Is Compensation available on a Emirates flight from Dubai to Birmingham (Bhx) UK.

Golfnut1975

Please can anyone help. Me and my partner were delayed 13 hours last week on a Emirates Flight from Dubai back to the UK. They sent me the certificate showing this and have admitted it’s their operational fault, (they turned the flight around mid air and took us back to Dubai saying the toilets were broken!!!)

I have completed the Template letter with all my details and Emirites have basically said this flight does not fall under the rules for compensation. We were hoping for the full £520 each. 

Their reply was as below

“Thank you for your correspondence and firstly, I am very sorry to learn that you were affected by the delay to flight EK037, on 7 February 2022 from Dubai to Birmingham.  

 

As you are aware, the operating aircraft experienced technical difficulties and rest assured that the safety and security of our customers and staff are of paramount importance to us. In response to your query, the decision to return to Dubai was made in the best interest of all passengers. If I may explain that had the aircraft continued and had there been a need to divert to an airport en-route, then the logistic of rebooking and assisting customers during a disruption in a different country, would have been significantly more difficult, bearing in mind the different COVID-19 entry restrictions. Nevertheless, I do apologise for the inconvenience and upset felt at the time.

 

EU law no longer applies to the UK since 23:00 on 31 December 2020, when the UK left the European Union aviation system. All claims should be made under the Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licencing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (APR Regulations)

 

EU261/2004 regulations, which were current up to 31stDecember 2020, do not apply when passengers are flying on a non-EU carrier (Emirates is a carrier of the UAE) and the flight is delayed/cancelled from a non-EU airport. This means that Emirates' flights departing from Europe are governed by European laws until the final destination; however, as Emirates is a non-EU carrier, our flights towards Europe are not. Similarly, under the current APR rule for the UK, there is no law that applies to a cancelled/delayed flight from a third country towards the UK on a non UK carrier.  Therefore, your flight falls outside the scope of APR regulations. “

Can anyone give me some advice on how I should proceed ? Very frustrating as we both missed important business due to this delay and thought we were entitled to the full £520 each. 

Thanks in Advance 🙏🙏🙏 

garlieston

Unfortunately Emirates are correct ,although the previous EU delay regulations have been incorporated  in to UK law your flight was not subject to these regulations as a non EU/UK carrier flying FROM a non EU/UK country , if the flight had been Birmingham to Dubai you would have been covered by the regulations

Voyager2002

As Garlieston says the letter from Emirates is correct in law. However, they are a good airline who are serious about customer satisfaction. If you write to them politely explaining the nature of the business that you missed because of the delay, I am sure that they will give you some Skywards 'miles' or possibly even personal assistance in booking your next flight with Emirates.

Golfnut1975

Thanks for the replies Voyager2002 and Garlieston much appreciated. 

They have offered 30,000 skyward miles to us each.  Do you think this is acceptable or worth perusing further , threatening with further actions ? 

Westin

I would agree. No big compo payout but EK might award some miles.
At least you didn’t have to fly for hours with no operable toilets.

Caz3121

you would need to check their conditions of carriage and UAE laws on delays but I suspect there is likely nothing you are legally entitled to so not sure what further actions you would take. (It has always been the case that EU compensation on non-EU carriers has only been possible on flights departing the EU)
Have you checked if your travel insurance covers anything for delays?

lisyloo

Golfnut1975 said:

Thanks for the replies Voyager2002 and Garlieston much appreciated. 

They have offered 30,000 skyward miles to us each.  Do you think this is acceptable or worth perusing further , threatening with further actions ? 

Given that it sounds like you’re entitled to nothing and this wasn’t their fault then I think that generous and there are no grounds at all for threatening.

Voyager2002

Golfnut1975 said:

Thanks for the replies Voyager2002 and Garlieston much appreciated. 

They have offered 30,000 skyward miles to us each.  Do you think this is acceptable or worth perusing further , threatening with further actions ? 

Almost certainly you cannot pursue it further, and threatening would get you nothing. Maybe a polite letter indicating that the delay was particularly inconvenient for you might encourage them to increase the offer a little, especially if you explain that you will need 30K plus x miles for an upgrade on your next flight with them.

CKhalvashi

Golfnut1975 said:

Thanks for the replies Voyager2002 and Garlieston much appreciated. 

They have offered 30,000 skyward miles to us each.  Do you think this is acceptable or worth perusing further , threatening with further actions ? 

They're worth on at the bottom end around £300, so that's about what you'd get in compensation. If used carefully on an upgrade, you could likely squeeze £1000 of value from them.

What further actions are you going to threaten them with? There is no legal recourse and this in law is a gesture of goodwill. Emirates, however, are serious about customer service and this is reflected in their offer to you.