Reply To: Finnair saying they can’t re-route, and only offering a refund. Help please

[JDB]

You are legally entitled to be rerouted under EC/UK261 per Articles 5 & 8 however, if you are unable to persuade AY to do that for you, and they clearly refuse to comply with the law (take notes, time etc or record), you will need to buy new tickets and claim afterwards. You should, if the cost is justifiable/reasonable, get your money back, but you may have to fight and will be out of pocket for weeks/months. If you do make your own arrangements for the outbound, you need to check that your return is protected if also with AY. In respect of compensation, AY will almost certainly cite ‘exceptional circumstances’ as this looks like a Heathrow cap cancellation.