The Observer - 04.08.2019

Section:OBS 2N PaGe:54 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 9:45 cYanmaGentaYellowblac

• The Observer
  54 04.08.19 Cash

Know your rights when

airport chaos turns a

holiday into a nightmare

Passengers have been

stranded in the recent

heatwave and strikes

now loom. But what

compensation can

you claim for if you’re

faced with delayed or

cancelled fl ights?

Shane Hickey reports

I

t should be the start of the

holiday but for too many

travellers the airport marks

the start of a nightmare.

The recent heatwave across

Europe brought thun-

derstorms which left thousands

stranded in UK airports having to

endure cancellations and delays

with many sleeping on the fl oor as

hotels ran out of space.

And the coming weeks could see

a series of further disruptions with

the possibility of strikes looming.

This week, the results of a ballot of

members of Ryanair’s pilot union

will emerge after a vote on strike

action in a dispute over working

conditions.

Meanwhile, possible strikes by

British Airways pilots could also

cause disruption after the airline

lost a second legal attempt to block

industrial action last week.

So what consumer rights do trav-

ellers need to be aware of?

Delayed for take-off

European Union law kicks in for

passengers on fl ights which orig-

inate in the EU or arrive there and

are operated by an EU airline.

The next question is how long

was the delay. If more than two

hours for short-haul (less than

1,500km), three hours for a

medium-haul (1,500-3,500km) and

more than four hours for long-haul

(over 3,500km), then passengers are

entitled to food, drink and access to

communications such as a phone, as

well as accommodation if the delay

is overnight. If it is for more than

fi ve hours, passengers are entitled to

a refund if they don’t want to travel

any more.

Compensation may be due if the

fault was the airline’s. “For instance,

you can probably claim if the delay

was caused by poor aircraft mainte-

nance or fl ight crew being unavaila-

ble,” says the Civil Aviation Authority

(CAA). “However, delays caused by

things like extreme weather, air

traffi c control or airport employee

strikes, situations where the entire

airport was closed or other ‘extraor-

dinary circumstances’ are not eligi-

ble for compensation.”

Levels of compensation are again

dictated by distance and time and

range from €250 for a three-hour

delay on a short-haul fl ight to €600

for delays of more than four hours

on a long-haul journey.

Cancelled outright

If a fl ight is cancelled, passen-

gers can’t be left stranded. Under

EU laws, they can get their money

back for the parts of the ticket which

have not been used, such as a leg of

a return ticket. If they still want to

fl y, then the airline is obliged to fi nd

another fl ight, whether it be as soon

as possible or at a later date.

If fl ights are extremely heavily

booked, travellers may fi nd that the

next fl ight available is several days

away. Compensation may be availa-

ble if less than 14 days notice of the

cancellation is given, but this again

depends on the cause, with the

“extraordinary circumstances” get-

out a possibility.

If compensation is available, it

again depends on distance and time,

going from €125 for a fl ight that

arrives two hours later than an orig-

inal short-haul fl ight was expected,

to the €600 for a long-haul replace-

ment fl ight that arrives four hours

later than the original was expected.

Will strikes stop the rules?

With the prospect of strikes loom-

ing, it is good practice for travel-

lers to know where they stand if

they face delays or have their fl ights

cancelled. Airlines are not normally

obliged to offer compensation as

strikes are deemed extraordinary

circumstances. This is not always

the case, however.

“Under EU rules, strikes may be

considered as ‘extraordinary circum-

stances’, which means the airline

does not have to pay compensation.

To be exempted from paying com-

pensation, the airline must prove

that: A, there is a link between the

extraordinary circumstances and the

delay or the cancellation; and B, the

delay or cancellation could not have

been avoided, even if all reasonable

measures had been taken,” accord-

ing to the European Commission’s

Europa.eu. If passengers are

unhappy with the explanation, they

should contact the CAA.

Naomi Leach of Which? says

that in the case of strikes by BA and

Ryanair staff, there may be com-

pensation due. “If delays or cancel-

lations are a result of the airline’s

own staff striking, passengers may

be entitled to fi xed compensation

under EU law as this won’t usually

be considered an extraordinary cir-

cumstance,” she adds.

Does my travel insurer need to

be involved?

The fi rst port of call when seeking

redress for delays or cancellation

should be the airline, not the travel

insurer, which is unlikely to be of

much help, according to Which? “It

is worth checking what travel insur-

ance you already have – many bank

accounts, for example, may include

holiday cover. But even if your travel

insurance policy does offer compen-

sation for a delay, in most cases this

will only cover extra expenses such

as food and drink at the airport,”

says Leach.

In the case of holidays having to

be abandoned as a result of severe

delays or cancellations at a busy

time, such as during the calami-

tous drone incident at Gatwick last

year, a decent travel insurance pol-

icy should cover the cost of travel-

lers having to abandon their plans

• including hotel and car hire can-
  cellation at their destination.
  The devil is in the detail, how-
  ever. Research from GoCompare.
  com shows that 90% of policies
  offer some cover for abandoning
  a holiday after an extended delay
  (typically 12 to 24 hours) with maxi-
  mum payouts ranging from £250 to
  £12,500, with most bunched around
  £3,000 to £5,000.

Do I need help to claim

compensation?

A number of sites, such as Martin

Lewis’s MoneySavingExpert and

Which?, have helpful tools and

generic letters. You can claim from

an airline direct free of charge but

that, of course, has not stopped a

mini industry of “claims manage-

ment fi rms” charging heavy fees.

Some pocket more than 40% of any

payout, although they have no spe-

cial powers to pursue claims.

The long delay ... British Airways passengers had to cope with days of disruption

at Heathrow after an IT meltdown in 2017 Photograph by Andy Rain/EPA

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