Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

crank_girl

Just returned from a holiday in Lesvos where our return flight was delayed by 25 hours! Thomson put us up in a hotel (not all that dissimilar to fawlty towers) overnight and after some badgering provided a sandwich and drink for lunch the next day. The delay was due to a fault with the aircraft and they had to fly out a spare part from Manchester.

I've phoned them about compensation entitlement/refund of airfare and they say they have fulfilled their duty of care according to the EU legislation and are not obliged to compensate or refund. Is this right? Have I any recourse at all? It seems ludicrous that they can waste over a day of my time, cost me extra money in terms of pet sitters etc. and have no legal obligation to compensate for it.

jlo

In May this year I flew with BMI Belfast-London-Khartoum with my infant son.

The BMI London-Khartoum flight stops in Beirut to refuel and to set down and pick up passengers.

As the flight was taking off from Beirut there was a bird strike, take-off was abandoned and we returned to the stand. We disembarked and waited at the gate for four hours - no food or drinks of information. We were then taken to collect our luggage and to a hotel. We stayed in the hotel for an hour and then were taken back to the airport - there was no opportunity to eat, apart from biscuits and some bottled water in the hotel room. We were allowed to make five minutes of international calls.

Back in the airport we were put on a flight to Cairo. We waited in Cairo airport all day for an evening flight to Khartoum. Because we'd switched airlines, there was no way of getting vouchers for food - I asked but was told that no-one was responsible. Luckily I had some USD on me, so was able to purchase food and drinks for my son and me.

I am returning to the UK soon, on the return portion of this ticket and intend to claim compensation. Can anyone advise me on how I should go about it and what I am potentially entitled to?

Thanks!

richardw

Moonflowers wrote: »

My father's return flight from Majorca on Thomson airways this weekend was delayed by 4 hours, meaning that when he returned there were no longer any trains running to get him back home & so he had to book a hotel for the night?

Also, shoudln't they have given him a voucher or something to buy a drink at least at the airport when he was waiting?

He checked in as normal & was told that the flight was all ok but he ended up being delayed by several hours & then the flight was detoured to Ibiza to pick up some passengers there. The plane was changed to a larger plane to accommodate the extra passengers but the seat allocation for everybody implied that Thomson knew about this change when my father checked in. Surely he should have been told at checkin - over 2 hours before the scheduled departure - that the plane was delayed?

Airlines will deny compensation for consequential losses and direct you to your travel insurance. Simplest to check the travel insurance cover.

See earlier posts regarding the Sturgeon Judgment and article 5 compensation.

Yes, he had Article 9 right to care entitlement and they should have offerred refreshments after 2 hours delay.

The check-in staff may not have known, but if they had it would have been courteous to have informed him.

richardw

crank_girl wrote: »

Just returned from a holiday in Lesvos where our return flight was delayed by 25 hours! Thomson put us up in a hotel (not all that dissimilar to fawlty towers) overnight and after some badgering provided a sandwich and drink for lunch the next day. The delay was due to a fault with the aircraft and they had to fly out a spare part from Manchester.

I've phoned them about compensation entitlement/refund of airfare and they say they have fulfilled their duty of care according to the EU legislation and are not obliged to compensate or refund. Is this right? Have I any recourse at all? It seems ludicrous that they can waste over a day of my time, cost me extra money in terms of pet sitters etc. and have no legal obligation to compensate for it.

Look at your travel insurance for consequential losses such as extra costs for pet sitters. See earlier posts regarding the Sturgeon judgement and article 5 compensation.

richardw

jlo wrote: »

As the flight was taking off from Beirut there was a bird strike, take-off was abandoned and we returned to the stand.

Bird Strike may be Extraordinary circumstances despite all reasonable measures. I think your chances of article 5 compensation are unlikely.

If you feel bmi should contribute to food and drink, write to them and see what that say.

crank_girl

richardw wrote: »

Look at your travel insurance for consequential losses such as extra costs for pet sitters. See earlier posts regarding the Sturgeon judgement and article 5 compensation.

Unfortunately insurance doesn't cover delays to outgoing flights.

I guess it comes down to whether or not the repair was preventable?

One thing I have realised is that Thomson were required to let us know of our rights in relation to abandoning the flight/refunds/duty of care and they definitely didn't do this either verbally or on writing.

richardw

crank_girl wrote: »

I guess it comes down to whether or not the repair was preventable?

The Wallentin Hermann v Alitalia case may apply, but it's worth waiting for the outcome of the Sturgeon Judgment expected sometime in 2012.

Have you got Legal Expenses cover with a home Insurance policy?

Racheldevon

In the last year I've had two long travel delays due to the weather - on both ocassions I've been reinbursed by the airline when stuck in New York just before Christmas due to the snow in the UK - which covered accomodation, food etc etc. Recently, we got held up in Bangkok for 4 days due to freak weather flooding in the southern islands of Thailand. Finally, after 4 months of writing letters, Thomson Worldwide are refunding us the additional costs incurred like accomodation, phone calls, food etc. For both - initially the companies refused to pay out, but if you continue and are prepared to keep writing and calling we've managed to reclaim quite large amounts of money. Our travel insurance has been fairly useless as the amount paid for travel delay was really small despite having a good annual policy

crank_girl

richardw wrote: »

The Wallentin Hermann v Alitalia case may apply, but it's worth waiting for the outcome of the Sturgeon Judgment expected sometime in 2012.

Have you got Legal Expenses cover with a home Insurance policy?

Cheers.

I do have legal cover on my home insurance.

Lindalou

Hi - I would be grateful if anyone can tell me if my husband and I are entitled to any compensation under EU reg 261 in the following circumstances:

We were passengers on a Jet2 flight from Leeds Bradford to Larnaca on 7th September 2011 that departed on time, but had to make an emergency landing at Kavala in Greece due to what the pilot decribed as "technical difficulties" with the aircraft.

The aircraft was unable to be repaired quickly, so passengers were given hotel accommodation overnight, with transport and evening meal, but no drinks whilst awaiting their decision at the airport, or no breakfast before we eventually took off again in a replacement Jet2 plane, at 7.30am the next morning, landing into Larnaca at 9.30am, instead of 4.30pm the previous day - 17 hours late.

I appreciate we were accommodated, but are we entitled to compensation for the delay - according to the table 400 euros each for this distance (3455 km) or would these be considered "exceptional circumstances"

Thanks for any help.