Wizzair cancelled flight compensation - reason for cancellation not clear

tellme_why

Hi,
My flight from EU to UK was cancelled at the gate. I had to book with an alternative airline to get back to UK next day which cost me £180 (I didn't take Wizzair's offer to re-book with them as fellow travellers told their horror story of  their second cancellation with Wizz after spending one day sleep rough in the airport).
Now I want to claim the £220 compensation for cancellation but Wizzair cancellation e-mail says "We would like to express our sincerest apologies for having to alter your travel plans by cancelling your flight on x/x/2024 due to circumstances beyond our control.". As far as I know flight across EU were all fine over the days prior and after my departure date.

What "beyond our control means"? Is this language aimed at discouraging passenger making a compensation claim? Who can advise / confirm independently the reason of cancellation? 

I run from the airport asap as I had to get my transport to a place to spend the night so I couldn't ask there which they didn't know anyway considering the mess that ensue just to get the passenger out the gate area back to passport control..

Many Thanks

born_again

What date was it?
The weekend when systems went into meltdown, due to the software issue?

tellme_why

this weekend, almost two weeks after crowdstrike event.. so no causation ,, 

eskbanker

tellme_why said:

As far as I know flight across EU were all fine over the days prior and after my departure date.

What "beyond our control means"? Is this language aimed at discouraging passenger making a compensation claim? Who can advise / confirm independently the reason of cancellation? 

The regulations are clear that "An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken", so there's no obligation to pay out if cancellations were due to external factors such as particularly bad weather or air traffic control restrictions, any of which can come into play without necessarily being at departure or arrival airports.

ATC restrictions have been quite prevalent across Europe recently, for a variety of weather- and staff-related issues, so it's a huge generalisation to assert that "flight across EU were all fine" - however, there isn't any public domain data about reasons for cancellations, so all you can do is to submit a claim and see what they say....

tellme_why

thanks esk, I have filed the claim and looking forward to see their response. I find it odd that passengers have no sources to verify the reasons for cancellation other then the airline itself.. What prevent airlines from always saying that's not their fault in order not to pay?

eskbanker

tellme_why said:

I find it odd that passengers have no sources to verify the reasons for cancellation other then the airline itself.. What prevent airlines from always saying that's not their fault in order not to pay?

It's far from ideal - the regulations do place the burden of proof on the airline, so theoretically that works in the passenger's favour, i.e. if cases reach court then the credibility of the airline's cited proof is subject to judicial scrutiny, but of course in the scenario where airlines choose not to pay out, that effectively reverses that burden of proof!

There are industry insiders who sometimes pop up on these boards, with access to more data than the general public, so you might get lucky if someone like that sees your thread....

Hoenir

tellme_why said:

 What prevent airlines from always saying that's not their fault in order not to pay?

Take a look at the global picture

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/cancelled/