Albastar flight delay (TUI holiday) failure to pay

blackbird24

Flight delay of around 10 hours from Inverness to Palma in June, holiday and flight booked with Tui but flight was Albastar. Tui advised to claim flight delay compensation directly with Albastar. I did this and received emails saying claims received, then a succession of emails first saying we will be paying in euros, then we are unable to pay as we do not have all information (IBAN). All this information was given and I then sent a recorded letter to Albastar in Palma, providing all the required information again. I then received two emails about the claims (2 passengers) saying they would pay. Two hours later, more emails saying they could not pay. The emails come from a No Reply email address and this is now infuriating. Another passenger on our flight has had the same issue. Contacting Tui directly is no help as they say it is for Albastar to pay compensation and perhaps call the Civil Aviation Authority. Help!!!!!! The UK ADR does not have Albastar signed up, perhaps as it is in Spain, so where do I go for resolution. Also, I think Tui could do more, even just accepts the problem their customers encounter when flying with an airline they have chosen to partner with and raise these concerns with Albastar.

eskbanker

The flight delay/cancellation regulations are clear that it's the operating air carrier who's responsible for paying compensation, so TUI are correct that it's not their issue.

You could try the CAA PACT department, although they don't actually have enforcement powers:

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers-and-public/resolving-travel-problems/how-the-caa-can-help/how-the-caa-can-help/

A side issue really, but strictly speaking you can claim under the UK regulations (under which compensation is due in sterling) rather than the EU ones which specify € - an EU airline will naturally be more familiar with the latter but a claim for a flight from the UK on an EU airline can be made under the passenger's choice of regulations.

Edit: you also have the option of escalating to the CAA's Spanish equivalent:

https://www.seguridadaerea.gob.es/en/ambitos/derechos-de-los-pasajeros/procedimiento-para-reclamar/procedimiento-para-reclamar-ante-aesa-reg.261-2004

blackbird24

Hello @eskbanker I emailed them after finding an address online, they now say the compensation will be paid but within 180 days of payment authorisation - with no indication of when that will be. Any advice?

eskbanker

blackbird24 said:

Hello @eskbanker I emailed them after finding an address online, they now say the compensation will be paid but within 180 days of payment authorisation - with no indication of when that will be. Any advice?

I can't think of any valid reason to delay payment by six months once they've accepted the claim, but now that they've done so and committed to repayment then I'm not sure that there are any grounds to escalate to other bodies - the regulations don't have any mandated timescales for compensation payments.