Flight delay and cancellation compensation, BA ONLY

veryintrigued

JPears wrote: »

Damage to aircraft by third party is not usually and EC.
Tickets bought using Avios should not disclude you from compensation.

Sorry am not clear on your first point.

symphony63

veryintrigued wrote: »

Flight delayed for 3.25 hours last Sat.
Announcement that it was as aircraft damaged by a vehicle.
Case raised directly with BA Sat evening (through Exec club) and email received with a case reference.
Sunday supporting evidence of meal at airport added.

The delay looks official as I saved an Arrived Late screenshot of the landing time.

Haven't looked through this thread extensively but will the fact the aircraft was damaged or that these flights (two of us) were booked on Avios hold this up?

Thanks in advance folks.

BCN-LHR = 1150 km

You are therefore due €250.

Bought your Avios is not a problem under Article 3.3
3. This Regulation shall not apply to passengers travelling free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public. However, it shall apply to passengers having tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or other commercial programme by an air carrier or tour operator.


Damaged by vehicle is not EC under Commission Notice(2016/C 214/04)
5.3. Collision of mobile boarding stairs with an aircraft.
The Court (51) has clarified that the collision of mobile boarding stairs with an aircraft cannot be considered as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ exempting the air carrier from payment of compensation under Article 5(3) of the Regulation. Mobile stairs or gangways can be regarded as indispensable to air passenger transport, and therefore air carriers are regularly faced with situations arising from the use of such equipment. A collision between an aircraft and a set of mobile boarding stairs is, hence, an event inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier. Extraordinary circumstances would apply, for example, when damage to the aircraft is due to an act external to the airport's normal services, such as an act of terrorism or sabotage.

veryintrigued

symphony63 wrote: »

BCN-LHR = 1150 km

You are therefore due €250.

Bought your Avios is not a problem under Article 3.3
3. This Regulation shall not apply to passengers travelling free of charge or at a reduced fare not available directly or indirectly to the public. However, it shall apply to passengers having tickets issued under a frequent flyer programme or other commercial programme by an air carrier or tour operator.


Damaged by vehicle is not EC under Commission Notice(2016/C 214/04)
5.3. Collision of mobile boarding stairs with an aircraft.
The Court (51) has clarified that the collision of mobile boarding stairs with an aircraft cannot be considered as ‘extraordinary circumstances’ exempting the air carrier from payment of compensation under Article 5(3) of the Regulation. Mobile stairs or gangways can be regarded as indispensable to air passenger transport, and therefore air carriers are regularly faced with situations arising from the use of such equipment. A collision between an aircraft and a set of mobile boarding stairs is, hence, an event inherent in the normal exercise of the activity of the air carrier. Extraordinary circumstances would apply, for example, when damage to the aircraft is due to an act external to the airport's normal services, such as an act of terrorism or sabotage.

Thank you - a very comprehensive and appreciated reply.

Does anyone have an indication of the sort of time these things take to resolve from first reporting (via Exec Club online delay form).

JPears

Alas every claim is different. Can be weeks, can take months and months of badgering. Usually the later.

LynseyCJ

Hi guys
I'm new here so forgive me if I'm asking an ignorant question. Here's my snapshot of our BA experience:

My partner and I had a flight from Lagos to Amsterdam via Heathrow. We made it to Heathrow then the 6pm Amsterdam flight got cancelled.

BA staff gave us the official notice that the fight was cancelled due to technical issues, and also the vouchers for hotel/meals.

We found out the next flight to Amsterdam wouldn't get us there until 5.30pm the following day so we phoned customer services. The agent found a flight from City to Rotterdam leaving at 7.30am the next day which we decided to take. We asked for advice on the hotel situation as we didn't want to stay near Heathrow and have to make our way to City in the morning. He told us to book ourselves in at a City hotel, keep receipts and we would get reimbursed, so off we went.

We subsequently submitted our claim for expenses and the EU compensation. This was rejected with the following explanation "Your claim’s been refused because BA0442 on 09 August was cancelled because of adverse weather conditions which prevented the aircrafts operating as scheduled. Under EU legislation, I’m afraid we’re not liable for a compensation payment in this situation."

We were naturally outraged, and responded using their online link but had radio silence. We then submitted a complaint but had radio silence. I finally got on Twitter which snapped someone into action - they agreed to pay our expenses but not the compensation claiming it was cancelled due to adverse weather so they are not liable.

After reading this forum I input the details into Bott & Co and it came out that we were entitled to the EU250.

My question is this: Should we be entitled to EU400 compensation because we were trying to get from Lagos to Amsterdam, rather than just Heathrow to Amsterdam?

Also if anyone else has advice on this situation where they are so blatantly caught, out I'd be most grateful. We have all the evidence including the official notice stating technical issues.

Cheers
Lynsey

LynseyCJ

Edit: I meant Faro, not Lagos. Sorry I have Lagos in my head as that is where we were staying.

Tyzap

Hi Lynsey,

If it was a single thru booking with BA you are right, €400, but only if the delay qualifies for EU261 compensation.

If your flight was directly affected by extreme weather it would be classed as an extraordinary circumstance, meaning BA would not have to pay compensation.

Search historic weather forecasts, newspaper articles, blogs, flight radar apps etc to see if LHR was affected on that day.

If you post you flight details we may be able to help.

Good luck.

bambinaUK

I had a similar situation a couple of years ago with BA, delays going and on the return for connecting flights. I used the Resolver website and it took about 2 months, but they finally refunded all my flights, the seat reservation costs and a nights accommodation cost that we didn't use due to being stuck in the wrong country because of BA.


https://www.resolver.co.uk/

LynseyCJ

Tyzap wrote: »

Hi Lynsey,

If it was a single thru booking with BA you are right, €400, but only if the delay qualifies for EU261 compensation.

If your flight was directly affected by extreme weather it would be classed as an extraordinary circumstance, meaning BA would not have to pay compensation.

Search historic weather forecasts, newspaper articles, blogs, flight radar apps etc to see if LHR was affected on that day.

If you post you flight details we may be able to help.

Good luck.

Thanks a million, Tyzap. It's much appreciated.

The flight was BA442 on 9 August. Yep we were booked through from Faro to Amsterdam.

We did note there were no other cancellations on the board at the time. In fact, a BA flight left for Amsterdam while we were standing in the queue waiting to find out what was happening!

Cheers
Lynsey

Tyzap

LynseyCJ wrote: »

Thanks a million, Tyzap. It's much appreciated.

The flight was BA442 on 9 August. Yep we were booked through from Faro to Amsterdam.

We did note there were no other cancellations on the board at the time. In fact, a BA flight left for Amsterdam while we were standing in the queue waiting to find out what was happening!

Cheers
Lynsey

Hi again,

BA are telling you fibs!

There were no flow control restrictions or hold ups due to weather at LHR and nothing at AMS that I could see.

On the other hand, BA were very short of short haul aircraft to fulfil their flying schedule and were leasing in aircraft to help them operate the schedule as best as possible.

It seems almost certain that your flight was cancelled for operational reasons or a weather related delay on a different flight earlier in the day.

They should pay you €400 each in compensation and all your additional costs when you had to re route yourselves, which they should have done for you.

Ask them to reconsider one final time as the weather at LHR was fine and then ask for a deadlock letter so you can refer your case to CEDR, they will probably find in your favour but you can never be 100%.

You could use Botts if you don't want to do it yourself and you can also use MCOL to sue them if you need to.

IMO they will pay up when you push them.

Good luck.