Bank Holiday Weekend plans were quickly
disrupted for many passengers travelling from either Heathrow or Gatwick on
British Airways. Thousands of travellers had their flights delayed or cancelled
following a massive IT failure on Saturday 27 May 2017. Today (30 May 2017) the
airline has finally been able to resolve its issues, but unfortunately this has
come at a high price for many passengers. Those who were lucky enough to have
their flights rescheduled arrived at their destination after lengthy delays and
some further inconvenienced by a lack of baggage.
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| Article by Kagowa Kuruneri |
BA has set up a compensation
scheme whereby passengers who required accommodation as a result of delays can
reclaim the money spent on hotel stays, transfers and on food and refreshments.
Reimbursements have been capped at the following rates:
- Up to £200 a day for hotel stays (based on 2 people sharing)
- Up to £50 for taxi transfers between the airport and the hotels
- Up to £25 per person per day for food and refreshments
Additionally, passengers could
receive up to £540 in compensation for the inconvenience caused, depending on
the type of flight that was cancelled. Some may be happy to receive any form of
compensation, but is this enough considering the costs of flights and the
nature of consequences faced by individual customers whose flights were
affected? It is also unclear whether additional inconveniences caused from
missed or rebooked flights will be compensated under this scheme. Although the
airline have said that they will honour any claim for compensation, this is
neither guaranteed nor will compensation be automatic. You must formally apply
for compensation and don’t forget that EU compensation rules may apply.
You may recall from an earlier
article that the EU rules are as follows:
- Short-haul flights must be delayed by at least 2 hours
- Medium-haul flights must be delayed by at least 3 hours, and by 4 hours for long-haul flights
- Accommodation and transfers must be provided for overnight delays
- Full refunds are to be given (within 7 days) for cancellations, OR re-bookings must be made for flights cancelled at short notice
- Passengers may receive cancellation compensation, the value of which is determined by the length of the fight
- Passengers may receive further compensation for reaching their destination more than 3 hours later, the value of which is determined by the length of the flight and the delay
- Compensation will only be provided for flights departing from or arriving in EU airports, as well as Norway, Switzerland or Iceland
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| An internet photograph of delayed passengers |
UK laws also state that
compensation should be awarded where delays have been caused as a result technical
faults, which clearly appears to be the case where BA is concerned. It is also
one of BA’s policies that compensation claims can be brought for any qualifying
flight delays or cancellation that have arisen within 6 years of the incident.
If you would like to speak to
someone about what may be done to help you regarding delayed or cancelled
flights, contact me via email or through LinkedIn to find out whether you may
be owed compensation.
Tel: 01992 422 128
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.
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