Iberia Missed Connection and Cancelled Flight

mkmse2024

Hello Everyone, 

Long time lurker and first time poster looking for some guidance please. 

I'll start with some background on the issue including the flight details which may give some more colour. If you need any more information just let me know but I know it's a lot to trawl through. 

I booked a return flight from Manchester to Lima from 16th September to 30th September 2024 with a change in Madrid on each leg.

Flight there was all fine but on the flight home we were delayed 2hr50 out of Lima on September 29th (IB6650) which meant we landed 2hr55 after our initial landing time and missed our connecting flight out of Madrid to Manchester on 30th (IB3692) .

We were told there was no other flights out of Madrid to Manchester or even the UK that day (30th) so put up in Madrid Airport Suites Hotel for the night with dinner, breakfast and lunch vouchers given by Iberia. We were also booked on a flight out of Madrid the next day (1st Oct) on flight IB3174 to London Heathrow with a new connection flight to Manchester (BA1400). 

We got to the airport nice and early but were told around 30 minutes before takeoff that flight IB3174 to London Heathrow was now also cancelled with again no other flight to the UK available that day. This meant we were ultimately put up in the Madrid Airport Suites Hotel again for one more night on Oct 1. After some back and forth we managed to swap our next new flight from a 16.10 to Manchester via Iberia on 2nd October (IB3692 again) to a connecting flight through Brussels that would get us there just after 10am (SN3732 + SN2173). 

Ultimately, we left Lima on Sunday evening and returned to Manchester on Wednesday morning. 

Now obviously I believe I am due some compensation here but I just wanted some guidance on what exactly for. Am I in a position to claim for both the missed connection and then also my alternative flight to Heathrow the next day which got cancelled?

I know Iberia put us up in a hotel but I think you can agree a 3 day delay is unacceptable. I will also add the hotel given was absolutely appalling, including the food for which we didn't even use the vouchers for in the end it was that bad. The transfer to the hotel was so unreliable both in terms or frequency and capacity that we also had to just grab an uber on one occasion since that many people wanted to use it. I was hesitant to mention this last part in case it gives the wrong idea as it isn't an issue in itself but the hotel also seemed to be currently used for asylum seekers too based on reviews and the fact we saw the Red Cross present with large groups of guests. Furthermore our second night back to the hotel we were greeted by a large road block by the police right outside the hotel who were checking every car coming and going. Obviously something had happened but reception wouldn't tell us what. Honestly it's embarrassing Iberia uses this hotel and Melia has its name attached to it. 

This is all on top of some things which I know will be difficult to quantify and claim for, such as extra cattery expenses, unpaid leave from work and the mental toll and stress caused to me and my partner during the delay.

Would someone be able to point me in the best direction in rider to reach some sort of resolution here in terms of compensation? This has never happened to me before so I'm a bit lost as to where I go. Would I raise it directly through Iberia to start? No reason or explanation has ever been given for the delays or cancellation and we told just take it to the Iberia desk to sort in the airport. 

From other posts I believe I am due compensation through EU261 but as I say I'm a bit lost with it. 

Appreciate any help you can give and as I say if you need any more information please just let me know. 

eskbanker

EU261 imposes three separate sets of obligations onto airlines when there are delays or cancellations, two of which are rerouting (or refunding if preferred) and the right to care (sorting out accommodation and meals while waiting) - it sounds like Iberia fulfilled their regulatory obligations on these, even though you were obviously unimpressed with the quality of the hotel.

The other aspect is fixed-tariff compensation, but there is a significant caveat in that the airline doesn't need to pay out "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 the root cause of the delay and cancellation needs to be established - if you weren't told of any reasons then all you can do is to submit your claim to Iberia and take it from there.  Unless there were extraordinary circumstances involved, you should be able to claim for both the original delay and then the subsequent cancellation as two separate events.

mkmse2024

Thank you for the detailed response, much appreciated. 

bagand96

You need to submit your complaint to Iberia. Like most airlines this is done via their website, their information page is here: https://www.iberia.com/gb/passengers-rights/ which is just the statutory page notifying passenger rights, and leads to their complaint form here https://www.iberia.com/gb/customer-relations/

mdann52

EU261 wouldn't apply here, it's a non-EU to non-EU flight.

UK261 might apply, and you may actually be due 3 lots of compensation. What was the reasons given for the delays and cancellations?

eskbanker

mdann52 said:

EU261 wouldn't apply here, it's a non-EU to non-EU flight.

In the context of two flights/legs with an EU airline, one into the EU and another out of it, is there any established precedent that EU261 is precluded by virtue of neither overall endpoint being within the EU?

Perhaps academic though, in that if combining both legs is enough to rule out EU261 then that would in turn bring UK261 into play, as you say!

mdann52 said:

you may actually be due 3 lots of compensation

I'm only seeing two (missed connection due to delay, and then cancellation of Heathrow flight on the 1st), what's the third you have in mind?

mkmse2024

mdann52 said:

EU261 wouldn't apply here, it's a non-EU to non-EU flight.

UK261 might apply, and you may actually be due 3 lots of compensation. What was the reasons given for the delays and cancellations?

Thanks for the reply but not sure I follow sorry so would like to clarify. 

The missed connection and cancelled flight was out of Madrid. Because the ultimate destination was Manchester would that mean EU261 no longer applies? 

Also since the airline was Iberia would that not have a bearing? 

mkmse2024

mdann52 said:

 What was the reasons given for the delays and cancellations?

Not sure how to edit the above but missed this. No reason still given. I've raised a complaint through the Iberia website as directed though so hopefully hear something in the coming days! Was nearly 7 days ago which they said was the timeframe. 

eskbanker

mkmse2024 said:

mdann52 said:

EU261 wouldn't apply here, it's a non-EU to non-EU flight.

UK261 might apply, and you may actually be due 3 lots of compensation. What was the reasons given for the delays and cancellations?

Thanks for the reply but not sure I follow sorry so would like to clarify. 

The missed connection and cancelled flight was out of Madrid. Because the ultimate destination was Manchester would that mean EU261 no longer applies? 

Also since the airline was Iberia would that not have a bearing? 

Your original reference to "I booked a return flight from Manchester to Lima from 16th September to 30th September 2024 with a change in Madrid on each leg" suggests that it was a single through booking and this would therefore be treated as a journey from Lima to Manchester for compensation calculation purposes (which is to your advantage, given the distances involved!).

As above, it's unclear to me if this actually takes it out of EU261 scope though, but even if it does, the equivalent UK261 should prevail, as this covers journeys into the UK on EU airlines.

mkmse2024

eskbanker said:

mkmse2024 said:

mdann52 said:

EU261 wouldn't apply here, it's a non-EU to non-EU flight.

UK261 might apply, and you may actually be due 3 lots of compensation. What was the reasons given for the delays and cancellations?

Thanks for the reply but not sure I follow sorry so would like to clarify. 

The missed connection and cancelled flight was out of Madrid. Because the ultimate destination was Manchester would that mean EU261 no longer applies? 

Also since the airline was Iberia would that not have a bearing? 

Your original reference to "I booked a return flight from Manchester to Lima from 16th September to 30th September 2024 with a change in Madrid on each leg" suggests that it was a single through booking and this would therefore be treated as a journey from Lima to Manchester for compensation calculation purposes (which is to your advantage, given the distances involved!).

As above, it's unclear to me if this actually takes it out of EU261 scope though, but even if it does, the equivalent UK261 should prevail, as this covers journeys into the UK on EU airlines.

Ah OK, understood. That's good to know if I need to quote some regs as I was only aware of EU261. Finger crossed either way! 

mdann52

eskbanker said:

mdann52 said:

EU261 wouldn't apply here, it's a non-EU to non-EU flight.

In the context of two flights/legs with an EU airline, one into the EU and another out of it, is there any established precedent that EU261 is precluded by virtue of neither overall endpoint being within the EU?

Perhaps academic though, in that if combining both legs is enough to rule out EU261 then that would in turn bring UK261 into play, as you say!

Yes there's case law. See Case C‑451/20 (Airhelp v Austrian Airlines)

Three lots I was mistaken on, sorry!