EC261 – Thank You

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Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

  • FDOS_UK
    Participant

    Due to the single runway operations at DXB, my flight from DOH was cancelled and I was re-routed on a flight to DWC.

    For anyone not familiar with the area, DWC is located about 40 miles south of DXB.

    The airline had not made any provisions for ground transfers and talking to other pax (non EU) at the carousel, they were going to have to pay for taxis themselves.

    My taxi bill was £40 – thanks to EC261, this is an open and shut case for reimbursement and my letter has already gone to QR, providing bank details. £40 isn’t the end of the world, but why should a passenger be out of pocket for a problem they did not cause?

    Given that I got in within 30 mins of my original scheduled time, I’m very happy with that outcome.

    I raised a glass of bubbles (San Pelligrino) to the EC commissioner who protected consumer rights with this regulation.

    If anyone ever finds themselves in a similar situation and needs to claim reimbursement, here are the relevant extracts from the regulation:

    Article 2

    Definitions

    For the purposes of this Regulation:

    (h) “final destination” means the destination on the ticket presented at the check-in counter or, in the case of directly connecting flights, the destination of the last flight; alternative connecting flights available shall not be taken into account if the original planned arrival time is respected;

    Article 5

    Cancellation

    1. In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall:

    (a) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with Article 8;

    Article 8

    Right to reimbursement or re-routing

    1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

    (b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity

    3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

    3 users thanked author for this post.

    SimonS1
    Participant

    It will be interesting to see how quickly they pay up…


    MrMichael
    Participant

    Q. Would full EC compensation be paid if the Dubai crash ended up the fault of the Pilot/Airline?

    I am figuring that if flying to Dubai on a carrier other than Emirates then it was completely out of that Airlines control and no compensation would be paid. However if delayed/cancelled on an Emirates flight then the airline (if the crash was pilot error) therefore caused the delay itself and should pay up.


    openfly
    Participant

    Were you flying on an EEC airline? If not, I don’t think EU261 applies. Good luck.


    SimonS1
    Participant

    [quote quote=724875]Were you flying on an EEC airline? If not, I don’t think EU261 applies. Good luck.

    [/quote]

    It does if the travel originated in the EU.

    It’s only for arrivals that the EC airline limitation applies.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=724852]It will be interesting to see how quickly they pay up…

    [/quote]

    They mislaid my bag for 6 hours yesterday and sent a wad of Dirhams with the bag, so I doubt they’l settle quicker than that.

    If they don’t pay within a reasonable time, I’ll MCOL it, but somehow I think they’ll recognise there is no defence to this claim and settle reasonably quickly, especially as I was travelling in J/F.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=724855]Q. Would full EC compensation be paid if the Dubai crash ended up the fault of the Pilot/Airline?

    I am figuring that if flying to Dubai on a carrier other than Emirates then it was completely out of that Airlines control and no compensation would be paid. However if delayed/cancelled on an Emirates flight then the airline (if the crash was pilot error) therefore caused the delay itself and should pay up.

    [/quote]

    IANAL, but I think your reasoning is logical.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=724875]Were you flying on an EEC airline? If not, I don’t think EU261 applies. Good luck.

    [/quote]

    As SimonS1 wrote, EC261 scopes in all airlines ex EU territory and All ‘Community’ carriers inbound.

    In my instance, because I was on a ‘directly connecting’ flight, this is scoped in as the ‘final destination’, even though the flight in question was from Doha to Dubai.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    rferguson
    Participant

    Never knew that FDOS….Thanks!


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=724955]Never knew that FDOS….Thanks!

    [/quote]

    My pleasure, it’s the same for cancellations and re-routing compensation – the time of arrival at the final destination is the key one.


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    Should compensation be paid in the event of a flight being delayed by the boarding of a team of wheelchair bound athletes, causing a connection to be missed and an arrival delay of 4 hours? Is this an extraordinary circumstance?

    All flights within the EU and total travel distance below 1500 kms. Opinions greatly appreciated.


    MrMichael
    Participant

    Good morning LP, I would say yes. It is up to the airline to work out how long it will take to load the aircraft and to plan the opening of the gate & boarding appropriately. The alternative is for the airline to blame it on the disabled passengers, that course of excuse would not be the best move they ever made!


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    LP, I concur with Mr Michael.

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