Extra four hours

jodun_2

I flew to Tenerife with Tui. We boarded the plane at the correct time but then sat on the runway for two hours. We then ended up having to land in Portugal for fuel. Finally arrived in Tenerife fours hours late, had been on the plane for a total of eight hours. Can I claim compensation?

bagand96

It would depend on the reason for the delay and the fuel diversion, what reasons did TUI give?

jodun_2

Some technical problem with the plane that meant it couldn’t fly as high as usual so would use more fuel, and I think the delay in taking off was due to the French air traffic control strikes. 

bagand96

This could be a difficult one.  Technical issues with the aircraft are within control of the airline so would mean compensation.  Strikes by ATC in France are not within control of the airline so would be extraordinary circumstances meaning no compensation is due.

It seems your overall delay was caused by a combination of ATC (delay in departing) and technical issue (delay caused by landing in Portugal for fuel). Neither issue caused the total delay on their own.  You've nothing to lose by putting a claim in TUI on the off-chance they pay.  if they refuse then you can consider your options then.

jodun_2

I suppose if we hadn’t had to refuel in Portugal we may not have had to travel through French air space. I’ll give it a go and see what happens. 

bagand96

jodun_2 said:

I suppose if we hadn’t had to refuel in Portugal we may not have had to travel through French air space. I’ll give it a go and see what happens. 

It depends where you fly from but most routes to Tenerife from the UK would pass through French airspace.

Westin

If this was in the past day or so I suspect most if not all of the issue is down to French ATC industrial action.  Flights overflying French airspace were subject to delays. Some aircraft were allocated less than optimal flight levels or routings.  This may have been the cause of the diversion into Faro for enroute refuel.  I think TUI will see this as an operational delay outside of their control.  As a positive, at least your flight was not cancelled and you are now in a warm and sunny Tenerife.  That's compo!

jodun_2

The flight was from Aberdeen, and we refuelled in Porto. 

Westin

TOM1322 / 08 Mar?

This flight appears to have had to do quite a wide track west of French airspace to presumably avoid French ATC completely. The aircraft flew over Ireland, west of Dublin, on quite a long routing.  No doubt this and the fuel stop in OPO was to avoid the French ATC issue.   If interested you can see your flight routing on FlightRadar24. 

I think TUI will excuse this as an extraordinary delay and the delay down something outside of their control.

Enjoy Tenerife.

bagand96

Westin said:

TOM1322 / 08 Mar?

This flight appears to have had to do quite a wide track west of French airspace to presumably avoid French ATC completely. The aircraft flew over Ireland, west of Dublin, on quite a long routing.  No doubt this and the fuel stop in OPO was to avoid the French ATC issue.   If interested you can see your flight routing on FlightRadar24. 

I think TUI will excuse this as an extraordinary delay and the delay down something outside of their control.

Enjoy Tenerife.

The aircraft did cruise at 24,000ft though ABZ-OPO and then 25,000ft OPO-TFS.  Which definitely points to a technical issue meaning it couldn't cruise higher, burning more fuel necessitating the stop at Porto.

You could argue that had there not been the tech issue and fuel stop then it could have departed 2 hours late and arrived 2 hours late meaning no compensation.  So therefore it was the fuel stop that pushed the delay to 4 hours so compensation is due.

The counter argument is that without the French ATC strike the aircraft could have departed on time, made the fuel stop at Porto, but still got to Tenerife around 2 hours late. So it was the French ATC delay that caused the further delay so no compensation is due.

Two sides of the same coin and I don't know what the answer is.  I agree with @Westin that TUI will claim it's extraordinary circumstances and not pay.

jodun_2

Just to give you all an update, Tui are surprisingly paying us £350 per person compensation!