BA refused boarding

modboy118

August 2021 me and my family needed to travel to Sweden. Sweden had a covid travel ban from UK at the time but with some exemptions:
- EU citizens 
- visiting a sick relative

We booked flights with BA. We were visiting my mother in law who had cancer at the time. We took the following to the airport:
- doctors letters (in Swedish and English)
- proof we were related to sick person (passports, birth certificates etc)
- proof of EU status (we all have dual
citizenship (certificates but no passports)
- proof of our covid vaccines

we got to BA check in and after 20 mins of questions they refused to check us in due to the travel ban. Despite all the paperwork we had. 

We then booked a flight with SAS who checked us in and said all our documents were in order. When we got to Sweden we got through passport control with no problems. 

When we returned to uk we contacted BA to get a refund on our flights, plus the extra we had to pay to book a SAS flight at the last minute. BA initially refused so we
escelated to their legal team who have also refused. They are still claiming they did nothing wrong, despite us pointing out we arrived and entered Sweden with no
issues. 

We currently about £1000 out of pocked. How would I proceed from here. Would a small claims court be the next step? Would
i have a good chance of getting the money back? 

Thanks in advance for your help. 

JPears

In my humble opinion you have been denied boarding under old EU reg 261/2004.If you have not read through this in detail then google Vauban's Guide as a good start.  The regualtion now has a new name in UK law you'll need to look for

If you are getting nowhere with BA then send a final demand FOR 14 DAYS under reg 261/2004/new UK law name. Marked as a Letter before Action or a Notice befoe Action.

Then start prepping your MCOL submission.

Sandtree

Isn't denied boarding in that context is due to an overbooked flight etc not that they believe you aren't entitled to entry to the destination country? the CAA also states you must have checked in on time for it to apply and if the OP was doing check in in person then they didn't as it was denied to them. 

It would also be sensible to get a copy of the rules in force in Sweden at the time of the flight from an official source... personally I dont think that another airline allowed you to board is strictly sufficient proof of you having legal right to enter Sweden. Ultimately these things are often notably subjective and have been given definitively wrong information by the likes of UKBF in the past... to play devils advocate presumably the Swedish law required a certain level of illness/injury and you couldn't claim exemption to enter if your relative their had a splinter 

JPears

My understanding is that the OP has presented themselves, on time, at the check in. Where ever the denied boarding  occurred and the reason is irrelevant, unless  "except where there are reasonable grounds to deny them boarding, such as reasons of health, safety or security, or inadequate travel documentation"

If BA misinterpreted or misinformed their staff of the correct regulations that is there problem. Look at the mess over passport validity over the past few months. All the various airlines fault.

But i do agree a copy of the relevant Swedish regulations would be handy in any claim.

modboy118

Thank you both for this information. I did take a screenshot from the Swedish gov website which detailed the entry rules. And like you say @JPears, there was some note about level of Illness but it was also kept intentionally vague. 

I’ll read those buts you mentioned and then contact BA again.