No compensation when an airport causes financial loss?

jackgem

Last year our family of 4 were due to leave Luton airport on a 07:15 flight to Antalya on 16th July. It had a problem with its baggage system, it then didn't organise the 100s strong queue of people leaving at all different times, and so our flight departed and transport left without us. Instead we left Luton at 17:55 on 16th July (on the 16:55 flight that left an hour late,) for which we had to pay an extra £910 for flight and 70 Euros for an airport transfer the other end.

We weren't made aware at check in that the huge queues were due to a faulty system and promised that there would be no problem getting our flight, despite everyone's concerns that the queues weren’t moving quickly. No priority for when people were flying.

We were eventually able to access a machine that printed our own boarding card and then advised of ongoing queues but to drop our bags at overweight baggage, no further discussion given.

We then joined a 100s strong queue of people, for a further hour barely moving as the process was so slow, being told flights are being delayed so we won’t miss our flight, and that no-one would be prioritised on that basis.

When we finally checked in our bag and ran for the gate, it was not only closed (although the plane was still there) there was nobody at all in the gate lounge to speak to us. No one could tell us what to do next or where our bags might be unloaded, and had to make our way back to the main airport completely alone.

We didn’t get our bags back until 11:30ish however my husband had to stand around to make sure we got them because random bags were being brought up every 15-30 mins of all the passengers who had also missed their flights and left in the airport concourse.

When we tried to rebook our flights we were only offered no charge flights for Wednesday evening, meaning we would lose 2 days of our holiday due to Luton airport’s errors. No compensation offered or refreshments whilst we waited 12 hours for the flights we had to pay for (with two small children).

TUI wouldn't help as it wasn't their fault. The travel insurance pointed to the airport. The airport say its not their policy to compensate. 

Any way I can get some money back? I understand issues happen but their management of the situation was just as much to blame. 

 

NoodleDoodleMan

What does your travel insurance policy say about delayed departures ?

Grumpy_chap

jackgem said:

Last year our family of 4 were due to leave Luton airport on a 07:15 flight to Antalya on 16th July. It had a problem with its baggage system, it then didn't organise the 100s strong queue of people leaving at all different times, and so our flight departed and transport left without us. Instead we left Luton at 17:55 on 16th July (on the 16:55 flight that left an hour late,) for which we had to pay an extra £910 for flight and 70 Euros for an airport transfer the other end.

We weren't made aware at check in that the huge queues were due to a faulty system and promised that there would be no problem getting our flight, despite everyone's concerns that the queues weren’t moving quickly. No priority for when people were flying.

We were eventually able to access a machine that printed our own boarding card and then advised of ongoing queues but to drop our bags at overweight baggage, no further discussion given.

We then joined a 100s strong queue of people, for a further hour barely moving as the process was so slow, being told flights are being delayed so we won’t miss our flight, and that no-one would be prioritised on that basis.

When we finally checked in our bag and ran for the gate, it was not only closed (although the plane was still there) there was nobody at all in the gate lounge to speak to us. No one could tell us what to do next or where our bags might be unloaded, and had to make our way back to the main airport completely alone.

We didn’t get our bags back until 11:30ish however my husband had to stand around to make sure we got them because random bags were being brought up every 15-30 mins of all the passengers who had also missed their flights and left in the airport concourse.

When we tried to rebook our flights we were only offered no charge flights for Wednesday evening, meaning we would lose 2 days of our holiday due to Luton airport’s errors. No compensation offered or refreshments whilst we waited 12 hours for the flights we had to pay for (with two small children).

TUI wouldn't help as it wasn't their fault. The travel insurance pointed to the airport. The airport say its not their policy to compensate. 

Any way I can get some money back? I understand issues happen but their management of the situation was just as much to blame. 

 

What time did you arrive at the airport for the flight?
What time did the original (07:15) flight actually take off?

It seems as though the airline are treating this as a missed departure / missed boarding.  Is that how matters have been communicated to you?

Hoenir

Last July Luton Airport handled an average of 52,700 passenger a day.  Unfortunately there wouldn't be the staff available to manually handle the disruption caused by a baggage system failure. Travel is always fraught with the unexpected. As for compensation claims could run into many millions of pounds if they were entertained. There's no allowance built into the pricing structure to allow for such eventualities. In 2023 the airport generated gross revenue of less than £4 for each passenger that transited through the airport. 

elsien

NoodleDoodleMan said:

What does your travel insurance policy say about delayed departures ?

It’s unclear whether this was a delayed departure. The OP mentions being told not to worry because flights were being delayed, but they haven’t actually said whether theirs left on time or not

saajan_12

The key is what time were you at the airport check in desk? The time you printed the boardign pass at the machine may be a starting point. 

Unless the airline is saying you then faffed around in the airport instead of dropping bags and heading to the gate, its hard for them to argue missed boarding. 

jackgem said:

When we tried to rebook our flights we were only offered no charge flights for Wednesday evening, meaning we would lose 2 days of our holiday due to Luton airport’s errors. No compensation offered or refreshments whilst we waited 12 hours for the flights we had to pay for (with two small children).

From the above, its not clear the airline are indeed saying it was the OP's fault, given they did offer some alternative flights. If they do concede that its denied boarding, then they're obligated to send you on a reasonably soon alternative, which would be the flights you actually picked and paid for. 
Hence you may have a decent claim for a refund of the new flight cost. 

The compensation for denied boarding may be harder, as the airline might claim its not their fault but rather the airport's. Would ultimately depend on the details as perhaps they could have prioritised passengers on earlier flights etc. 

jackgem

Thank you. The flights we got were with another airline. TUI/easyjet said it was the airport’s fault and couldn’t hold the plane any longer for everyone in the mismanaged queue. So they treated it as a missed flight even thought we were on time and stuck in the airport. The airport has a disclaimer hidden on its website that any problems caused by it need to be covered by some catch all insurance that I’d be surprised was available for any reasonable cost.