Do I have to pay supplement to get alternative flight when my return flight was cancelled?

JJG

silvercar said:

Voyager2002 said:

silvercar said:

The airline is obliged to get you home, under EU regulations. The problem is that if they don’t oblige you may need to resort to legal action. Suing them in China for not complying with EU regulations won’t be straightforward, so persuading them that they need to comply is easier.

The OP is currently in the UK and needs to get home to China. This could be one of the few cases where the CAA (the British government agency that regulates air travel) might be useful. Otherwise legal action could te taken in a British court and would certainly succeed since the law is very clear, but getting the airline to pay up in a reasonable time might prove challenging.

Where are you going to serve notice to Air China? 

I imagine one of their UK registered addresses.

Caz3121

Richie_yip said:

Thank you for your suggestion. That's what I am going to do, though I am still not sure whether it's their obligation to absorb the price difference. No harm to try anyway.    

It is worth reading the conditions of carriage that they publish
https://www.airchina.co.uk/GB/GB/conditions/international/#9

9.2.2 Except as otherwise provided for by conventions and laws, if we cancel a flight, fail to operate a flight reasonably according to the schedule, fail to stop at your destination or Stopover, or cause you to miss a connecting flight on which you hold a confirmed reservation, we shall offer you the following options:

9.2.2.1 We can carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your Ticket; or

9.2.2.2 we can, within a reasonable period of time, re-route you to the destination shown on your Ticket by our own services or those of another carrier, or by other mutually agreed means and class of transportation without additional charge. If the fares and charges for the revised routing are lower than what you have paid, we shall refund the difference; or

9.2.2.3 we can make a refund in accordance with the provisions of Article 11.2.

silvercar

JJG said:

silvercar said:

Voyager2002 said:

silvercar said:

The airline is obliged to get you home, under EU regulations. The problem is that if they don’t oblige you may need to resort to legal action. Suing them in China for not complying with EU regulations won’t be straightforward, so persuading them that they need to comply is easier.

The OP is currently in the UK and needs to get home to China. This could be one of the few cases where the CAA (the British government agency that regulates air travel) might be useful. Otherwise legal action could te taken in a British court and would certainly succeed since the law is very clear, but getting the airline to pay up in a reasonable time might prove challenging.

Where are you going to serve notice to Air China? 

I imagine one of their UK registered addresses.

From experience, when I sued Ryanair the papers had to be served in Ireland.

Richie_yip

Caz3121 said:

Richie_yip said:

Thank you for your suggestion. That's what I am going to do, though I am still not sure whether it's their obligation to absorb the price difference. No harm to try anyway.    

It is worth reading the conditions of carriage that they publish
https://www.airchina.co.uk/GB/GB/conditions/international/#9

9.2.2 Except as otherwise provided for by conventions and laws, if we cancel a flight, fail to operate a flight reasonably according to the schedule, fail to stop at your destination or Stopover, or cause you to miss a connecting flight on which you hold a confirmed reservation, we shall offer you the following options:

9.2.2.1 We can carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your Ticket; or

9.2.2.2 we can, within a reasonable period of time, re-route you to the destination shown on your Ticket by our own services or those of another carrier, or by other mutually agreed means and class of transportation without additional charge. If the fares and charges for the revised routing are lower than what you have paid, we shall refund the difference; or

9.2.2.3 we can make a refund in accordance with the provisions of Article 11.2.

Excellent! That's really helpful. Everything is clear now. I will update the thread once I hear from the airline. Thanks for the great help!