Flight delay and cancellation compensation, KLM/AF ONLY

Tyzap

brah wrote: »

Thanks for the link, should I mention to AF that I will be proceeding with AviationADR or should I only ask them for their final position?

Do both, and put them under as much pressure as possible:)

brah

Tyzap wrote: »

Do both, and put them under as much pressure as possible:)

Thanks for the info, I will certainly try to do that and will keep you guys updated!

simufly

Air Chance has agreed to pay EU261 for a cancelled flight. They say the payment will be made "in the coming weeks". When using the AF customer contact form to enquire when the money will be paid , it keeps on saying "We can not process your request. Please try again later"
Anybody any idea how long it will take?

Tyzap

simufly wrote: »

Air Chance has agreed to pay EU261 for a cancelled flight. They say the payment will be made "in the coming weeks". When using the AF customer contact form to enquire when the money will be paid , it keeps on saying "We can not process your request. Please try again later"
Anybody any idea how long it will take?

Hi simufly,

Please read and download Vaughan’s great guide, detail are just below here.

In the guide you will find details on sending a LBA or NBA which are both essentially the same thing. It is a precursor to issuing legal action against them.

Give them 14 or 21 days to pay you or you will start MCOL proceedings against them.

That should grab their attention and get things moving. If it doesn’t, and following the time specified, you will need to immediately issue an online claim against them. It’s not that difficult to do and will get things resolved.

Good luck.

asheilio

Hi, I booked a direct flight with AF from Marrakech, Morocco to Helsinki Finland.


a) Two months before the flight we were informed that flight was cancelled.

b) We were given the option for a full refund or

c) they would book us on a flight the previous day, requiring an overnight stopover in Paris, France to arrive in Helsinki at the original time.

d) This meant we had to purchase accommodation in Paris for one night.


We decided to accept the new flights as the cost of a new direct ticket with another airline would have been double the price at least. This meant reducing our planned holiday by one day and forcing us to purchase accommodation in Paris.


I'm unclear if this scenario is still within the eu regs or not? Any advice or comment welcomed.

JPears

Yes it is. As long as your flights are with an EU airline (not just booked through KLM)
If so KLM or the operating airline shoould be paying for your hotel in Paris.
Is there an alternative flight/airline combination on the original day you were supposed to fly? If so, KLM should book you on this, at their expense. They probably won't so you may have to purchase yourself and claim the difference from KLM.

asheilio

JPears wrote: »

Yes it is. As long as your flights are with an EU airline (not just booked through KLM)
If so KLM or the operating airline shoould be paying for your hotel in Paris.
Is there an alternative flight/airline combination on the original day you were supposed to fly? If so, KLM should book you on this, at their expense. They probably won't so you may have to purchase yourself and claim the difference from KLM.

Thanks for responding. It was with Air France. Ok so AF are liable for accom and I assume also incidentals like food ect. whilst we were in Paris. What about the additional compensation, does that apply?

Caz3121

asheilio wrote: »

What about the additional compensation, does that apply?

that applies when you have been given less than 14 days notice

brah

Hey guys,

After applying for arbitration via the AviationADR, I have received a reply from Air France regarding my delay.

"Dear Sir/Madam,

Concerning the claim from Mr X and his flight from Barcelona to Aberdeen on 06th June 2019.

I kindly refer you to the attached documentation where you can the delay of his flight AF1349 was due to late arrival of his incoming flight.

The incoming flight was delayed due to congestion in the departing airport. Pushback started 14 minutes after schedule, unfortunately further delay occured as there was congestion in the runway, so a further 15 minutes delay waiting for clearance to take off from the Air Traffic Controllers.

The flight was able to catch up on the way, and landed with a delay of 7 minuttes, however due to long taxing, doors were not opened until 11.40, which was 15 minutes after schedule.

Mr X's flight did pushback 18 minutes after scheduled departure, but encountered further delay which waiting for clearance to take off by the Air Traffic Controllers. So departure was not until 12.55, 35 minutes behind schedule.

Again the flight was able to catch up on the way, and landed with a delay of 8 minutes, and 8 minutes later the door were opened for disembarkment.

Unfortunately as Mr X had booked a flight with the min required transfer time of 45 minutes, he was unable to catch his connecting flight at 15.00, and therefore we rebooked him to the next available connection which was AF1272 departing at 20.25.

I maintain our decision not to offer compensation, as I consider the delay on the incoming flight was caused by constraints to the local airport authorities, namely congestion at the runway, awaiting take off clearance from the Air Traffic Controllers.

The flow in the aiport, and the decision which flight gets priority to take off, is purely decided by the local Air Traffic Controllers."


I have the opportunity to add some final comments. What should I write? My flight from CDG to ABZ was scheduled 45 mins after my flight from BCN to CDG touched down, but since AF offered it in their website, I assumed it was doable. As an earlier commenter mentioned, since Air France offered the tight connection, they should be liable for delays on such a tight connection.

JPears

I would say you are correct in your assumption.
Air France are the travel experts in scheduling, not you. They shouldn't offer that connection if its so tight. Especially as the previous flight was delayed.
10 mins here, 15 mins there, all adds up.

The whole point of reg 261/2004 is to minimise disruption and inconvenience to the passenger, encouuraged by punative compensation to the affected passenger.
Air France made this worse by offering you a connection that was tight at the best of times.
Point out the preamble in the beggining of reg 261/2004. If AF haven't changed the way they operate in the past 14 years, that's their problem.