The airline industry has undergone a period of turbulence over the past few weeks. Countless British holidaymakers have been affected by flight cancellations, which have been attributed to a variety of reasons.
Half-term travel chaos is the latest to wreak havoc for excited travellers, with EasyJet and TUI the two most notable airlines to pull flights from service. Huge queues could be found in a number of UK airports after over 200 flights were cancelled due to a software problem.
easyJet has cancelled over 30 flights out of Bristol Aiport last week as the airline culled 200 flights in total. Tui cancelled it's Bristol to Paphos flight on Saturday, May 29, after passengers waited eight hours past the scheduled flight time.
Read more: Bristol Airport chaos as flights cancelled eight hours after passengers check in
Previously, staff shortages and increased passenger numbers were the overwhelming factors behind further passengers having their trips left in tatters. Once the news of a cancelled flight has hit home, understandably the next thought process will be regarding what compensation rights they have for the disruption.
The appropriate rules only apply for UK or EU-regulated flights. For those set for flights anywhere else in the world, there is another set of rules that apply, but you may still get your money back in addition to compensation.
Should a flight be cancelled, you have the legal right to either a full refund or a replacement flight to get you to your intended destination. This applies regardless of the length of time between being notified of the cancellation and the time your flight was set to take off, as well as the cause of the cancellation.
Additional compensation can be claimed as long as certain criteria apply. Any amount between £110 and £500 can be claimed.
The levels of compensation will depend on the delay of the alternative flight as well as the distance of the journey. The cheapest claim (£110) comes for a journey between 0-1,500km, such as London to Paris, and the alternative flight leaves over two hours before and lands up to two hours after the originally scheduled flight. The dearest claim (£500) comes for journeys over 3,500km, such as London to New York, and the rerouted flight lands over four hours late.
Even if you opt for a refund rather than being rerouted, compensation can still be claimed based on the timings of the alternative flight offered. In order to qualify, the rescheduled flight has to arrive at its destination later than the original was scheduled to, the flight was cancelled within 14 days of the journey and the reason for cancellation is firmly down to the airline.
Examples of it being the airline’s fault include the flight being underbooked, a staff strike or the pilot was sick and not replaced. Extraordinary circumstances, such as poor weather, political problems and security or safety issues would acquit the airline from any blame, thus compensation couldn’t be claimed.
Compensation also won’t be able to be claimed if the passenger was told of the cancellation between seven days and two weeks prior to the scheduled departure time and offered a rerouting which ensured you ultimately reached your end destination less than four hours after the scheduled arrival time. If you were told less than seven days before the flight and the rerouting offered would reach the final destination less than two hours after the scheduled arrival time, you also wouldn't be entitled to compensation.
Being bumped off a flight due to overbooking will entitle you to compensation, again depending on the flight distance. If you’re downgraded, although you won't get a full refund for your ticket, you are due compensation - 30% of your ticket cost for short-haul flights, 50% for medium-haul and 75% for long-haul.
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