Compensation for delayed flights Discussion Area

Sussex_Saver

What is meant by 'compensation' under the Eu regulation?

Is it money to only make up for the inconvenience and distress of having your flight delayed, does it also include 'expenses', ie money that you have had to pay out as a result of the delay?

My wife, I and eight other members of our family were delayed for several hours at Gatwick on a flight to Turkey in June. When we finally arrived in Turkey (in the middle of the night) our connecting transport (that we had paid for as part of the holiday cost) wasn't there because of the flight delay and they refused to come to us saying they had no available taxis (which we don't think was true, the real reason being the middle of the night). We had to hire three taxis at the airport to take us to our resort at a cost of £60 for one and 65 Euros for the other two.

Is the amount we had to spend on the taxis included in the 'compensation' we have received from the airline for the flight delay, or are we entitled to be reimbursed for the taxi fares in addition?

Thanks for any help and advice.

pleasurebear

You must use a full UK postal address, not a PO Box no., if you are issuing a summons in the county court using the small claims track. Some airlines don't give a full UK postal address on their websites.

Send your claim letter to the full postal address using the Royal Mail "Signed for" service and put your return address on the envelope. You can check whether or not the airline receives your letter at that address on the Royal Mail website.

If the airline has a UK full postal address, you can find it using the Royal Mail website. Go to Home > Sending mail > Find a postcode. On this page, scroll down just below the button "Find a postcode". Click on "detailed search". A new page will open. Enter the name of the airline in the "business name" box and click the button "Find a postcode". You may see several locations. Look at each address and choose the most likely one.

pleasurebear

Sussex_Saver wrote: »

What is meant by 'compensation' under the Eu regulation?

Is it money to only make up for the inconvenience and distress of having your flight delayed, does it also include 'expenses', ie money that you have had to pay out as a result of the delay?

My wife, I and eight other members of our family were delayed for several hours at Gatwick on a flight to Turkey in June. When we finally arrived in Turkey (in the middle of the night) our connecting transport (that we had paid for as part of the holiday cost) wasn't there because of the flight delay and they refused to come to us saying they had no available taxis (which we don't think was true, the real reason being the middle of the night). We had to hire three taxis at the airport to take us to our resort at a cost of £60 for one and 65 Euros for the other two.

Is the amount we had to spend on the taxis included in the 'compensation' we have received from the airline for the flight delay, or are we entitled to be reimbursed for the taxi fares in addition?

Thanks for any help and advice.

Refer to Article 6 of EU261/2004. It deals with flight delays. You can claim as a party, rather than individually.

Your claim is against the tour operator if you booked a package holiday, including reimbursement for the taxis.

If you booked the flights and taxis yourselves, claim directly to the airline. The airline is likely to deny reimbursement for the taxis and may cite "extraordinary circumstances" for the delay. Remember that the airline must prove the circumstances of the delay, not you. If you booked the taxis through a UK website or agent, you should try to claim reimbursement from them.

Your best recourse might be the county court small claims track. If you booked flights and taxis yourselves, you will need to issue the summons in the names of the airline and UK taxi agent. The advantage is that a judge will decide the case on the balance of probability and has discretion in awarding compensation. Be aware of the costs and time in bringing a case to the county court. You will recover the costs if you win.

Vauban

pleasurebear wrote: »

Your claim is against the tour operator if you booked a package holiday, including reimbursement for the taxis.

Not the claim for 261/04 compensation, surely? That must be made by the passenger directly to the operating air carrier.

pleasurebear wrote: »

If you booked the flights and taxis yourselves, claim directly to the airline.

You can also claim from the Pope if you like, but neither the Holy Father nor the airline are responsible for your onward travel from the destination airport, which I think is what the OP was referring to. If the transfer was booked as part of a package holiday, the travel agent may well be.[/QUOTE]

pleasurebear wrote: »

Your best recourse might be the county court small claims track. If you booked flights and taxis yourselves, you will need to issue the summons in the names of the airline and UK taxi agent.

Why would the OP attempt to sue a Turkish taxi firm in the small claims court? Put aside the fact that I don't think it is legally possible (and certainly not practicable), the OPs beef was with the original transfer - not the subsequent taxi transport.

Aside from the 261/04 compensation, which should be sought from the operating airline, the transfer costs should be picked up by your travel insurance or by complaint to the travel agent if booked as a package.

CharleyFarley

Mark2spark wrote: »

Do they not have any address in Europe?

Tunisair do not have an address in Europe and I have read all the information on MSE which says if my holiday was booked in the Uk and the delayed flight took off from the UK then my constract was made in the UK and so I claim through the UK courts.

Can't complete the online claim form without a UK address for the company which they don't have and can't use the European claim as Tunisia isn't in Europe.

Has anyone else had this problem and can you suggest where I go next for help.

Thanks in anticipation

Charley

CobyBenson

CharleyFarley wrote: »

Tunisair do not have an address in Europe and I have read all the information on MSE which says if my holiday was booked in the Uk and the delayed flight took off from the UK then my constract was made in the UK and so I claim through the UK courts.

Can't complete the online claim form without a UK address for the company which they don't have and can't use the European claim as Tunisia isn't in Europe.

Has anyone else had this problem and can you suggest where I go next for help.

Thanks in anticipation

Charley

This is going to be extremely difficult to do and to be honest I would advise against doing it, but......

You can send the Part 7 claim form to the Northampton (CCMCC) at Salford and make an application (Form N244) to 'serve outside of the jurisdiction.'

You'll have to familiarise yourseld with CPR Rule 6 and Practice Direction 6B.

Even if you overcome that hurdle, manage to get the papers served and eventually get Judgment in your favour, I suspect you'll struggle to enforce that Judgment.

Sorry for being so negative!

guy500_2

Great article - but the table of who do complain to does not tell me who to complain to if the flight departs outside the EU, to the UK (i.e. the return portion of a flight from the UK to India) on an airline based outside the EU. Can anyone advise?

Or does "departure country" mean that because the outward flight originated in the UK, the return flight is also covered under this and I should complain to the CAA for either leg of the journey, wherever the airline is based?

CobyBenson

Yes, it's because those flights (Into the EU with a non EU airline) aren't covered by the Regulations.

guy500_2

Thanks Coby, but I am not sure I understand. Are flights into the EU with a non EU airline covered when they are the return leg of a journey that originate in the UK. (e.g. if I went from London to India on Gulf Air and the return leg was delayed)?

And is a delay measured by departure time or arrival time?

CobyBenson

They're considered 2 completely seperate issues.

The outbound flight (London to India) would be covered by the Regulation, but the return leg isn't.

Delays are measured by arrival time.