Connecting flight in Abu Dhabi delayed by 23 hrs. Compensation?

Dubs65

Hi, We recently flew from Manchester to Singapore with Etihad. It was not a direct flight and the connecting flight was from Abu Dhabi. Original layover was just over 3 hours. The flight should have departed Abu Dhabi at 22.30. Initially we were told (by email) after landing at Abu Dhabi that due to operational difficulties the flight would not depart until 6.20am. A delay of 7 hours 50 minutes. Initially they told us they were looking into hotels. This changed at 1am to a "as it's less than 8 hours we don't need to put you in a hotel". Meals were provided. At 6.30am the delay changed (as we all knew it would). By 9.15am when it became clear they hadn't sorted the issue they then told us a hotel would be provided. We arrived at a hotel at 11.30am, 11 hours after scheduled departure. The flight eventually took off at 9.15pm and we landed in Singapore about 23 hours later than scheduled.
My question is do we qualify for the £520 pp compensation as the flight originated in the UK with a final destination of Singapore. It was booked as 1 trip. Or does it not apply as it was the connecting flight outside of the EU that was delayed? It also meant we didn't use 1 night of the very lovely hotel we had booked for our 2 night Singapore stay - who should i take that up with?

bagand96

As long as it was booked and ticketed under one itinerary then you should be entitled to the UK261 compensation.  Your journey originated in the UK so it is in scope of the legislation. It can be sometimes difficult to persuade airlines of their obligations in these circumstances, especially when not based in UK/EU.  But it is worth putting in a claim with Etihad.

In terms of your unused hotel, if that was non-refundable then you could see if your travel insurance provides cover.  (Assuming here it wasn't a package holiday?)

Dubs65

Thanks bagand96 said:

As long as it was booked and ticketed under one itinerary then you should be entitled to the UK261 compensation.  Your journey originated in the UK so it is in scope of the legislation. It can be sometimes difficult to persuade airlines of their obligations in these circumstances, especially when not based in UK/EU.  But it is worth putting in a claim with Etihad.

In terms of your unused hotel, if that was non-refundable then you could see if your travel insurance provides cover.  (Assuming here it wasn't a package holiday?)

Thanks for your reply. Yes it was booked and ticket under 1 itinerary so fingers crossed! The travel insurance are saying hotel costs cannot be claimed, and the usual delay compensation  of £25  does not apply as it was a connecting flight which caused the delay. Oh and they said as it was due to technical difficulties that also lets them off the hook. Mmmmm i wonder what cause would actually mean they have to pay???