Flight delayed due to airport 11 August 2019 at 12:41PM in Flight delay compensation 9 replies 1.2K views

ElGoorf

Some of you may have seen in the news, on Friday Aug 9th, Luton airport ground to a halt because of a leaky roof. Water coming into the immigration hall meant that passengers weren't allowed off arriving planes, obviously meaning those planes were held from resuming their scheduled service. Ultimately my flight got cancelled as a result of this delay.

Was flight 2047 Luton -> Zurich. I applied for compensation but EasyJet responded saying that I'm not entitled because the delay was out of their control. While I agree it wasn't their fault, I'd expect EasyJet to be forwarding compensation from the Airport.

The airport might try to claim it was the fault of the weather, but in my oppinion, a leaky roof causing delay puts the airport at fault. I returned to my decades-old house that night to find everything dry, so there's no excuse for a recently refurbished "modern" airport terminal building!

All the info I can find related to delays caused by the airline, but I can't find anything about delays caused by the airport. Does anyone have any info?

Thanks.

Justice13075

Put your flight details into euclaim and bottonline first and see what they say.

Nick_C

"compensation is not due if the carrier can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken."

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

Tyzap

ElGoorf wrote: »

Some of you may have seen in the news, on Friday Aug 9th, Luton airport ground to a halt because of a leaky roof. Water coming into the immigration hall meant that passengers weren't allowed off arriving planes, obviously meaning those planes were held from resuming their scheduled service. Ultimately my flight got cancelled as a result of this delay.

Was flight 2047 Luton -> Zurich. I applied for compensation but EasyJet responded saying that I'm not entitled because the delay was out of their control. While I agree it wasn't their fault, I'd expect EasyJet to be forwarding compensation from the Airport.

The airport might try to claim it was the fault of the weather, but in my oppinion, a leaky roof causing delay puts the airport at fault. I returned to my decades-old house that night to find everything dry, so there's no excuse for a recently refurbished "modern" airport terminal building!

All the info I can find related to delays caused by the airline, but I can't find anything about delays caused by the airport. Does anyone have any info?

Thanks.

FWIW, I agree with you.

Luton Airport supplies an essential and contractual service to the airline which they pay for.

There is provision in the EU261 regulations for the airlines to claim back from 3rd party suppliers.

Unfortunately I don't know of any legal precedent due to this happening, so it will be a difficult claim.

It could be argued that this is very similar to, for example, a set of 3rd party mobile steps damaging the aircraft, for which there is legal precedence and the airlines must pay compensation.

Good luck.

Justice13075

EuClaim believe there is possibly a claim for €250 per person. Interesting to see what bottonline say.

ElGoorf

Justice13075 wrote: »

EuClaim believe there is possibly a claim for €250 per person. Interesting to see what bottonline say.

When I try I just get:

An analysis of the data for this flight shows that an extraordinary circumstance was the cause of the delay.

Unfortunately you are not entitled to compensation.
An extraordinary circumstance is a situation which the airline has no control over and cannot be held responsible for, for example, a strike by air traffic control staff, bad weather or a terrorist attack.



With our years of experience in the field of passenger rights, we do not expect to achieve a positive result in this case. Therefore, we are unable to accept your claim. Should you wish to pursue your claim further, we advise you to contact the airline or your legal expenses/travel insurer.



Despite being unable to accept your claim, we hope we have provided you with satisfactory service and advice. Should you experience a problem with a flight in the future, we would be pleased to provide you with our free advice once again.

Justice13075

Is that bottonline?

ElGoorf

Justice13075 wrote: »

Is that bottonline?

nope, EUClaim

bagand96

Luton Airport supplies an essential and contractual service to the airline which they pay for.

At what point to we accept that actually there are circumstances the airlines do not have control over?

Is it actually reasonable to expect easyJet to have a degree of control over Luton Airport’s completely shoddy and cheapskate operation of their terminal “upgrade” project?

There are circumstances that airlines, despite all reasonable efforts, can not control.

The fact that the ill thought out EU261 legislation only gives passengers recourse against the airline is a separate issue, but like I said the legislation is flawed, and probably won’t change.

ElGoorf

@bagand96 The point of this thread was to ask if there's any way to get compensation from the airport, whether indirectly through the airline or directly from the airport, regardless of EU261's position regarding the airlines.

At what point to we accept that actually there are circumstances the airlines do not have control over?

Yes I fully except that, as I said I agree that the airport is completely at fault, and I also firmly believe that the airport owes something for that.

There's no doubt in my mind that EasyJet (and other airlines inc. Wizz who were also forced to cancel some flights) would be getting compensation from the LAA in this case since it's a massive hit to their revenue to have these cancellations forced upon them. Seems fair the passengers should get something too.