[LHRSENflyer]

Thanks to all who commented. An update:
I happened upon the EU261 text in Italy which stated ticketing airlines are responsible under Italian law.
This got me thinking about my own situation with Swiss, so I reviewed the case and sent the claim in to Lufthansa, as it was originally ticketed on 220 paper. Within days the payment was in my account.
At the same LX made an ex gratia for distress through the SOeP intervention.
In my case all has ended satisfactorily. All this could have been avoided through better training of the customer service staff at Swiss, by using the correct terminology as their communciations referred to them not being the “operating airline” as well as the copy and paste job with incorrect flight numbers in their response. It does seem this is weakest link in their operations.

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WilliamRead, FDOS, ASK1945

[FDOS]

Very pleased you got a good outcome.

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LHRSENflyer

[ASK1945]

LHRSENflyer wrote: “In my case all has ended satisfactorily. All this could have been avoided through better training of the customer service staff at Swiss”.

Too true – every week our UK newspaper Personal Money columns carry stories about large companies messing around consumers who make a complaint needing redress, then when the news columnist contacts them, they sort it out immediately. I always wonder why they don’t just train their staff properly and save themselves the bad publicity which arises from their intransigence.

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WilliamRead, LHRSENflyer

[gsm]

i used the BAZL that is the avation obdsman system in switzerland it takes time but the airlines pay

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WilliamRead, LHRSENflyer

[WilliamRead]

If Manchester to Toronto is not classed as “long haul” by Air Transat, I wonder where their long haul routes actually are? I travelled with them once from Toronto to Cuba; uneventful, but not “long haul” under any classification.

[ASK1945]

WilliamRead – it’s irrelevant what the airline calls its flights – short, medium or long-haul. EU/UK 261 regulations are based on defined distances and not what the airline calls them. The flight originated in Manchester, so UK regs apply.

[LHRSENflyer]

Citizens’ Advice has a useful page detailing hours of delay and distances that set the compensation levels. Various online calculators for IATA mileage. My origin LHR and final destination FCO annoyingly just short of the 1500km threshold for the next level up!

[Author]

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