Flight delay compensation, all other EU airlines

JPears

Alas, [FONT=&quot]I fear you may have come up against the brick wall that is the Swiss "we're not part of the EU"[/FONT][FONT=&quot] attitude.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]This means that they can effectively pick and choose what part of the regulation they adhere to if any changes were made after 2006
[/FONT]No point complaining to Swiss FOCA as the "facts" on their website are incorect eg they talk about delays to departures, not arrivals as it should be..
[FONT=&quot]It may be the case if you take the airline to court in Switerland then no joy.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]However if you use the ESCP system in a UK court and Eidelweis has a UK office/admin (does it?) then you can sue them via that route. The ESCP should be applicable under the Lugano convention.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But I'm not hopeful...
[/FONT]

Tyzap

JPears wrote: »

Alas, [FONT=&quot]I fear you may have come up against the brick wall that is the Swiss "we're not part of the EU"[/FONT][FONT=&quot] attitude.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]This means that they can effectively pick and choose what part of the regulation they adhere to if any changes were made after 2006
[/FONT]No point complaining to Swiss FOCA as the "facts" on their website are incorect eg they talk about delays to departures, not arrivals as it should be..
[FONT=&quot]It may be the case if you take the airline to court in Switerland then no joy.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]However if you use the ESCP system in a UK court and Eidelweis has a UK office/admin (does it?) then you can sue them via that route. The ESCP should be applicable under the Lugano convention.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But I'm not hopeful...
[/FONT]

From Vaubans guide...

b) You were departing an EU airport on any airline, or were flying into an EU airport on an EU carrier (for the purposes of the Regulation, this also includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)?

So the regulations apply to Switzerland as much as the UK etc.

I would run this through the EUclaim calculator, they are always an option.

JPears

The Swiss line, as I read it, is that the EU decision to regard delays the same as cancellations doesn't apply to the Swiss as this was decided in an EU court after they "adopted" the regulation.
The Swiss arguement is that they don't have to abide by any later EU or court rulings.
If the OP's flight had been cancelled, they should have paid compensation.
Personally I don't agree with this stance but until somebody tests it in a Swiss court.

Knysna

Firstly, thank you for the helpful input.


I've checked EUclaim and got the following?


Your flight falls outside our geographical work area.
Unfortunately we cannot process your claim request.

Based on the flight details you have entered you are, in principle, entitled to compensation. However, it is not possible for us to deal with your claim, because your flight falls outside our geographical work area i.e. your flight did not touch England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Netherlands, Germany or Belgium, and/or you do not live in one of these countries. However, you can always file a claim with the airline yourself. We give you a few tips on how to do this below.

johnpaulbrosnan

Good Morning
I am looking for help and advise for the following

My son recently had is flight cancelled due to an airport systems failure. He therefore was unable to check into his hotel but was charged the full cost. He booked the accommodation
separately but had taken out travel insurance with Columbus Direct . They have informed him that no settlement can be given as airport system failure in not covered within the travel insurance. I would be grateful if someone can offer any advise of this statement.
Many Thanks
John

peter_333

johnpaulbrosnan wrote: »

Good Morning
I am looking for help and advise for the following

My son recently had is flight cancelled due to an airport systems failure. He therefore was unable to check into his hotel but was charged the full cost. He booked the accommodation
separately but had taken out travel insurance with Columbus Direct . They have informed him that no settlement can be given as airport system failure in not covered within the travel insurance. I would be grateful if someone can offer any advise of this statement.
Many Thanks
John

I've had a quick read of Columbus Direct's policy wording, and it seems correct that you may have no cover for this particular circumstance. For travel delay, they spell out 3 very specific circumstances under which they compensate (strike, weather and mechanical failure of the aircraft). And for complete trip cancellation, again they are very specific about when and why they'll pay out. I can't see anything in the wording that would cover your circumstance.

Under EC 261 compensation regulations, you may be entitled to additional compensation from the airline, but it would depend on exactly what the "airport systems failure" was. For instance, if it was a failure of one of the airline's IT systems, and the control and maintenance of that system is the responsibility of the airline (or their ground handling subcontractor), then I'd imagine additional compensation would be due. However if the failure was completely outside the airline's control (e.g. a power failure at the airport, for which the airline can bear no responsibility and could have done nothing to prevent), then I'm afraid you may be out of luck (and out of pocket).

Hopefully someone else here has a better angle on this, than me.

(Side note - I'm stunned at just how many times us travellers get stuck in a situation that you'd completely expect insurance to cover, yet we're left high and dry because of clever wording in the fine print. I've spent hours and HOURS in recent years pouring over policy wording, and have yet to find anything I'd call a truly comprehensive travel insurance policy.)

maryju

Hi all. We recently travelled to with Swiss Air, Manchester to Dubai as a family of six. The flight involved a transfer at Zurich of 40 to 50 mins each way but we assumed as they were selling this flight with a short transfer time, this would be acceptable. We didn't have any problems on the outbound journey and were accommodated for (a minibus was waiting for us and took us straight to the next plane). On the way back, the plane landed in Zurich on time, but by the time we got through security and to our boarding gate, the plane had already left. We went to the transfer desk, and the next available flight to Manchester, involved a flight to Munich, and 8 hours later, a flight to Manchester. To summarise, we landed in Manchester 15 hours later than we should have. The lady at the transfer desk said, they knew this was going to happen but what they didn't expect was further flights to Manchester being fully booked. We were provided vouchers for food in Zurich. We had an 8 hour wait in Munich, they were reluctant to give us anything there, saying we were Swiss Air's responsibility but did end up giving us food vouchers.

Please can anyone advise if we would be entitled to any form of compensation here. I tried contacting them via their website and received a response, 'As you may know the reason for this delay was Late Delivery Transfer bag. We therefore regret to inform you that you are ineligible for EU compensation.'

I would be grateful for any advice.

Many Thanks,

JPears

maryju - who were your original flights Mumbai to Manchester actuialy with?
Were they all Swiss air or did it involve other airlines. This could have an influence on how things procede.
Airlines providing your alternative flights are probably not important but if you could let us know what they were too?
You are correct in thinking if the airline booked your conecting flights but didn't allow enough conection time, thats their problem.
However for future perhaps look at flights with a longer conection time.

methodshuffle

Thank you so much for doing this! Saved for future, if I happen to get my flight delayed.

maryju

JPears - Thank you for responding. Lesson has definitely been learnt albeit the hard way!

Original flight was Dubai to Zurich and then Zürich to Manchester. The flights were Swiss Air.

The alternative flights which were arranged at Zurich was Zürich to Munich and Munich to Manchester and both these flights were with Lufthansa.

Thank you