Flight delays in Middle East

akkers

I visited a country in Middle East. I had a flight from a local city to main hub. I got to the local airport around 10pm, checked in and got to the departure gate around 12 midnight. The flight was scheduled for 2.40am (with my main flight back to UK at 8am from the hub).

Anyway we waited and waited in the freezing departure lounge and they kept telling us that the flight was delayed. They gave us a small carton of apple juice and a tiny bottle of water. At 6am they told us the flight was cancelled and we had to go back to the main terminal and seek assistance from the airline. We did that but the staff there kept fobbing us off; they said they were preparing a contingency plan to get us back on track. But nothing was happening; they were essentially incompetent and had no plan. So we kept going back and eventually manage to get us booked on the 10.30pm flight out which would connect to the flight from the hub at 8.30am next morning. All this time they did not offer us any food or accommodation. We argued with them to provide food and/or accommodation but they refused citing that we had tourist visas which precluded us from any kind of compensation.

Anyway we did get on the 10.30pm flight to the hub and got there around 11.30pm. Then we had to wait until 8.30am for the UK flight, waiting 9hrs in a freezing cold airport. Again no accommodation or food was provided.

What are our rights here? I guess they will cite the war in the Middle East as a get-out clause. But its disgusting that we were stuck for over 30hrs and they would'nt even provide any food, never mind accommodation.

btw airports in the middle east tend to have air conditioners on full blast without consideration to peoples' comfort or well-being.

silvercar

A bit vague on details here, naming the airline would certainly help! If a UK or EU airline then EU (or UK) 261 applies, giving you more rights. A non EU/ UK airline operating from outside the EU and you have fewer rights.

Without knowing the country or visa situation, could it be that your visa was a one time entry, so having officially left you couldn't re-enter the country? so there was no way for them to provide accommodation?

Ayr_Rage

Your rights will be determined by the regulator wherever the disruption happened and whether the airline complied.

What was the country and airline?

akkers

Saudi Airlines in Saudi Arabia, flying back to UK. We had multiple tourist visa but that should not impact our rights, should it?

A friend sent me this:

eskbanker

So have you digested that Saudi legislation and challenged the airline over its lack of compliance?

akkers

No, not yet. I was hoping I would get further advice here.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82184385#Comment_82184385

There's plenty of expertise here about the regulations for UK or EU airlines flying to or from the UK or EU, but flights leaving other countries on non-UK/EU airlines aren't covered by these familiar regulations and so your rights are determined by (a) the airline's conditions of carriage and (b) any passenger rights provisions in the national legislation of the country concerned, hence these being the areas you need to research.