Tens of thousands of airline passengers are waking up on Sunday morning where they did not intend to be.
Storm Darragh traumatised the UK aviation industry. One dispatcher at London Stansted told me: “This is the worst day I’ve had in the last two years.
“We’ve had a couple of three-hour delays because it was too windy. Air-traffic control wouldn’t let them take off. And diversions from Manchester and Belfast. It’s been s***.”
The passengers who found themselves diverted from Manchester and Belfast may not thank me for saying so, but at least they ended up in the right country.
During Saturday 7 December, I watched transfixed as an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to Manchester circled over northwest England for an hour before diverting to … Frankfurt. Within a couple of hours, Air Canada from Calgary, American Airlines from Dallas and Delta Air Lines from Atlanta had all chosen to land in Brussels rather than continue to try to touch down at London Heathrow. I adore the Belgian capital, but I like to make the decision to visit myself.
Then the wholesale cancellations began, with British Airways alone grounding more than 100 domestic and European departures to and from their hub. Most were destinations such as Amsterdam and Milan with multiple frequencies to pick up those stranded. But grounding holiday flights to Malaga, Athens and Larnaca shows what a s*** day BA had as well.
In past years, early December was extremely low season, and finding empty seats on later flights was no problem; but even 17 days away from Christmas 2025, planes are flying unexpectedly full (and, for the airlines, profitably).
The same prevailed on the last two cancelled flights I have had. One was on 11 November, from Kathmandu to Doha. At about six weeks’ notice, the airport in the Nepali capital announced to Qatar Airways and the other Kathmandu carriers that it would close for 10 hours each night for the next few months. With dozens of flights affected, they were further instructed to cut back on some departures.
Notification that my flight from Kathmandu to Doha had been grounded was sent out while I was hiking in the mobile-phone free Himalayas. By the time I picked up the message, less than 24 hours before the now-cancelled flight, all the other imminent departures had been booked.
With pressing commitments in the UK within two days of my original return, the only solution was to buy the one available aircraft seat out of Kathmandu, regardless of where it was going. That turned out to be Bangkok, diametrically opposite the obvious route to the UK. It also cost almost $1,000 (£780). And it arrived at the Thai capital’s old airport about two hours late.
British Airways wanted a reasonable £525 for a flight from Bangkok’s new airport to Gatwick. The refund for the unused legs on Qatar Airways arrived swiftly. But I was out of pocket by around £500 once the world’s greatest taxi driver had been richly rewarded for covering the distance between Bangkok’s two airports in 40 minutes flat. (She deserved every baht.)
My travel insurer is uninterested in settling that sum, but offers £25 for each eight hours of delay in returning. I was 23 hours late. Fifty quid is better than nothing.
Last Wednesday was more frustrating but less expensive. Delta flight 36 turned around 90 minutes into the flight from Atlanta to Heathrow and flew back to its starting point because of a problem with the anti-icing equipment. There are good times and bad times to arrive at a destination (even if it was also your starting point), and 2am is definitely a bad time.
While Delta excelled itself with some passengers, providing hotels, transfers and meal vouchers in a single email, I was not one of the lucky winners. This was not, I understand, because I was a “Basic Economy” passenger; it may have been due to booking through a travel agent.
Whatever the cause, I had to make my own way (via a distinctly unofficial cab) from the airport to the city, and ended up $300 out of pocket.
Because the reason for the U-turn was Delta’s responsibility, I am hopeful of getting the cash back; when the cause is bad weather, airlines don’t take responsibility. I may even be able to claim £50 for the not-quite-24-hour delay.
Next time, I will stick to UK or EU airlines for intercontinental flights from outside Europe; under air passengers’ rights rules they must provide care whatever the cause. You might want to do the same.
Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.
