Part of Multi Stop booking Cancelled

Iainhignell

Hi,

I'm in a bit of a unique situation. In January I booked flights, for myself and my family, directly with BA:

Heathrow to Cape Town - 4 days in Cape Town
Cape Town to Gaborone - 10 days in Gabs
Gaborone to Heathrow with a change in Johannesburg

The Heathrow/Cape Town flight and the Johannesburg/Heathrow flights are operated by BA with the Cape/Gabs and the Gabs/Johannesburg being operated by Air Botswana.

A month ago the Cape Town Gabs flight was cancelled.

I called BA and they could not offer an alternative route as they have no affiliate airlines that could get me to Gabs.

Instead i was offered:
1. A full refund - circa £4200
2. A "refund" for the cancelled flight

I didn't see a full refund as an option as if i re-book now the cost will be in excess of £5000.

Option 2 however only results in a £40 (forty) refund as the end destination of the "outbound" journey would now be Cape Town not Gabs which actually resulted in a higher cost tickets for my wife and I, but slightly cheaper tickets (due to taxes) for our 3 kids.

Either way I need to get from Cape Town to Gabs. There is a flight which operates but the airline is not affiliated with BA and so they can not offer to book me on it. If i book it separately it will cost in excess of £600.

Either way i am going to be our of pocket by a considerable amount.

I've tried numerous time to get more from BA and tried my travel insurance but with no joy.

Does anyone know of anything that may help me? I have tried using Resolver but BA are just coming back with a stock answer.

JPears

Really they should rebook you, at their expense, on the alternative ailine. They, or their affiliate AB, have left you in a very difficult situation through no fault of your own.
reg 261/2004:
Article 5
Cancellation
1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:
(a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8; and...


Article 8
Right to reimbursement or re-routing
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:
(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,
- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;
(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.
The Gahan case and a recent EU ruling have established that your flights are a "single journey and fall within the scope of 261/2004 even though the second leg was outwith the the EU. BA should choose their affiliates more carefully.

Justice13075

Who cancelled the flight was it BA or Air Botswana

jpsartre

As I understand, any claim under EU261 is against the operating carrier, i.e. Air Botswana. Unfortunately the regulations do not apply to them in this case since the flight was not scheduled to depart from an EU country. So I don't see how there's much you can do here.

Iainhignell

Thanks for your response.

As i said, i have been in touch with BA through resolver.

JPears Would you recommend quoting the Articles you stated in my next response to them highlighting their duty of care?

Justice, it was Air Botswana that cancelled the flight

Thanks

Caz3121

what date was your CPT-GBE flight?

Iainhignell

21st August 2018

Caz3121

from the Air Botswana press release, they are rerouting passengers via JNB at no extra cost.
https://www.airbotswana.co.bw/temporary-suspension-direct-cape-town-route
(Google flights also shows BA 6414, SA 8458 as an option that is bookable by phone with BA)

JPears

Yes. Those are the rules/EU law.
I cannot find any direct flight CPT - GBE. THey are all change in Jburg.
Did the direct flight actuall exist?

Whilst it is AB that cancelled the flight, you did book the journey/flight to the end destination, in good faith with BA.