BA Holidays – rights due to change to Danish Air Transport

[danahughes]

Hi all. I received an email saying that one of my BA Holidays flights has changed to Danish Air Transport. There are no alternative British Airways operated flights running on the same day. What rights do I have with regards to cancellations and amendments?

[Rob]

I think BA will tell you to clear off if no same day alternatives. However, there are also rules about operating carriers vs marketing carriers, which mean that airlines must tell you at the time of booking who the actual operator is to allow you to make an informed decision. I don’t think CAA regulations say anything about changes after the time of booking though.

You then need to look at holiday regulation as well which is different to flight only regulation.

Best bet is to call up and ask, but have your preferred option to hand first. I suspect they may let you move the flight but you’ll be paying for your extra hotel night.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

As this is a BA Holiday you need to call them and not the main BA flights only one.

[JDB]

@danahughes – the answer is that it’s a grey area and you don’t really have a lot of rights in respect of the change to DAT, so you are reliant on BA goodwill should you wish to change your plans. That will probably only amount to changing flights not paying for hotels.

The reason for this is set out in an ECJ decision Wirth v Thomson Airways where the distinction is drawn between the operating carrier (in your case DAT) that essentially just provides and flies the aircraft and the airline with ’operational responsibility’ which in your case is BA. This means that for technical purposes BA remains the operating carrier under EC261.