Paphos Flight Cancellation

emily_m_89

My mum was on an Easyjet package holiday in Paphos when everything kicked off in the UAE last weekend. In their own words, Easyjet made the decision to cancel flights to Cyprus on Monday 2nd, Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th March "as a precaution". At no point did the FCDO advise against travel to Cyprus, airspace was not closed, and Paphos airport was only closed for a very short period of time on Monday 2nd March due to a security alert. All other UK airlines (with the exception of Tui who cancelled a small number of flights on Wednesday 4th) continued to operate their scheduled flights, and there has been no public information released regarding a security alert on the 3rd or 4th to support the cancellation of flights on Wednesday 4th March between the UK and Cyprus.

When mum's flight to Manchester on Wednesday 4th was cancelled, Easyjet allocated her a replacement flight, 6 days later, to Gatwick. Due to work and other commitments, and the distance from Manchester, mum advised Easyjet that this flight wasn't acceptable, and asked if there were any earlier flights she could be put on. She was told they weren't able to offer her any other options at the time (she didn't know that they should have offered her flights with alternative carriers, or that this option was available to flight only passengers, nor was she aware that she could have requested a refund), but she was instead encouraged make her own alternative arrangements and submit an expenses claim for reimbursement of those costs. She advised that she would be taking this option as she couldn't wait until Tuesday 10th March for a flight to Gatwick.

Mum booked a flight to Birmingham with Jet 2 for Wednesday 4th, her original travel date. She then booked onward travel via train to Macclesfield, and took a taxi from her hotel to Paphos airport, as her transfer in resort had also been cancelled. At 10pm on the evening of the 3rd, she was offered a Ryainair flight to Birmingham for early the following day, which she declined as she had already made alternative arrangements. She was once again advised to put in an expenses claim for those travel arrangements.

Upon her return, mum submitted a claim for flight compensation, and also contacted Easyjet to ask how much she was entitled to in the form of a refund for the cancelled flight, which we understand she should have been offered when Easyjet were unable to put her on a suitable alternative flight. She did this to save the hassle and potential for her expenses claim to be refused on a technicality, she is aware that she cannot claim both a refund and reimbursement of expenses. In response to both requests, she has been informed that she is not entitled to compensation or a refund as the flight was cancelled due to "exceptional circumstances". She was advised again to submit an expenses claim for the alternative travel arrangements she made.

This evening, Easyjet have informed her that her claim for expenses has been refused because "the route you booked differs from your original booking". Reimbursement is apparently only applicable when the new flight is to the original destination "or a nearby airport". It's unclear how a flight to Gatwick and Birmingham is considered "close enough" when offered by Easyjet, and yet her flight to Birmingham is not considered to be a "nearby" airport. She was not informed of these conditions when she was advised to make her own arrangements, and due to the late cancellation of her original flight, she didn't have the opportunity to check the conditions specific to this situation.

From Birmingham Airport, mum travelled by train to Macclesfield, as there was no point travelling all the way to Manchester Airport, only to go back towards Macclesfield. Is this a large enough loophole to absolve Easyjet of all responsibility? It seems unreasonable to expect someone to travel even further simply to tick a box.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. Initially, we wonder if anyone has successfully managed to prove that these circumstances were not "exceptional" - given Easyjet themselves claimed they were cancelling flights "as a precaution" and many other airlines continued to arrive and depart. Any other thoughts on the above, and how my mum might actually reclaim some of the costs incurred? Easyjet's own website advises that you have the option to transfer to another airline, take a train, bus or hire a car to complete your journey. They state that you will be entitled to claim reasonable transport costs back. The total claim is for less than £130pp, which I think is incredibly reasonable given the Ryanair flight she was later offered was over £400pp without luggage! Grateful for any thoughts/advice.

eskbanker

In response to both requests, she has been informed that she is not entitled to compensation or a refund as the flight was cancelled due to "exceptional circumstances". She was advised again to submit an expenses claim for the alternative travel arrangements she made.

Initially, we wonder if anyone has successfully managed to prove that these circumstances were not "exceptional" - given Easyjet themselves claimed they were cancelling flights "as a precaution" and many other airlines continued to arrive and depart.

When cancelling flights, airlines have three obligations:

1. Pay compensation, unless the root cause was extraordinary circumstances beyond their control - regardless of what other airlines chose to do, it does seem likely that EasyJet would be able to justify cancelling flights for a few days after the drone strike at Akrotiri (not far from Paphos) on the 1st, as one airline's view of safety may legitimately differ from another's.
2. There is also the requirement to offer passengers the choice between rerouting or a refund, and, as you accept, it's one or the other, but the choice is the passenger's. Note that this applies regardless of root cause, so even if running the extraordinary circumstances argument to deny compensation, they're still required to offer refund or reroute.
3. The right to care is the third aspect, i.e. funding accommodation and subsistence while awaiting rerouting.

These rights apply to airline passengers, but those on package bookings also have coverage under the Package Travel Regulations on top of these - were you dealing with EasyJet the airline or EasyJet Holidays, the package provider?