Santander Airport

Santander Airport is also known as Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport or Parayas Airport. It is the only airport in Cantabria, in the north of Spain. In 2012, it was the twentieth busiest airport in Spain, with just over a million passengers.

It hosts six airlines, including four Spanish ones. Except for a few flights to the United Kingdom operated by Ryanair, all other flights are to European Union destinations.

Here are your rights at Santander Airport.

A regional airport, still under European law

Santander is a small airport, exclusively handling regional flights. It hosts four Spanish airlines:

Binter Canarias (specialising in flights to the Canary Islands);
Iberia;
Volotea;
Vueling.

Two foreign airlines operate here, both of which are low-cost carriers:

Ryanair, an Irish airline;
Wizz Air, a Hungarian airline.

All airlines operating at this airport are based within the European community area.

The Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 governs civil aviation operations within the European community area. It applies to:

all flights departing from an airport within the European community area (including Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland); flights to an airport within the same community area, operated by an airline based there.

all flights departing from an airport within the European community area (including Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland);
flights to an airport within the same community area, operated by an airline based there.

The conclusion is simple: all flights to and from Santander are covered.

Your rights under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004

The main benefit of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 is that it standardises passenger rights within the European Union.

In principle, these rights are included in international conventions governing civil aviation. In practice, they may be applied differently.

You are entitled to assistance until you reach your destination. If you arrive on time for boarding, with valid tickets and documents, the airline must take you to your destination.

They must also assist you in case of flight disruption. This means several things.

Firstly, if your flight is cancelled or you are denied boarding due to overbooking, the airline must offer you an alternative flight.

Secondly, you are entitled to material assistance if your delay incurs expenses. For example, they must provide you with food and drinks, or cover the costs. Additionally, you are entitled to two phone calls.

In the event of a delay of more than 5 hours, cancellation, or overbooking, you can also request a refund, regardless of the offer purchased. However, you forfeit your journey in doing so. You also waive any assistance and claims.

Finally, you may be entitled, under certain conditions, to a fixed compensation of €125 to €600 in case of delay, cancellation, or overbooking. At Santander Airport, given the distances involved, compensation is more likely to be up to €400. This is not automatic and is not always owed.

woman sitting in the departure lounge at Santander airport

Want to know if you're entitled to compensation? Delayed can help

Has your flight experienced a significant delay, cancellation, or overbooking at A Coruña airport or elsewhere in Europe? You may be entitled to compensation.

Want to make a claim but don't know how? Delayed is here to assist you.