Consumer Protection Rights for Flights with Foreign Airlines

ColinPC

I have airline tickets with Air New Zealand for flights to and around New Zealand in October.  When booking, I was directed to the ANZ UK website to make the bookings, and I paid in UK Pounds, not NZ Dollars.  What are my rights if these flights are cancelled due to Coronavirus restrictions and / or I can't get to NZ – is ANZ governed by UK consumer protection laws in this situation, and do they have to comply with CMA guidance as set out on the CMA website?

Voyager2002

October is a long way off so your flights should happen as planned. If not and you have trouble getting a refund, you can always use 'chargeback' with the card you used for payment.

eskbanker

ColinPC said:

I have airline tickets with Air New Zealand for flights to and around New Zealand in October.  When booking, I was directed to the ANZ UK website to make the bookings, and I paid in UK Pounds, not NZ Dollars.  What are my rights if these flights are cancelled due to Coronavirus restrictions and / or I can't get to NZ – is ANZ governed by UK consumer protection laws in this situation, and do they have to comply with CMA guidance as set out on the CMA website?

Yes, https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm explains that

EU air passenger rights apply:

• [...]
• If your flight departs from the EU to a non-EU country operated by an EU or a non-EU airline

and these rights include refunds on cancellation, etc, so ANZ is obliged to refund you if they cancel the UK-NZ leg.  The internal NZ flights wouldn't be covered by those rights though, so if the airline wasn't predisposed to refund then you could try chargeback/section 75 or travel insurance.

ColinPC

Thanks for the link "eskbanker".

Thanks also "Voyager2002" - sadly, I don't share your optimism about travel to NZ being up and running by October - we'll see.  As for the chargeback - my understanding is that this isn't an option.  If an internal flight runs as scheduled, then it's not the airline's fault I can't be in NZ to board it.  However, international flights may be a different situation.

Alan_Bowen

Air NZ have cancelled their route from London for good, and NZ is not expected to open to foreign visitors this year so you may need to do a lot of cancelling. If you booked the internal flights separately you may find  they are still operating, they have limited flights on the major routes, and will not offer refunds for those but for your London flights, you can certainly have a full refund