Changed arrival airport from LHR to STN

[conspicuous-capybara]

My girlfriend just got a text from Widerøe saying her flight from Bergen to LHR has had to move to STN: “Due to capacity problems at LHR, the airport authorities has cancelled Widerøes slot times, and we have been forced to
move our flights to and from Stansted in the period 15-23dec.”

The flight number has changed as a result. Is this enough to be eligible for a cancellation and refund under EC261? She’ll have parked her car at LHR for the outbound flight so it’s quite a nuisance. Failing that, will she be able to claim back the cost of a taxi between the two airports?

[JDB]

This is a bit of a tricky one. While in principle the change of flight number etc. looks like a cancellation, the circumstances you describe and the fact the flight is operating (? at the same times?) but from a different London airport doesn’t meet the technical definition of cancellation in the Regulation/Interpretative Guidelines. The airline is responsible for transportation between LHR and STN but whether that covers a taxi (as opposed to public transport) is not specified.

[Richie]

What does the airline offer when they log-in to Manage my Booking?

[conspicuous-capybara]

JDB wrote:

(? at the same times?)

Yup, times are unchanged.

JDB wrote:

The airline is responsible for transportation between LHR and STN but whether that covers a taxi (as opposed to public transport) is not specified.

Good to know – thank you.

Richie wrote:

What does the airline offer when they log-in to Manage my Booking?

There’s no notice that the flight has changed in any meaningful way but the destination airport has been updated to STN.

[ChrisBCN]

Surely if the flight number has changed, it’s no longer the same flight and falls under cancellation rules?

[JDB]

ChrisBCN wrote:

Surely if the flight number has changed, it’s no longer the same flight and falls under cancellation rules?

A changed flight number doesn’t, per se, mean a cancellation per 3.2 of the Interpretative Guidelines and the flight is still operating albeit from a different London airport. It’s not entirely clear cut, but the fact that the cancellation was, according to the original post, ordered by Heathrow, extraordinary circumstances will apply so no compensation, just the transport between airports.

[Lady London]

I think you have cancellation and rerouting rights and refund rights if that’s what you want. Those all fall under duty of care that is due no matter what the reason.

I would not be prepared to move from Heathrow to Stansted for any reason. STN is a $h1tty airport and the only thing worse than departing from there, is arriving there at any peak day and time. A number of airports have put London into their name for marketing reasons that have very little to do with their location and STN is the worst example of this. It’s a huge distance from London – and an even huger distance from Heathrow.

You are not obliged to accept being landed at a different airport even though airline may try to claim it’s the same city it’s not. BA has tried to get away with this with Heathrow and Gatwick and failed – Stansted is practically Cambridge for goodness sake!

Given time of year you may have to be sure another airline is still flying to Heathrow when you need. There may be a genuine availability issue.

Actually whilst Wideroe’s excuse does chime with Heathrow’s antics in the summer, I’d actually want Wideroe to prove this reason. I can imagine costwise STN might be preferable to Wideroe if they’re struggling and it’s just possible Wideroe is not really obliged but has chosen.

For the same reasons Wideroe might get away with not paying compensation- which is why I’d try for them to prove it – but for sure they owe you the duty of care ie you can choose to cancel for full costfree refund or request reroute.

It would be nice to know if Wideroe has an excellent reputation or if their reputation is for being flaky…I have no idea.

Let us know what you decide to do

[strickers]

I wonder if this is anything to do with the baggage handlers strike?