Hainan Airlines cancelled flight, Trip.com won’t rebook properly – rights under UK261?

pepinillo

Hi all,

Hoping for some guidance or experience from others.

My wife and I had a return flight booked from Manchester to Shanghai on 15 May 2025 with Hainan Airlines, booked via Trip.com. A few days ago, Trip.com told us the flight was cancelled.

They offered to rebook, but only with Hainan Airlines — which no longer offers a flight on that date. They have flights on the day before and after, but not on the 15th. 

We asked to be rebooked on alternative airlines that do fly that day (e.g. Swiss or Brussels Airlines), arriving in Shanghai on 16 May. Trip.com refused and said our only option was to cancel and buy a new flight ourselves (which would cost 3–4x more).

So far we have:

- Contacted both Trip.com and Hainan Airlines

- Filed a complaint via Resolver

- Not cancelled the booking ourselves (to protect our rights under UK261)

We’re now stuck with no valid flight and a deadline approaching.

Questions:

- Does UK261 entitle us to rebooking on another airline if our original carrier has no flights on that day?

- If we buy a new ticket ourselves, can we recover the cost through legal action?

- Is it worth going to Small Claims Court if needed?

Any help would be really appreciated — we’re just trying to get to China without being punished for something outside our control.

Thanks!

eskbanker

UK261 obliges the airline (not the agent) to offer you the choice between a refund and rebooking 'at the earliest opportunity' (and 'under comparable transport conditions') when cancelling, so it could be argued that a direct flight the day before fulfils this.

Perhaps worth reading through the rerouting guidance offered by the CAA at:
Re-routing in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 261/2004

Unfortunately I think you'll find it's a grey area and that you don't have a clear cut and dried case to insist on an alternative airline on the day of the original flight or to reclaim the cost....

Voyager2002

Is it really impossible for you to travel the day before or the day after?

Yes, you are absolutely in the right according to the law. If the airline fails to re-route you then you can buy a completely new ticket and send them the bill. However, if they fail to pay then you need to take them to court, and are you confident that Hainan Airlines have any assets in the UK? You could get to the point of turning up at an airport with a High Court bailiff in order to seize one of their aircraft, but imagine just how much you would spend in legal costs and time and worry before reaching this point.

eskbanker

Voyager2002 said:

Yes, you are absolutely in the right according to the law.

Are you able to highlight case law or equivalent citations to support this?  As above, it doesn't seem absolute to me, with both parties potentially able to deploy valid arguments....

pepinillo

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies – really appreciate it!

Regarding the suggestion to fly a day before or after: unfortunately, those options are not possible for us. I already have a connecting flight and hotel bookings after the 15th, so flying later would disrupt everything. And flying the day before isn’t possible either due to annual leave restrictions – I can’t take more days off work.

I understand this whole situation may be a bit of a grey area, and I don’t want to be unreasonable. I’m just trying to make sense of what the law expects from the airline in this case. Since Hainan no longer flies that day, and other airlines do, I assumed they might still have a duty to rebook us under UK261.

I’ve reached out via Resolver and sent emails to both Hainan and Trip.com. I’m not seeking compensation, just a rebooking or at least a clear written response. I’m open to being corrected if I’m misunderstanding how the law applies here.

Voyager2002

eskbanker said:

Voyager2002 said:

Yes, you are absolutely in the right according to the law.

Are you able to highlight case law or equivalent citations to support this?  As above, it doesn't seem absolute to me, with both parties potentially able to deploy valid arguments....

OK... it was a rhetorical flourish. My main point was the gap between havng a legal right and being able to enforce it.

Emily_Joy

Since Hainan informed you over two weeks in advance, under UK261 they 
1) are not obliged to offer you a flight with different airline
2) are not obliged to pay any compensation whatsoever. 
They are also not a EU/UK airline. 
Your best bet is to try another UK airport. Your travel insurance, especially if you have one via AMEX, might be able to offer some compensation for disruption. Also note that since you booked via an agent, your contract is with an the agent, not with the airline. 

eskbanker

Emily_Joy said:

Since Hainan informed you over two weeks in advance, under UK261 they 
1) are not obliged to offer you a flight with different airline
2) are not obliged to pay any compensation whatsoever.

The 14 day notice does remove any liability for article 7 compensation, but doesn't rid the airline of liability to reroute under article 8, which is the same regardless of how far in advance the cancellation is - as above, there is still room for debate as to whether the airline has to offer flights on another airline in this case, but it's not affected by the notice given.

Emily_Joy

eskbanker said:

Emily_Joy said:

Since Hainan informed you over two weeks in advance, under UK261 they 
1) are not obliged to offer you a flight with different airline
2) are not obliged to pay any compensation whatsoever.

The 14 day notice does remove any liability for article 7 compensation, but doesn't rid the airline of liability to reroute under article 8, which is the same regardless of how far in advance the cancellation is - as above, there is still room for debate as to whether the airline has to offer flights on another airline in this case, but it's not affected by the notice given.

Do you know an airline that would offer an alternative flight with another carrier in case of cancellation? 

Wizzair routinely offers to change the arrival and departure airports within certain limits, e.g. last year we were to fly to Belgrade and back, our return flights were cancelled and we were able to rebook from Podgorica instead.

eskbanker

Emily_Joy said:

eskbanker said:

Emily_Joy said:

Since Hainan informed you over two weeks in advance, under UK261 they 
1) are not obliged to offer you a flight with different airline
2) are not obliged to pay any compensation whatsoever.

The 14 day notice does remove any liability for article 7 compensation, but doesn't rid the airline of liability to reroute under article 8, which is the same regardless of how far in advance the cancellation is - as above, there is still room for debate as to whether the airline has to offer flights on another airline in this case, but it's not affected by the notice given.

Do you know an airline that would offer an alternative flight with another carrier in case of cancellation? 

The point is about what the airline's legal liability is, not the extent to which they do or don't comply with that!

Emily_Joy

eskbanker said:

Emily_Joy said:

Do you know an airline that would offer an alternative flight with another carrier in case of cancellation? 

The point is about what the airline's legal liability is, not the extent to which they do or don't comply with that!

In practice the latter seems to matter more, as @Voyager2002 pointed out. The passenger often has little choice especially in the case of cancellation at a short notice.