Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Justice13075

My understanding was that the OP has had their refund for the first leg and now only seeking the compensation for that leg. Also the 2nd leg which the OP didn't take was with Qatar and because they didn't show for that flight Qatar airlines are not liable to refund their fare or give them compensation. They will need to look at their insurance. That's my understanding.

JPears

Yes, agreed, we think they have a claim. What an online checker wont tell the OP is if they are due compensation as well as the refund they have already had?

Justice13075

Reading the legislation I cannot find anywhere where it says you get compensation plus a refund for a flight you do not take after 5 hours. But it does say that if an onward flight was with the same airline you get that refund but as we know the onward flight was with Qatar. But it does say that if your return flight would have been with the same airline you didn't travel with that you also get a refund for the return flight. So the OP should at least get a full refund on both the outward and return flight.

JPears

On the otherhand, nowhere does it say you can't get both.
To my mind, and I'm sure many others, its the same as a cancellation.
If the OP had turned up and the flight had been cancelled, they would have the option of both a refund and compensation. Surely a 5+ hours delay is no different?

Daisychain10

Hi There,


It's my first time posting and I wanted to say thank you for the guidance on claiming compensation for delayed flights - I have an active claim with easyjet so hopefully all goes well.


I had a quick question about cancelled flights, as due to a French air strike our flight was cancelled, however we were only told the night before (around 7pm). Can any compensation be claimed? as my insurance didn't cover us for strike action.


Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

Justice13075

The easiest thing would be for the OP to call Bott and see if they will take it on. If they don't then we have their legal opinion

Vauban

Daisychain10 wrote: »

Hi There,


It's my first time posting and I wanted to say thank you for the guidance on claiming compensation for delayed flights - I have an active claim with easyjet so hopefully all goes well.


I had a quick question about cancelled flights, as due to a French air strike our flight was cancelled, however we were only told the night before (around 7pm). Can any compensation be claimed? as my insurance didn't cover us for strike action.


Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

The short notice is irrelevant in this case. Key will be the extent to which your flight was directly affected by the ATC restrictions caused by the strike. Where we you flying, and when?

samwardill

Justice13075 wrote: »

The easiest thing would be for the OP to call Bott and see if they will take it on. If they don't then we have their legal opinion

I just got some more thorough advice from the CAA PACT. I've gone back to BA with this. If they still decline I will do as you suggest. I'll post the outcome.

JPears

intrigued - what was the advice?

samwardill

JPears wrote: »

intrigued - what was the advice?

The CAA said:
"It may be useful to explain some of the background to this issue. Regulation EC261/2004 sets out the entitlement to receive assistance during the delay period, and a refund if the passenger chooses not travel on a delayed flight of more than five hours.

The entitlement to claim compensation arrives from the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Tui & others v CAA in 2012 (Case C‑629/10), which confirmed the applicability of compensation for delay, as set out in the Sturgeon v Condor Flugdienst and Böck v Air France in 2009.

Significantly, the Court chose to define the loss of time on account of the delay, in terms of reaching the passenger's final destination three hours or more after the arrival time originally scheduled by the air carrier:

" In the light of the foregoing the answer to question 1 in Case C‑629/10 is that Articles 5 to 7 of Regulation No 261/2004 must be interpreted as meaning that passengers whose flights are delayed are entitled to compensation under that regulation where they suffer, on account of such flights, a loss of time equal to or in excess of three hours, that is, where they reach their final destination three hours or more after the arrival time originally scheduled by the air carrier. Such a delay does not, however, entitle passengers to compensation if the air carrier can prove that the long delay is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken, namely circumstances beyond the actual control of the air carrier."

In applying this particular part of the Court's reasoning, we have to assume that "final destination" means what the definition section of the Regulation in Article 2 says. This means one of two possibilities:

- the destination on the ticket presented at the check-in counter or;

- in the case of directly connecting flights, the destination of the last flight.

I appreciate you did not reach your planned destination, but were nevertheless inconvenienced by the delay and suffered a loss of time. I am not aware of any case where this issue has been tested in court, but ultimately it would be for a court to decide whether the airline should offer compensation for any damages you may have incurred as a result of the delay i.e. direct expenses, consequential losses, loss of time etc.

The European Commission published some interpretive guidelines on Regulation EC261/2004 in June this year in order to provide some clarity over the provisions and 'grey' areas in the Regulation and references a number of landmark court cases in recent years. You may find this of interest though I can see no reference to the scenario you outline:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016XC0615(01)&from=EN

I'm sorry my relatively new colleague was not able to provide you with our rationale over the telephone but and hope the information above will be useful in deciding your next steps."

The EC advice states:
"3.3.2. ‘Long delay’ at arrival
The Court has ruled that a delay at arrival of at least three hours gives the same rights in terms of compensation as a cancellation (30) (for more details see Section 4.4.5 on compensation)."

This seems pretty clear to me. I don't see why I am not being offered the same rights in terms of compensation as a cancellation (i.e. compensation plus choice of refund or alternate flight).