Heathrow flight cancelled, rerouted from Stansted then delayed by 5 hours - compensation due?

tannoy_2

My airline, Wideroe, cancelled flight 2 days before departure "Due to problems with the capacity at London Heathrow, Widerøe has been charged by the airport authorities to cancel this flight." Later in the day, they told us they were working to redirect flight from Stansted to Trondheim via Bergen.

The day before departure the airline confirmed the change in itinerary. Exact same times as Heathrow but from Stansted.

The flight from Stansted departed 5 hours 31 minutes late and we missed the connecting flight at Bergen. The airline organised a hotel for us and we took the next connecting flight arriving at Trondheim at 22:14 on the next day. We were originally due to arrive Trondheim at 18:45, which works out at 27 hours 29 minutes late.

I'm confused by whether we're entitled to compensation because the original flight's cancellation wasn't because of the airline. They re-organised to fly from Stansted, which wasn't suffering the same staffing problems as Heathrow, as widely reported in the press. I'm not sure if the Stansted delay can be blamed on Heathrow staffing problems by the airline. Or should I just count my lucky stars that we got to destination at all.

Thanks.

eskbanker

I'd say that, unless the delay on the rearranged flight was due to extraordinary circumstances (on the day), then you should be due compensation - the fact that the flight was originally intended to leave from Heathrow is essentially a separate issue.

Westin

Wideroe seem to have been operating LHR BGO the past week okay - albeit with delays.  I wonder if your reroute was a one off?