Qatar Airways Flight Delay Claim

richm86

Hi,

Was looking for some advice. I was hoping for the max £520 compensation but have been offered only £156 by Qatar Airways despite arriving at my final destination over 5 hours than I should have. I’ve provided my scenario and also Qatar’s reply below. Is this right?

My scenario:
I was booked on a flight from Saudi to Qatar. The flight was due to depart at 22:30 but did not depart until a couple of hours later, 00:45 the next morning. This resulted in me missing my connecting flight, from Qatar to Gatwick, departing 01:35. I was then put on a flight from Qatar to Heathrow departing 07:40. This resulted in me arriving into Heathrow at 11:43. I was originally due to arrive into Gatwick at 06:05, therefore I arrived into London over 5 hours than I originally should have. All flights were booked on same booking through Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways response:
Regarding your claim, we would like to clarify that EC regulation states that the protections for passengers departing from an airport in a Member State apply to those leaving from an airport in a third country to a Member State only when a community carrier operates the flight. Since Qatar Airways is not a community carrier and the delayed flight departed from an airport outside the European Union, we regret to inform you that the EC regulation does not apply in this case, and we must respectfully decline your request for compensation under EC guidelines.

However, we would like to offer you GBP 156.08 as compensation in accordance with Saudi Regulation. 

bagand96

Qatar Airways are correct. Non EU/UK airline, operating a flight departing outside of the EU/UK therefore the EU or UK regulations do not apply. 

DullGreyGuy

richm86 said:

I was booked on a flight from Saudi to Qatar. The flight was due to depart at 22:30 but did not depart until a couple of hours later, 00:45 the next morning. This resulted in me missing my connecting flight, from Qatar to Gatwick, departing 01:35. I was then put on a flight from Qatar to Heathrow departing 07:40. This resulted in me arriving into Heathrow at 11:43. I was originally due to arrive into Gatwick at 06:05, therefore I arrived into London over 5 hours than I originally should have. All flights were booked on same booking through Qatar Airways.

Same booking makes no difference, its only if its on the same ticket do you consider the final destination of the complete journey.

Thats by the by anyway, EU/UK261 doesn't apply to a non-UK/EU airline for flights originating outside of the UK or EU. 

Not sure you'll get many people that have in-depth knowledge of what the Saudi regulations are on a UK forum. 

Ayr_Rage

You were certainly not entitled to EU levels of compensation.

Only thing to do is check what applies in Saudi Arabia and see if they have met their obligations.

jimi_man

Tbh I think you've done well getting £156 compensation!

eskbanker

Out of curiosity, I had a rummage around for the Saudi regulations, and they do indeed specify compensation of 150 Special Drawing Rights (circa £156 at current rates) for delays of over six hours - if OP's arrival at the wrong London airport was over five hours later than planned then it seems reasonable to assume that arrival at the booked destination would have been over six hours late....

Compensation for delay is calculated based on the passenger’s actual flight arrival time compared to the arrival time specified in the reservation. Compensation is granted as follows:

a. The equivalent of (50) Special Drawing Rights if the total flight delay is three to six hours.

b. The equivalent of (150) Special Drawing Rights if the total flight delay period is more than six hours.

https://www.gaca.gov.sa/ar/Rights_Obligations