Missed flight connection.

VJsmum

Hello, i wonder if anyone might advise if we can do anything about a missed flight connection.  It's a slight saga:

we booked with Lufthansa to fly Birmingham - Frankfurt then Frankfurt - WIndhoek (Namibia).  The connection was about 90 mins in FRA.  However, the flight into BHX was delayed by bad weather in FRA and therefore our flight out was also delayed.  We landed about 5 minutes before the FRA - Windhoek flight was due to go.  Despite running through the terminal, the flight left without us.

There followed a few hours in FRA queueing to get rebooked and a hotel for the night.  Lufthansa eventually provided the hotel but would not (could not?) rebook us, telling us to return the following morning.  Which we did - to discover that that night's flight was fully booked.  Despite trying various alternatives, the only reliable thing to do was to wait a further day - making us 2 days late into Namibia.

Lufthansa paid for our hotel for two nights in Frankfurt plus meals so no big complaint there.

However, we lost two days of holiday, some hotel costs in Namibia and some car hire costs.  We have emailed LUfthansa about compensation but they have replied, saying: "Kindly note that EC Regulation 261/04 applies to flights departing from EU member states and flights arriving in EU member states from third countries. This means that we cannot accommodate your request for compensation".  No further explanation.

Can anyone help us to understand why we are not entitled?  Or if we have any other recourse. 

Thanks for reading.

Westin

I guess you could quote and try a claim using the mirrored regulation UK261 which would apply for an ex U.K. flight. That said, if a weather issue caused the initial issue then compensation would not be payable, just the care you received at FRA.

Your own travel insurance may be another path to try to recoup some of the costs from the Namibia delay at the start of your trip.

Hoenir

VJsmum said:

The connection was about 90 mins in FRA.  

That's not a huge margin of time. Depending on the arrival/departure gates. Having once flown in from Dresden on route to Oslo. Took us 40 minutes to go gate to gate at a fast walking pace. 

NoodleDoodleMan

As I understand it - airlines cannot be held responsible for issues outwith their control.

Bad weather obviously comes into that category.

Also, as Lufthansa have stated - flights out of the UK do not fall within EU regulations.

Your travel insurance may be the way forward.

Ballard

I don’t know how much help this will be but I had a similar experience with Lufthansa in 2019. Flying LHR-FFT-BOG there was a medical emergency just as we were about to leave Heathrow and we missed the connection. 

Went to the desk at Frankfurt and they offered to put us on the next flight (23 hours wait). I asked if there was anything sooner and they put us on a flight to Munich (I think) where we caught an Avianca flight to Bogotá.

I don’t know the rules, and they may have changed in the last 5 years anyway, but this suggests that they could have put you on flights via Jo’burg or Addis Ababa, for example. Edit: I think that I’d read something about Brexit changing things, which would explain it. 

VJsmum

Ballard said:

I don’t know how much help this will be but I had a similar experience with Lufthansa in 2019. Flying LHR-FFT-BOG there was a medical emergency just as we were about to leave Heathrow and we missed the connection. 

Went to the desk at Frankfurt and they offered to put us on the next flight (23 hours wait). I asked if there was anything sooner and they put us on a flight to Munich (I think) where we caught an Avianca flight to Bogotá.

I don’t know the rules, and they may have changed in the last 5 years anyway, but this suggests that they could have put you on flights via Jo’burg or Addis Ababa, for example. Edit: I think that I’d read something about Brexit changing things, which would explain it. 

Thanks - they did try to put us on various routes via Jo'Burg, Addis or Vic Falls but none would get us there any sooner / or had dodgy connections.

Thanks all, looks like we've got to 'suck this one up'.

jimi_man

Hi. 

Whilst the airline is technically correct saying EU261 doesn’t cover it, it’s a slight cop out since U.K. 261 does cover the delay. 

However as pointed out, if it’s weather related then they won’t pay. Obviously a duty of care exists but it sounds like they’ve fulfilled that. 

In terms of the missed two days of holiday, (consequential losses) they are not covered by 261 so you would need to take that up with your travel insurance. You can try Lufthansa to see if they’d cover them but as you’ve already contacted them it’s unlikely. 

The MCT at FRA is 45 minutes so 90 minutes is well within that, though it’s a large airport so even a slight delay can hurt. 

Ultimately your travel insurance is the best bet.