TravelQ&A

Airport chaos across Europe: Know your rights if your flight is delayed or cancelled

All you need to do if things have gone wrong or if you think things are about to go wrong

Over 20 flights cancelled from Dublin Airport this morning. Photograph: Fiachra Gallagher at Dublin Airport

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Conor Pope
Tue Aug 29 2023 - 11:24

There is more chaos at Irish airports then?

Yes, but it is not just Irish airports. There were chaotic scenes at airports all over Europe on Monday as tens of thousands of people had their travel plans thrown into disarray after flights were cancelled by multiple airlines because of a systems failure at Britain’s National Air-Traffic Service (NATS). The chaos lasted for several hours on Monday morning and afternoon with more than 100 flights into and out of Ireland cancelled as a result.

But I thought the problems were resolved?

Oh, they were. But air travel is a complex beast and the knock on impact of the technical problems in the UK meant that planes and crews were in the wrong places at the wrong times on Tuesday which meant more delays and more cancellations. There have been more than 20 flights to and from Dublin cancelled already today with more disruption likely.

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So what should I do?

The first thing – obviously – is to keep in touch with your airline – it might also be worth keeping an eye of the Dublin Airport Live Arrivals and Departures pages www.dublinairport.com/flight-information and Cork Airport’s page www.corkairport.com/home. Keeping an eye on the airport where you are hoping to fly into is a good idea too as it will give you a sense of what is likely to happen.

I see that my flight has been cancelled. Where do I stand?

While many passengers are likely to experience serious disruption they will not lose all their rights and airlines will still have an obligation to look after them.

Okay, so, what are my rights?

Under EU Regulation 261 airlines are obliged to offer passengers affected by cancellations a full refund or a rerouting on the next available flight or at a later time that suits the passenger. If you opt for a refund the airline’s responsibility to you ends there and then. If you ask to be put on the next available flight then the airline must provide care and assistance until you can be accommodated on an alternative flight.

Care and assistance? What does that actually mean?

If you are overseas and trying to get home – or indeed if you are in Ireland and trying to get home – the airline must provide you with meals and refreshments. If necessary, it will have to cover the cost of hotel accommodation and transport between the hotel and the airport and you will have to be offered two free telephone calls and access to email.

There is no one from the airline at the airport and I can’t get through to their help desk. Who is going to give me money for the hotel? And indeed find me a hotel?

The days of airlines being on hand to ferry passengers facing cancellations to airport hotels have long gone in many instances but that does not mean your rights are gone. If you can’t make contact with the airline or it does not provide the care and assistance it is legally obliged to at the moment you need it, then you should make your own reasonable arrangements. It is incredibly important that if you do this, you retain all receipts because you will need them to claim back the reasonable expenses.

Reasonable expenses? What does that mean?

The definition is pretty loose. If you check into a five-star hotel and eat and drink all around you at the fanciest of French restaurants while waiting to get home and then look to be reimbursed you can expect to be disappointed. If you stay in a modestly priced hotel and eat in modestly priced restaurants while you are waiting for the problems to be resolved to end, then you will be able to claim that money back. Ultimately it is aviation regulators across the EU who decide what is reasonable.

How do I claim back expenses incurred?

Passengers should send copies (it is very important the original documentation is never sent in case it goes missing) of all receipts to the airlines on which they booked flights. Submissions should also include booking references, passenger names, original and new flight details.

And when should I get my money back?

If you haven’t got the money back within a month, you can complain to the Irish Aviation Authority – aviationreg.ie. But hopefully it won’t come to that.

I don’t think my flight is going to be cancelled but it looks like it is being delayed. Do I have any rights in this case?

You do. If you are facing a delay the airline must also provide you with care and assistance. If you are left hanging around in an airport it must cover reasonable cost of meals and refreshments. The point at which airlines must step in with help depends on the length of the journey. It should be after a two-hour delay on flights up to 1,500km. It should be after three hours for flights of between 1,500km and 3,500km and four hours on longer flights. If your flight is delayed by more than five hours an airline must offer you the choice of continuing with your journey or a refund of the cost of your ticket.

Am I entitled to compensation outside of reasonable expenses from my airline?

That is most unlikely and we can’t stress that enough. The issue is likely to be considered an eventually outside of the airline’s control in which case compensation does not apply. We have heard of many instances where legitimate claims for expenses to be reimbursed are rejected by airlines because passengers mistakenly say they are looking for compensation.

What if a delay impacts my car hire or accommodation?

First off, you must keep the channels of communication open so as soon as you know there is a problem, make contact with the providers. You will want to ensure a car is kept for you if you have hired it. We have heard many stories of car hire companies simply cancelling bookings and offering no refunds because they deemed passengers a no-show before of flight delays or cancellations. Given that the problems in this instance are so widespread companies that do this won’t have a leg to stand on but do make contact with them all the same. And when it comes to accommodation, depending on the policies of a provider, they may give some money back for any missed days. But it could ultimately come down to your travel insurance.

And will I be covered by my travel insurance?

Not automatically and many policies don’t cover circumstances such as this. Check your policy to see if you have disruption cover.

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