SAS Flight Cancellation

philstephen

Got notified today that our outward flight from Heathrow to Stockholm for this Friday (5th August) is cancelled due to the capacity limits at LHR. Absolutely no luck in finding alternative flights as everything else seems booked. I guess this happens when 100+ people are left without a flight with just days to go and any remaining seats on other flight suddenly go. 

Obviously the full refund is easy, but wondering if we can claim EU261 as well in view of the fact that it is less than 14 days advance? Or will SAS say it's beyond their control? Has anyone had experience with EU261 plus a refund during the mess at Heathrow? 

Our dilemma is we have booked flights back from another airport on with another airline on the Monday. Having paid £133 by the time our separate insurance polices knock off their £50 excess, it's hardly going to be worth a claim. Fortunately accommodation was pay on arrival and everything else like local transport was going to be done locally. EU261 will go someway to cover our remaining loss plus compensation for missing out on a wedding we were looking forward to. 

eskbanker

If SAS have declared that the reason is the capacity limit at LHR (which would be extraordinary circumstances outside the airline's control) then I'm not sure you'd have any basis for trying to convince them otherwise?  Have SAS been trying to find alternatives for you (as they're obliged to do) or were you doing this yourself?  There seem to be some indirect options, or direct from Manchester, but understandable if these aren't tempting on a short trip....

philstephen

The airline have left it rather late in notifying passengers as it's been a known situation for some weeks, so not convinced they can just brush it off as beyond their control. They have some obligation to honour their part of the contract. 

Yes aware of some indirect options, but most are from Heathrow and I'm not confident that any reschedule would then work.  And no, SAS didn't propose a reschedule on any flight via an email. They are going for the make it easy for themselves solution, i.e. refund of the cost of the ticket. 

eskbanker

philstephen said:

And no, SAS didn't propose a reschedule on any flight via an email. They are going for the make it easy for themselves solution, i.e. refund of the cost of the ticket. 

But the point is that the regulations oblige airlines to offer the passenger a choice between re-routing or refund, they don't just unilaterally get to pick which suits them best!  Obviously if there's nothing remotely comparable then it's a bit of a moot point, but the onus is on the airline to do the legwork rather than expecting the passenger to do so....