Kenyan airways - refusal of compensation

Ericthepenguin

Hi 

Ok. The situation is, i took a Kenyan airways flight London Heathrow to Antananarivo via Nairobi. Plane delayed over 3 hours at Nairobi. Arrived at Antananarivo over 3 hours late. I am a member of Airhelp plus, and have just received the following. Basically should I give up, or contact the CAA and pursue my claim with them.

"We regret to inform you that despite our efforts, Kenya Airways has decided not to accept your claim, refusing any form of compensation for the distress you've encountered. While we disagree with their decision and strongly believe in the validity of your claim, we currently lack means to dispute airline's decision.

Here's why

We have processed your claim under Montreal Convention 1999, which regulates issues related to luggage and extra expenses caused by a flight disruption. While the legal rules resulting from this regulation are the same for all signatories of this legal act, the rules for applying for the said compensation differ between jurisdictions. In some cases, they are extremely complicated and result in a significant procedural difficulty in claiming damages.

Unfortunately, your case would be processed in one of those problematic jurisdiction - our efforts to successfully win a Montreal Convention claim, like yours, there have been ineffective so far and our Legal Team does not expect this situation to change in the near future.

We’re really sorry it’s turned out this way and are as disappointed as you likely are. We apologise for being unable to continue the claim and we thank you for your understanding.

Remember that each claim is unique, and we’d love to help the next time you have a flight that’s delayed, overbooked, or cancelled. We’re always willing to investigate what went wrong and fight for what you deserve."

flaneurs_lobster

I'd be wondering why I am paying Airhelp an annual fee to sort this stuff out for me.

Pretty strange (and useless) form of travel insurance, did you get nothing from them for this delay?

Newbie_John

Stop using Airhelp and similar services, they useless when the case requires more than one email.

I do think it's hard to get anything from non-European airline - even "air help" gave up because now you'd need to step in to a lengthy legal process.

How many people did fly? How long was the delay?
Was it Kenya Airways or KLM perhaps - they often share flights so could try them.
Travel insurance?

bagand96

On the face of it you have a valid claim under UK261 (depending on the reason for the delay in Nairobi)

You could go to the CAA, but while the CAA PACT team might agree you have a valid claim they have no enforcement powers to compel an airline to pay.

Kenya Airways have a UK office so you could start a Small Claims Court case against them. If you win and they ignore the ruling then you're back to how to enforce it.

Hope you're not paying for Airhelp plus.

MeteredOut

bagand96 said:

On the face of it you have a valid claim under UK261 (depending on the reason for the delay in Nairobi)

You could go to the CAA, but while the CAA PACT team might agree you have a valid claim they have no enforcement powers to compel an airline to pay.

Kenya Airways have a UK office so you could start a Small Claims Court case against them. If you win and they ignore the ruling then you're back to how to enforce it.

Hope you're not paying for Airhelp plus.

There's always a way:

 "A passenger sent bailiffs to Luton Airport to collect money owed to him by Wizz Air after his family’s flights were cancelled at the last minute."

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/wizz-air-bailiffs-luton-airport-flight-refund-b2304199.html

They could clamp on of their aircraft on the tarmac

Alan_Bowen

If it was a through ticket, i.e a direct connection and not a situation in which you broke the journey in Nairobi, then Air Help should have claimed under UK261 and not the Montreal Convention. If you did stop in Kenya, then that law would not apply to the delayed flight at all, and you might as well forget any claim

saajan_12

What was the reason for the delay, and was it a through ticket to Antananarivo? 

You may be able to claim yourself under UK261. I did and although KQ took a while (6 months) to respond, they paid without further debate. That took a form on their website and an email. So before you start worrying about recovery, I'd just get on that. 

Then you might also complain and seek a refund from Airhelp on their fees if they utterly failed to help on an easily winnable case. 

Ericthepenguin

Hi Guys

Thanks you for your posts.

I got 100 euro's from Airhelp and 3 hours in a VIP lounge.

I have used 'Resolver' to try and submit my claim. I am really impressed with them. However, when i send my claim all I get is an automatic message from Kenyan Airways with a link to a feedback form. (https://www.kenya-airways.com/en/help/make-an-enquiry/) When i click on that link i get

502 - Web server received an invalid response while acting as a gateway or proxy server.

There is a problem with the page you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed. When the Web server (while acting as a gateway or proxy) contacted the upstream content server, it received an invalid response from the content server.

Kenya airways don't appear to have a compensation form that i can fill in, (they only appear to have a refund form for flight that are cancelled). Methinks they re making it as difficult as they can to claim compensation.

Can anyone help?

Cheers

Eric

Ericthepenguin

Hi.

Managed to get into the form this morning.

Regards

Eric

saajan_12

I either emailed customer.relations@kenya-airways.com or used a generic Contact Us form, not linked to cancellations specifically. 
 
In my case, UK261 applied as the delay was in their control and it was a direct flight originating in UK. 

Does it apply in yours - what was the cause of the delay and was it a through ticket to the destination? Can't really help wihtout the answers to those questions.