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British Airways Flight Delays

British Airways faces paying out millions of pounds in compensation after the catastrophic failure of its computer systems led to delays and cancellations.

Passengers faced disruption as the airline dealt with the impact of a worldwide IT crash.

There are EU regulations governing compensation for cancelled or delayed flights leaving from EU airports.

The amount of compensation depends on the length of delay and the type of flight, i.e. whether it is a short, medium or long-haul flight.

Compensation could be more than £500, depending on the distance of the flight.

Customers have to write to the airline in order to recover compensation as compensation is not paid out by the airlines automatically.

EU compensation rules for delayed or cancelled flights

• Passengers are entitled to assistance and compensation, if the disruption was within an airline’s control
• This applies to short-haul flights delayed by at least two hours, and to medium-haul flights delayed by three hours, or long-haul delayed by four
• For overnight delays, airlines must provide hotel accommodation (where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary), and transfers between the airport and the hotel or place of accommodation free of charge. Passengers should keep receipts where they have ended up paying for food, transport or accommodation.
• Airlines have to offer full refunds, paid within seven days, or re-bookings for a flight cancelled at short notice
• In addition passengers can also claim compensation under the EU Regulation
• Cancellation amounts are: 250 euros for short-haul, 400 euros for medium-haul and 600 euros for long-haul
• Passengers who reach their destination more than three hours late can be compensated from 200 to 600 euros, depending on the length of flights and delay

The regulations however don’t apply if the disruption has been caused by factors outside the airline’s control, such as strikes, security risks, meteorological conditions where it is unsafe to fly etc.

Airlines may have to pay out even where a delay is caused by a technical fault.

British Airways has said it will meet its and will refund or rebook customers who suffered cancellations on to new services as quickly as possible.

British Airways announced that customers on flights that have been cancelled can claim a full refund or rebook to a future date for travel up until the end of November 2017.

 

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