Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Tui/Thomson ONLY

assistedend

Has anyone tried to claim from Tui airlines about  flight TOM7267 to or from Chania airport Crete from/to Birmingham on 10th September 2024? It left Birmingham on time then diverted to Rhodes instead of landing at Chania. We were told that it could not land due to windy conditions although on the ground there was barely a breeze and all the other planes landed without problems.  We thought at the time that whatever the reason they diverted they were citing wind as a get out from paying compensation. Sure enough we were refused 'because the delay was caused by adverse weather conditions'. We were 3 hours 27 minutes late landing and the passengers coming in from the UK would have had a similar delay. I would be particularly interested in hearing from people on the outgoing flight 7266.

eskbanker

assistedend said:

Has anyone tried to claim from Tui airlines about  flight TOM7267 to or from Chania airport Crete from/to Birmingham on 10th September 2024? It left Birmingham on time then diverted to Rhodes instead of landing at Chania. We were told that it could not land due to windy conditions although on the ground there was barely a breeze and all the other planes landed without problems.  We thought at the time that whatever the reason they diverted they were citing wind as a get out from paying compensation. Sure enough we were refused 'because the delay was caused by adverse weather conditions'. We were 3 hours 27 minutes late landing and the passengers coming in from the UK would have had a similar delay. I would be particularly interested in hearing from people on the outgoing flight 7266.

If you don't accept that the flight was diverted because of adverse weather, what do you believe was the actual reason?

assistedend

I have no idea, but ours was the only flight to have a problem. I was hoping that someone from the outgoing flight could confirm whether or not the plane was buffeted by wind.

eskbanker

assistedend said:

I have no idea, but ours was the only flight to have a problem. I was hoping that someone from the outgoing flight could confirm whether or not the plane was buffeted by wind.

Unfortunately that wouldn't help you - the whole point of diverting would be to avoid the windy conditions!

If the captain's decision, based on reported weather conditions at the scheduled landing time and knowledge and experience of that particular model of aircraft, etc, is to divert, then that will inevitably satisfy the "meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned" test that qualifies as extraordinary circumstances and negates liability to pay compensation.

Airlines really won't divert unless necessary, as it's disruptive and expensive, so the notion that they'd choose to do so as some sort of wheeze to save money really doesn't withstand any scrutiny!

la531983

Very much the above. Airlines wont divert to other airports on a whim.

shibumi

All reasonable measures? TUI 21 hour delay
my flight to Tenerife on 29/04/2025 TOM6268 was delayed due to bird strike on a previous flight. As expected TUI have rejected the claim due to extraordinary circumstances.  My query is did TUI take all reasonable measures to scramble another flight that day?  They would have known about the bird strike by 1pm and we were due to fly 2pm.  Because Bournemouth airport shuts at 12 midnight we had a replacement flight about 11am the following day. Is it worth pursuing a claim with ADR or should I just accept they took all reasonable measures ? Many thanks 

eskbanker

shibumi said:

All reasonable measures? TUI 21 hour delay
my flight to Tenerife on 29/04/2025 TOM6268 was delayed due to bird strike on a previous flight. As expected TUI have rejected the claim due to extraordinary circumstances.  My query is did TUI take all reasonable measures to scramble another flight that day?  They would have known about the bird strike by 1pm and we were due to fly 2pm.  Because Bournemouth airport shuts at 12 midnight we had a replacement flight about 11am the following day. Is it worth pursuing a claim with ADR or should I just accept they took all reasonable measures ? Many thanks 

To what extent have they expanded on the extraordinary circumstances and the measures taken thereafter?  If they haven't explained in any detail, and refuse to when pushed further, the escalation to Aviation ADR should result in more information being shared.

Having said that, expectations about 'scrambling' aircraft may be applicable to the RAF but in the world of civil aviation, knowing about an issue an hour in advance is no time at all to make alternative arrangements, especially if there's a curfew preventing the full out-and-back schedule from being operated on the same day.

shibumi

The only details they gave was 
bird strike on earlier flight (extraordinary event)
earliest they could get another plane was next day late morning due to Bournemouth shutting midnight to 6am (reasonable measures) 
jet2 seem to conjure up replacement aircraft quite swiftly from stansted when needed 
Thanks 

Mick70

TUI flight today (01 July) from Newcastle (uk) to Zante , diverted as approached Zante about 7pm ,due to fault on plane and went to Athens.
passengers have now been told will be kept in Athens overnight and flown to Zante later tomorrow afternoon .
many are on all inclusive TUI package holidays .  

Will they get compensation ?
thanks
mick

bagand96

Mick70 said:

TUI flight today (01 July) from Newcastle (uk) to Zante , diverted as approached Zante about 7pm ,due to fault on plane and went to Athens.
passengers have now been told will be kept in Athens overnight and flown to Zante later tomorrow afternoon .
many are on all inclusive TUI package holidays .  

Will they get compensation ?
thanks
mick

Two different points:

Flight Delay Compensation (UK261): If the reason is deemed to be within TUI Airways control then pax will be entitled to delay compensation at a fixed amount. The devil will be in the detail, the airline aren't liable if it's "extraordinary circumstances". So depends on the technical issue and the diversion reasons.

The flight overflew ZTH to land at ATH. This could be a commercial decision (engineering facilities at Athens will be better). It could be a safety reason too, runway length and facilities etc etc. 

All pax can do is claim from TUI on return from their holiday see what they say and take it from there. 

Package Holiday Compensation/Refund (Package and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018): Passengers may be entitled to a pro-rata refund for loss of facilities etc from the tour operator. This likely won't be a huge amount, but is worth asking. Note to ask for this from the tour operator not the airline (it's all branded TUI but they're different legal entities)