Passengers say airlines should be doing more to help them after the UK air traffic control meltdown caused further disruption on Tuesday
Airlines have been accused of trying to “wriggle out of their responsibilities” after passengers were left stranded at home and abroad following the meltdown of UK air traffic control.
Mark Nolan, 61, and wife Julie, 56, travelled from Bingley, West Yorkshire, to Manchester Airport early on Tuesday morning ahead of their 2.30pm flight to Tenerife with Jet2. A group of friends have spent 24 hours trying to get from Manchester Airport to Ibiza after their Ryanair flight was cancelled
Emily Senior was on a bank holiday weekend trip away with a group of friends to Kefalonia, Greece, which has now become a nine-day stay costing thousands of pounds and causing major work issues. Consumer group Which? says airlines should be doing more to help passengers caught up in the disruption. “The Civil Aviation Authority should be monitoring the situation closely, and stand ready to take enforcement action against any airline found to be failing in its responsibilities to passengers.”
“As part of our regulatory oversight of its activities, we continue to engage with NATS and once its investigation is fully complete, an incident report will be provided to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The report’s outcomes will then be shared with the Secretary of State for Transport.” “While this is outside of our control, we apologise for the difficulty this has caused for our customers and we remain focused on doing all possible to assist and repatriate them as soon as possible at this very busy time of year.”What are your rights if your flight is cancelled or delayed?
While EC261 does provide for cash compensation in some circumstances, this does not apply when cancellations or long delays are due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’ – or those beyond the airline’s control.Airlines have a duty of care to passengers who are delayed or face cancellation regardless of the reason.
The point at which airlines must step in with help depends on the length of the journey: this should be after a two-hour delay on short flights up to 1,500km, after three hours for flights of between 1,500km and 3,500km, and four hours on longer flights.Whether or not the disruption is caused by “extraordinary circumstances”, the airline must get passengers to their destination as quickly as possible.
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