Is overnight closure of an airport an extraordinary circumstance?

Daffodil1970

We were due to fly at 21:30 from Dubrovnik to Gatwick with Monarch airlines. Upon arrival at the airport we were told that the flight was cancelled and we subsequently flew out at 12:30 the following day.

We sent a letter to Monarch claiming compensation, as per the template on MSE and after completing their own claim form, have received the following email:

Our records show that the aircraft that was originally scheduled to operate your flight developed a fault with the pressure regulating valve, which meant that the aircraft could not operate in icy conditions. Engineers declared the aircraft unserviceable and unsafe to operate until the valve could be replaced. Unfortunately, due to Dubrovnik’s night closure policy, this meant that the airfield would close before we were able to rectify the fault and complete the flight.

Despite Monarch’s best efforts, we were unable to transfer passengers to an alternative aircraft from within our fleet. As a consequence, your departure was unavoidably delayed overnight. However, your flight departed at the earliest opportunity once the aircraft was declared serviceable and the airfield had re-opened.

I take this to mean that Monarch are claiming that Dubrovnik's normal nightly closure is an extraordinary circumstance, but I don't agree.

Has anyone any similar experience?

Do you think it is worth challenging this?

Vauban

Daffodil1970 wrote: »

We were due to fly at 21:30 from Dubrovnik to Gatwick with Monarch airlines. Upon arrival at the airport we were told that the flight was cancelled and we subsequently flew out at 12:30 the following day.

We sent a letter to Monarch claiming compensation, as per the template on MSE and after completing their own claim form, have received the following email:

Our records show that the aircraft that was originally scheduled to operate your flight developed a fault with the pressure regulating valve, which meant that the aircraft could not operate in icy conditions. Engineers declared the aircraft unserviceable and unsafe to operate until the valve could be replaced. Unfortunately, due to Dubrovnik’s night closure policy, this meant that the airfield would close before we were able to rectify the fault and complete the flight.

Despite Monarch’s best efforts, we were unable to transfer passengers to an alternative aircraft from within our fleet. As a consequence, your departure was unavoidably delayed overnight. However, your flight departed at the earliest opportunity once the aircraft was declared serviceable and the airfield had re-opened.

I take this to mean that Monarch are claiming that Dubrovnik's normal nightly closure is an extraordinary circumstance, but I don't agree.

Has anyone any similar experience?

Do you think it is worth challenging this?

Perhaps post this in the Monarch thread?

Technical failures are not normally regarded as "extraordinary circumstances". If Monarch are arguing though that the fault was discovered just before take off and that they therefore quickly ran out of time to fix the plane because of the night closure at the destination aircraft, that might be a compelling point. But you would need answers to the questions:

a) when was the fault discovered, and what measures did they actually take to address the fault/source another airplane?;

b) if night closure was the only reason for the delay, why did the airplane only take off a lunchtime the following day? It was clearly delayed by something else (most likely crew hours, which is an operational point - not extraordinary).

ArianSandra

I can't see that this has been posted to the Monarch board but I have info on this. Your flight delay may be a knock on issue as it was the return leg of mine which had been due to leave Gatwick for Dubrovnik on 12 May 2013 at 16.50. That flight was ultimately cancelled due to the technical fault described to you. We were put into airport hotels overnight because the fault could not be fixed in time to get the plane to Dubrovnik airport before it closed for the night. We left Gatwick at 08.00 next day arriving at Dubrovnik at around 10.30, which is why you couldn't leave until 12.30. I've made a compensation claim and received the exact same response that you have had. Twice.
I am contending that

1. the original fault does not constitute extraordinary circumstances (as we all know) and
2. the Dubrovnik's night closure issue is operational because cancellation is inevitable if they fail to fix a fault within the three hour window on a flight they have chosen to schedule so late in the day. It's not as though Dubrovnik closed suddenly for unexpected reasons.

I am intending sending NBA imminently but would appreciate any confirmation that my argument is valid.


Thank you.

Vauban

ArianSandra wrote: »

I can't see that this has been posted to the Monarch board but I have info on this. Your flight delay may be a knock on issue as it was the return leg of mine which had been due to leave Gatwick for Dubrovnik on 12 May 2013 at 16.50. That flight was ultimately cancelled due to the technical fault described to you. We were put into airport hotels overnight because the fault could not be fixed in time to get the plane to Dubrovnik airport before it closed for the night. We left Gatwick at 08.00 next day arriving at Dubrovnik at around 10.30, which is why you couldn't leave until 12.30. I've made a compensation claim and received the exact same response that you have had. Twice.
I am contending that

1. the original fault does not constitute extraordinary circumstances (as we all know) and
2. the Dubrovnik's night closure issue is operational because cancellation is inevitable if they fail to fix a fault within the three hour window on a flight they have chosen to schedule so late in the day. It's not as though Dubrovnik closed suddenly for unexpected reasons.

I am intending sending NBA imminently but would appreciate any confirmation that my argument is valid.


Thank you.

This looks right to me. You might also want to see what other efforts the airline made to get you to your destination, once it was clear you were going to be delayed. When exactly was the fault discovered, and what attempts did they then make to commission another plane?

friendofbillw2

To answer the question posed by the thread title and bring a little clarity to what Monarch would like to be complicated arguments in several parts, as the closure of Dubrovnik airport has happened every night for a number of years, these circumstances could hardly be less extraordinary.

As ArianSandra says, if you schedule flights that late in the day, long delays are inevitable (again, not extraordinary) if anything goes wrong.