Re-routing under EU 261 or UK equivalent

symphony63

I booked a direct return flight Lon to TLV with Wizz. I was due to fly 3 Jan 2024 but now they cancelled the flight due to security situation. Wizz is offering a flight with a stopover in Larnaca. The Larnaca-Tel-Aviv flight would be operated by their partner airline.

My questions are:

1. Am I entitled under article 8 for re-routing under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity, for an outbound flight? Or is it only for returning flights?
2. Under this article is a stopover considered comparable transport conditions? It would add at least 3 hours to the flight time.
3. El Al is operating normal service to/from TLV. Can I request being re-routed on EL Al? They would probably decline, would I have recourse to claim the expense from Wizz should I choose to pay myself.

Any insights would be appreciated.

eskbanker

Article 8 isn't restricted to inward legs and is equally applicable to outward journeys.

I believe that the CAA would support the interpretation that you should be offered a direct flight with another airline ahead of an indirect flight with the original airline - see clauses 4.2 and 4.3 of their guidance on this:

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/Re-routing Guidance (CAP2155).pdf