Etihad refund problem

jacobhorn17

A flight was booked for the 30th of March and cancelled by etihad due to the closure of airports. We as a consequence were left stranded in Sri Lanka with no way home. We attempted to contact etihad to try and either get a different flight or a refund to pay for another flight home. As you can understand this was a very scary situation being stranded in a country during this period with the uncertainty of not getting our money back which would of helped us get home. Unfortunately etihad customer service couldn’t help us at all. Instead we pay for new flights which thankfully got us home.  Since we have been home I’ve contacted etihad twice to try and get our money back to pay off our as soon as possible again etihad customer service left us feeling let down. The first person we spoke to didnt give us much information and the second informed us we could get a refund but we would be subject to a cancellation charge on each ticket of £120 even though they cancelled the flights so we would be paying etihad for a service which was never provided which doesn’t seem fair to me. I’ve included a picture of etihads cancellation policy. I have insurance but that still means paying an excess fee. How can I progress my case of receiving a full refund for these flights. Please help

Thanks 

Caz3121

The section you have quoted above falls within a paragraph titled - "Information on passenger rights in case of flight disruptions at airports within the EU" As this flight was from Sri Lanka these are not applicable.
You are best reading the Conditions of Carriage and the section 10.2 INVOLUNTARY REFUNDS

jacobhorn17

Here is the involuntary refund section, I can’t make any sense of it. Would I be better off taking the loss on the chin or anyone think I’m entitled to the money? If not would I be better off claim through my insurance and paying a £60 excess fee and not taking the money from etihad or taking the refund through etihad with the £120 cancellation fee and then try and the claim the cancellation fee back through insurance?