UK261 for Air Europa cancelled flight

[admflx]

Hello,

Travelling last November from Bogota to Gatwick via Madrid with Air Europa. Flight from Bogota-Madrid was initially delayed and then cancelled whilst we were on the tarmac. Ended up having to fork out for a direct flight with a new airline in order to get back in time for work commitments. I am under the impression we are entitled to a refund plus the full whack of compensation under EU 261 which would help recoup some of the outlay.

Air Europa said we could claim for some compensation under Colombian law which I rejected, explained that the flight was covered by EU 261 but they further refused. I initially approached the CAA, their online form told me I needed to claim in the country where the carrier was based (Spain). After a few months of waiting, the AESA in Spain have said the flight falls outside of EU 261.

Having gone back and looked at this, a flight departing a 3rd country, arriving in the UK with a EU carrier should come under the UK 261 as it now is following Brexit. I have sent CAA PACT an email regarding this (Air Europa are not part of an ADR scheme). Could you help me with any advice, in particular:

1) Do I have a claim under UK 261?

2) Is it worth pursuing Air Europa for compensation?

3) Should I consider taking the airline to small claims court

[PeteM]

If you’re flying on a UK or EU based airline, EU 261 covers all flights that arrive in the UK or EU irrespective of where they took off. So you are definitely covered and entitled to compensation, as long as the delay/cancellation was the fault of the airline.

Air Europa does not participate in any alternative dispute resolution scheme: https://www.aireuropa.com/uk/en/aea/travel-information/terms-and-conditions/online-dispute-resolution.html

Those airlines that do are here, for reference: https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/how-the-caa-can-help/alternative-dispute-resolution/

You can absolutely take them to small claims court, they appear to have a UK establishment office. I suspect they will not defend the claim and you will likely win by default. But I have no idea how you will enforce judgement. Many people on here will tell you it’s super easy, but it really isn’t against an airline that doesn’t have a proper presence in the UK. Heck, Wizzair are listed on the LSE and have happily ignored judgements for a long time. So it’s up to you, I suspect you may end up with the satisfaction of a judgement in your favour, but still with no compensation…

@JDB often suggests badgering the CEO or the local (Spanish in this case) regulator – at least those are free, although also generally unlikely to yield results.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Compensation will depend on why the flight was cancelled.

Did you give them chance to rebook you or did you just book other flights yourself?

Just going off your own bat gives them a let out of refunding those costs.

[meta]

You were entitled to re-route on any airline provided you give a chance to them to re-route you plus compensation depending on the reason for cancelation.

However, if you accept a refund for the cost of the flight, then that absolves the airline from giving you anything for the re-route element. Can you confirm whether you asked or were offered just a refund and whether you accepted it?

Regarding compensation, if Bogota-Madrid-Gatwick was all on one ticket, then you can take the operating airline to court either in Spain or UK as per EC261. We also need to establish which airline actually operated the Bogota-Madrid leg because it might not have been Air Europa despite being marketed by Air Europa. Can you double check and confirm?

[JDB]

Unfortunately, trying to get compensation from any Spanish airline is a real uphill battle and getting paid for the new tickets you bought will be even harder. You don’t mentioned that you have actually lodged a claim with Air Europa which is the first step you must take before considering any further action. Further to what has been said above, you will have to be quite specific about the opportunities you gave Air Europa to reroute you before you decided to buy tickets for yourself; needing to get back for work commitments doesn’t override the process. You need to set out a clear timeline/chronology of events. Any compensation will depend on the reason for the cancellation.

What was the basis for AESA saying EU261 didn’t apply?

[Lady London]

@admflx seems to have made the choice of just taking a refund as stated in the first post. There isn’t any mention they wanted rerouting costs paid by the cancelling airline though they could have chosen rerouting (ie replacement flight) instead of refund if thry’d wished. They can choose refund of original flight, or leaving the original ticket in place (not taking refund), not both.

To be eigible to be paid any reroute costs you paid out, it’s important to ask the airline for replacenent ticket. They must be given this opportunity if reroute, not refund, is your choice. If you asked (or made very serious efforts to contact them but it was not possible) and they couldn’t provide a reroute as reasonably close as possible to your original time then yes, you can choose to claim reroute costs you had to incur for flights, instead of refund.

Compensation is a separate paynent, additional to either reroute or refund – whichever of refund or reroute you (not the airline) chose.

[JDB]

The OP mentioned planning to ask for a refund potentially being unaware that, in some circumstances, the airline might be required to pay for the rerouted tickets purchased with the (unsurprising) suggestion that those cost more than the refund will yield, i.e. hoping to make some of that up from compensation. The refund should be the easy bit, as in the worst case that could be obtained as a chargeback. The OP should also check now with their insurer to see if they will make up the difference in cost should the airline refuse – worth doing that now. This matters because compensation will likely be difficult to obtain.

I believe AENA is correct in saying EU261 doesn’t apply even though flights were on an EU carrier and via Madrid etc. but theoretically, UK261 should apply, although there is a potential conflict with refusing the Colombian RAC jurisdiction and if Air Europa doesn’t pay the compensation, they will fight at MCOL with various procedural games to get the claim dismissed.