Flight Cancellation / Denied claim due to Extraordinary Circumstances

Don_Adam

Hi MSE Forums!

My girlfriend and I had our return flight (6186) from Rome to Bristol (17/10/13) cancelled due to industrial action by airport staff. We were notified by easyJet by text message at 16.53 on the 16th, the day prior. Their text read:

"We're very sorry, due to industrial action by air traffic controllers, airport ground handlers and security staff in Italy your flight has been cancelled. Please visit easyJet.com for details on how to transfer your flight or obtain a refund.

We apologise for this disruption and the inconvenience it will have caused you"

So we got to the nearest Internet Cafe to Google what to do!

After logging on to easyJet's website, we weren't provided much in the way of help as to what the best action would be for us to take. We found the next flight back to the UK was one to Gatwick at 7am the following morning, and after learning that the strike action was planned for 13.00 - 17.00 on the 17/10/13, we felt that this was the best option.


However by choosing this option we had no choice but to spend more on public transport, i.e:

£115 on train tickets from Gatwick to Bristol
€60 on taxi from the centre of Rome to Fiumucino airport at 11pm (no bus/train available at that time and we felt it necessary to get to the airport ready)
£14 on bus tickets from Temple Meads to Bristol Airport


Long and short of it:

easyJet, in line with Regulation (EC) 261/2004, have denied any claim for a refund of expenses due to strike action being an extraordinary circumstance.

Do we have any right to claim on the grounds that they have failed to offer us the following:

2. RIGHT TO REIMBURSEMENT OR RE-ROUTING

c) the offer of re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

d) the offer of re-routing, to your final destination at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability of seats.


All we had from easyJet was a text message and when we logged on to their website, yes we were able to rearrange a transfer to get back to the UK, but we weren't offered any advice as to what the best action to take, and the result of taking the action we did take.

Appreciate any advice and your time reading this.

Adam