European Union Regulation EC 261/2004

Gemini1946

I have made a claim re a package holiday with Sovereign when I was booked on a flight that had been cancelled after my booking but 8 months before the flight. I was not notified of the cancellation.
Sovereign have stated " The EU Regulations come into force if a flight is operationally delayed or cancelled with no advance notification. In your case the flight was not cancelled or delayed with no advance notification as far as the airline is concerned. The problem arose because the airline used an incorrect email address for their notification of the change. The email address used is not a valid one and meant that we did not notify you. This is an operational issue between Sovereign and Monarch. The EU Regulations do not apply in this instance because the airline knew about the flight change in advance and say they had notified us of it".
They say that the EU compensation levels do not therefore apply.
Does anybody know if that statement is correct?

glentoran99

. The EU261 passengers' rights compensation cancellation – does not apply if you are told two weeks ahead or more.

however not sure what you can do if you werent actually told, even though it was cancelled in advance, When did you actually find out?

Gemini1946

3 hours after we got to the airport and found the flight did not exist.

glentoran99

Gemini1946 wrote: »

3 hours after we got to the airport and found the flight did not exist.

Might be worth contacting a NWNF solictor for advise as it isnt a straight forward one,

Caz3121

As someone who regularly books in advance, I check my bookings regularly (mainly checking for time changes) did you not check your booking at all in the 8 month period or try to check in online?
I would also check the paperwork from Sovereign as they may have hidden some small print about reconfirming flights.
Are Sovereign saying that Monarch tried to advise them but had the wrong email address so they did not receive notification so could not advise you. Do Monarch admit that they did not notify Sovereign correctly?

Gemini1946

Thanks Caz3121,

This was a package holiday and I had the return flight documentation. There seemed no need to check as Sovereign booked a taxi, as part of the package, to the airport to catch this non-exiting flight. It took them several hours at the airport to find out what had happened. They "blame" an invalid email address from the airline to them and were therefore unaware of the change of schedule. However, not my problem. All I know is I was booked on a flight which had been cancelled.

glentoran99

Gemini1946 wrote: »

Thanks Caz3121,

This was a package holiday and I had the return flight documentation. There seemed no need to check as Sovereign booked a taxi, as part of the package, to the airport to catch this non-exiting flight. It took them several hours at the airport to find out what had happened. They "blame" an invalid email address from the airline to them and were therefore unaware of the change of schedule. However, not my problem. All I know is I was booked on a flight which had been cancelled.

So they didnt even try to notify you? Sorry i misunderstood that they had an invalid email for you, in which case as far as you are concerned your flight was cancelled without notice

Caz3121

I guess much will depend on where Monarch got the email address from
If it was one that Sovereign provided them then I would say your issue is with Sovereign, if they miss-typed the address then they did not notify of the flight being cancelled

razorsedge

Gemini1946 wrote: »

This is an operational issue between Sovereign and Monarch. The EU Regulations do not apply in this instance because the airline knew about the flight change in advance and say they had notified us of it".

Article 5 (4) of EU261/2004 states that it is up to the airline to prove that they notified you/Sovereign.
Although I agree with others that your problem may be with Sovereign and not Monarch.

Gemini1946

Thanks for all your comments. I agree my issue is with Sovereign who have now increased their compensation offer from £40 to £80. This still seems well short of the EC Regulation of 400 euros. I will keep trying to see if anybody has a definitive answer.

Caz3121

Gemini1946 wrote: »

Thanks for all your comments. I agree my issue is with Sovereign who have now increased their compensation offer from £40 to £80. This still seems well short of the EC Regulation of 400 euros. I will keep trying to see if anybody has a definitive answer.

the issue is the €400 is the amount the airlines are responsible for if they cancel the flight with under 14 days notice. I don't think it is relevant if they advise the agent but your agent fails to notify you.
What happened in the end? did Sovereign arrange another flight or was the holiday lost? if they arranged another flight, when did this leave?, setting aside the inconvenience did you incur any personal financial loss
I think the view on the £80 offer will be different depending whether it was....
"ended up on a flight one hour later than originally planned",
"ended up on flight 3 days later and lost part of holiday",
"lost holiday"