[silkenthreads]

Does anyone have experience of obtaining compensation (viz. EU rules) for when a flight exEU is missed due to the joining flight (arriving from UK) being late?

Several moons ago two of us were flying UK- AMS – Japan with KLM. Wind was predicted at Amsterdam so KLM cancelled some flights the night before travel – there are half a dozen flights a day to Amsterdam . our travel agent booked us on the next flight, still giving plenty of time to connect. As departure time loomed the pilot and crew came into the lounge and explained that Amsterdam was congested with passengers so he had been asked to delay departure til it had cleared somewhat. We were told our bags were being offloaded as we would not make our second flight and we had been rebooked on the same flights 24 hours later. Others on the same flight were rerouted. We had little choice but to go landside and retrieve our luggage.

The flight took off without us. We queued for assistance but could not get any help from the service desks – the two staff were overwhelmed by the queue. Knowing that a no-show at our hotel in Hiroshima would result in our two -night booking being cancelled we left the airport after six hours to contact our travel agent and to make a timely phone call to Japan. We finally arrived 24 hours and 20 minutes later than anticipated, the AMS-KIX only 20 minutes ‘late’.

My claim for compensation was denied after a phone call to KLM ‘due to delay of the original flight caused by wind’ and my request for a very modest amount for a taxi and subsistence for the night we were grounded was completely ignored . So the options are to complain to KLM. (others on the same flight were rerouted) go to CAA or the small claims court. Does anyone know of a precedent for getting compensation when a feeder flight is late resulting in missing the main flight? Or how how long it takes for the CAA or the UK Small Claims Court to act? Thanks for reading.

[Tom Otley]

Welcome to the forum silkenthreads

[ConstantFlyer]

Sounds like KLM did everything they could to get you safely to your destination.

[SimonS1]

Your options are governed by EC261. As the cause was weather there will not be cash compensation but KLM are legally obliged to cover ‘duty of care’ costs like hotel and meals essential transport.

If they refuse, you can take your case to MCOL or the appropriate arbitration scheme (AirlineADR).

[capetonianm]

Not commenting on this specific case , but EU261 applies from origin to destination, it’s the time you arrive at your destination that counts, as long as you were booked and ticketed through from origin to destination. Some airlines, notably Emirates, have tried to wriggle out of this by treating the two segments separately so that if your LON-DXB was an hour late causing you to miss your onward connection from DXB, they would say that isn’t covered by EU261.

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