network centres on Orly.

The triggers are arriving at your final destination three hours or more late, a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice, or being denied boarding on an oversold flight when you checked in on time.

How much is a delayed Air Caraïbes flight to the Caribbean worth?

Amounts are fixed by distance, not fare class — a promotional Soleil fare counts the same as Madras:

• EUR 250 — flights of 1,500 km or less, which covers much of the inter-island network
• EUR 400 — flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km, and intra-EU flights over 1,500 km: Paris–Guadeloupe and Paris–Martinique sit here despite being transatlantic, because both ends are EU territory
• EUR 600 — other flights over 3,500 km, such as Paris to Punta Cana, Santo Domingo or Havana

Each passenger with a confirmed seat is paid separately. On EUR 600 routes, arriving under four hours late after rerouting can halve the amount.

When Air Caraïbes doesn't have to pay

There is no compensation for extraordinary circumstances — hurricanes and tropical storms are the obvious Caribbean examples, alongside air-traffic-control restrictions, airport closures and security alerts — but only where the airline shows they were unavoidable despite all reasonable measures.

The burden of proof sits with Air Caraïbes. Its own crew striking is generally not extraordinary under EU case law; third-party strikes usually are. Routine technical faults remain the airline's responsibility, however suddenly they surfaced.

What do you need to claim from Air Caraïbes?

Keep the booking reference, boarding passes, and the messages announcing the delay or cancellation; note the actual arrival time and ask for the cause in writing. We prepare and submit the claim, follow it up in French where that helps, and escalate to the French enforcement body or court if the airline's defence is thin.

How much does an Air Caraïbes claim cost?

The eligibility check is free. If we recover your compensation we charge a fixed EUR 39 success fee — the same whether you're owed EUR 250 or EUR 600 — and the airline's payment goes to you. No win, no fee.

How to claim Air Caraïbes compensation

Start with the flight itself. Our free flight check reads the recorded times for your Air Caraïbes flight and tells you which band it falls in, in about two minutes.

For the law behind the figure, the flight delay compensation guide covers arrival delays and the cancellation compensation guide covers a flight that never operated. If Air Caraïbes has already refused you, the case law summary sets out what the courts have said about the usual excuses.