Air France address

JACKRUSSELL_2

My husband and two children booked flights to South Africa from Scotland with Air France, flying EDI - CDG then CDG - JNB. They then had to catch a connecting flight from JNB - ELS and had booked this one through South African Airways.

Half an hour prior to the departure of their first flight, they were told the second (long) flight would be delayed. Instead of departing from CDG that night at 23:20 as scheduled (and arriving in Jo'berg the following morning at 11:00), it would now fly the following day at 10:55, arriving in Jo'berg at 22:35.

This meant they had to stay overnight in an airport Hotel in Paris (which AirFrance put them up in), but also that they missed their third flight (booked through SAA) and as there were no other connecting flights that night, had to spend the following night in a Hotel at Jo'berg airport and pay for new flights departing the morning after that.

As well as the inconvenience of arriving two days after they had expected to at the start of a 10 day holiday, my husband is approx. £1,000 out of pocket. We have tried to claim for the cost of the Jo'berg hotel and third flights we had to rebook from our holiday insurance and are waiting to hear whether or not we have been successful. For the insurance claim, Air France sent an e-mail stating that the delay was due to a technical fault with the aircraft operating the flight (which was an Air France aircraft) but that by confirming the delay being due to a technical fault, the confirmation "cannot be interpreted as an acceptance of any liability onthe part of Air France or any other airline involved in your journey."

Could anyone tell me whether or not I should receive compensation from AirFrance for this 12 hour + delay on a long haul flight and if I am, who do I write to? I cannot see any address on the AirFrance website relevant to claims of this nature, just a Paris address for baggage claims.

Thank you!

Mark2spark

Centipede100 wrote: »

You ought to receive compensation for the delay in excess of 3 hours arriving in JNB, and the airline's defence citing technical issues is a pretty standard response. The ECJ have ruled that technical issues should not normally be considered a valid defence to paying compensation but you will have to fight for this, ultimately in a small claims court.

The address to write to is in post 71 of this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4384719 since KLM and Air France share an admin office in Cails Lane. Your continuing story would be better placed there.

I assume the SAAc flights were on a separate reservation and if so then AF are not liable for the cost of these or the replacement flights or the overnight stay.

I agree, - but possibly your travel insurance might cover this.