Flight Cancellation - Next flight in 7 days

Countist

Hi there,

Done a bit of poking around for similar threads but nothing seems to match the sheer ridiculousness of this.

I have a friend who's currently stuck in Paris since she was supposed to fly from Paris to Porto (on airline Aigle Azur) yesterday. The flight was cancelled due to strike action (these things happen) and thus she was expecting to get dumped on a later flight and everything would have been good.

The Airline however dropped the bombshell that the next available flight was on the 27th March(!), since this flight isn't the next day this entitles her to a refund on the orginal flight (as I've read up on this, if flights are cancelled due to strike action and they don't put you on a new flight the next day, you can claim compensation using the EU Regulation_261/2004 - correct me if I'm wrong!)

The problem is the rescheduled flight is so late that obviously she misses the whole holiday, hotel costs, return flights et al.

So where does she stand, can she claim all of these against the airline? If the Airline genuinely don't have any free seats before the 27th then this is the next available flight for them? What about the hypothetical situation where the Airline only flew once a week?

I suggested rolling up at the airport and hoping to get put on a flight if someone else cancelled, can she just do this and demand to get put on a flight?

I feel this situation must be fairly common, just the length of the delay is uncommon...so any advice would be amazing thankyou!

shaun_from_Africa

Countist wrote: »

The Airline however dropped the bombshell that the next available flight was on the 27th March(!), since this flight isn't the next day this entitles her to a refund on the orginal flight (as I've read up on this, if flights are cancelled due to strike action and they don't put you on a new flight the next day, you can claim compensation using the EU Regulation_261/2004 - correct me if I'm wrong!)

The problem is the rescheduled flight is so late that obviously she misses the whole holiday, hotel costs, return flights et al.

So where does she stand, can she claim all of these against the airline? If the Airline genuinely don't have any free seats before the 27th then this is the next available flight for them? What about the hypothetical situation where the Airline only flew once a week?

EU261/2004 allows the airline to avoid paying compensation if the delay or cancellation of a flight was due to exceptional circumstances outside of their control and an ATC strike falls into this category.
They have to offer a refund, rerouting or reticketing but any new flight offered doesn't have to be the next day but it must be at the earliest available opportunity.
Your friend has no claim against the airline for hotel costs etc so should claim for these on her travel insurance if she has any.

shaun_from_Africa

I've just had a quick look on the Aigle Azur website and it's showing that there is availability on the Paris-Porto route tomorrow.
It might be worth your friend doing the same then contacting the airline and asking why she hasn't been offered this.

hollydays

Are you sure something hasn't been lost in translation?

JJG

I was (am currently) in a very similar situation. I was on a flight that was cancelled yesterday and the next available flight was not till Thursday. I thankfully have the optional Travel Disruption on my travel insurance which pays up to £500 in alternative travel in these situations. Unfortunately I think the only option in this situation is whatever her Travel Insurance allows. If it was her return flight, The airline would be responsible for hotel costs and expenses until the rescheduled flight. But these would likely have to be paid upfront and reclaimed at a later date.

BrentMeister

Countist wrote: »

I suggested rolling up at the airport and hoping to get put on a flight if someone else cancelled, can she just do this and demand to get put on a flight?

I wouldn't go demanding anything as the chances of then getting put on an earlier flight will be zero.

Dizzy_Ditzy

I got caught up with strikes in Greece a few years back. The next flight I could get on was five days away. They changed my flight with no extra charges and refunded me my extra hotel and phone calls. I had to pay for the hotel and phone bill up front then just sent a copy of my receipt/phone bill and they were sorted very quickly

Countist

Thanks for all the responses guys, I'm not sure what the PoA is but she's managed to get online and read everything so hopefully some good will come of it all!

LilElvis

Were the flights and hotel booked separately or together? Was the booking made with an ATOL or ABTA registered agent?

wealdroam

This thread belongs on The Flight Delay board.