olympic/small planet delay fiasco

racp500

Hello

Im looking for some advice on delays and compensation. I've just returned from a week holiday in skiathos. i booked with Olympic but the flight was with small planet.

We we were due to fly back to Birmingham on Friday at 9pm. when we were picked up at the resort we were instead taken to a restaurant and told there was no plane. after hours of no information we were put up overnight. we eventually touched down at gatwick (not Birmingham!) at 8pm on Saturday.

Apparently small planet don't have enough planes to run the routes they're contracted to do. I have wasted airport accommodation, train tickets, as well as missing family events. i also had to make my own way back to my home in oxford as being bused to Birmingham would have been ludicrous only to journey south again.

Can anybody advise on what compensation i may be entitled to? Should i be claiming with Olympic, small planet, or my travel insurance?

Any advice gratefully received

thanks

richardw

Small planet. Have a search in these threads, somebody else posted about small planet.

Alan_Bowen

Good luck with claiming, Small Planet appears to be this years Viking, XL and Atlantic Icelandic, and all the other airlines that close down at the end of the season and used by Olympic Holidays. They are based in Lithuania and Poland and I suspect as the season gets going there will be lots of issues. When I was in Jersey a few weeks ago, one of their aircraft was on the ground all day, presumably with technical issues, I wonder how many flights did not operate as a result? By all means write, the only claim is against the airline direct but be wary of spending money against an airline that may not be around by the time you would get to court

CompBunny

What is the reason that someone would need to claim with the carrier instead of the tour operator? I'm not questioning your accuracy (I know nothing about these things), just interested because logic would say that your contract is with the tour operator!

richardw

Will Olympic Holidays indemnify Small Planet airlines against claims in their charter contract with small planet?

CompBunny

Thankyou Centipede, thats really interesting!

richardw

CompBunny wrote: »

What is the reason that someone would need to claim with the carrier instead of the tour operator? I'm not questioning your accuracy (I know nothing about these things), just interested because logic would say that your contract is with the tour operator!

Don't forget the tour operator has obligations under the Package Travel Regulations, for true package holidays.

Alan_Bowen

Yes but most booking conditions make it clear that for claims under EU261, you can only claim against the airline, full stop. For operators the law is a god send, unless you happen to own the airline of course, but I would eat my hat (warning I don't own one) if Small Planet pays a penny under EU261 this summer

richardw

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

Yes but most booking conditions make it clear that for claims under EU261, you can only claim against the airline, full stop.

Yep, well aware of that, I'm just being thought provoking, so say you book a holiday for 7 days and your flight is delayed/cancelled that you only end up with a 6 day holiday or less, are you also due recompense under the package travel regulations for a significantly shorter holiday provided?

Alan_Bowen

Most conditions make it clear that a payment due from an airline does not mean you are entitled to claim from the operator. Tour Operator conditions also usually say that the contract is subject to the air carriers terms (which no one ever thinks to ask to see) which will say we are under no obligation to stick to any timetable you might be hoping we would stick to........

emptysuit

Just a quick post regarding Small Planet Airlines. We booked a 7 day holiday via Olympic in September 2012 and suffered a 17 hour delay going out on a Small Planet Airline plane due to technical problems. Because of the well documented claim procedure we wrote to all parties concerned starting with Olympic who as the tour operator are not accountable in any way for any flight delays. We eventually wrote to Small Planet who have an office at The Beehive, Gatwick about compensation. We received numerous " we are looking into it" letters before eventually getting the "Extraordinary Circumstances" fob off. I issued a summons in June and we had a court hearing today in Hastings and Small Planet were a no show. Judge awarded us £741 including travel expenses and interest.They have 14 days to pay.
We paid a £1000 for the holiday so even though we ended up with a 6 day holiday it was nice once we got there and it only cost £300 in the end. Its nice to see District Judges becoming very familier with flight delay cases. I have a second one with Thomson on the 23rd October, I hope its the same Judge!!