There was a lot of flight disruption over the weekend?
That is putting it mildly. There were dozens of flights to and from airports in Ireland cancelled or diverted on Sunday and Monday as a result of Storm Ashley, with tens of thousands of passengers left facing long delays or stuck in airports far from home. Journeys from southern Europe which normally can be covered in less than three hours lasted more than 12 hours, and many people found themselves waiting on planes in airports across the UK where they were often denied even the most basic of refreshments unless they paid for them.
Hang on, why did they have to wait on planes?
You can thank Brexit for that. Restrictions on the movement of people into and out of the EU meant that when planes travelling from one EU country – Spain, for example – to another – Ireland - had to land unexpectedly in a non-EU country – Britain – the UK Border Force stepped in to ensure passengers did not leave the planes they were on.
Thanks for that Boris. But what’s this about folk being denied basic refreshments?
Many of those who found themselves waiting on runways across Britain have voiced concern about how they were treated. As the hours passed and the storm raged on some planes ran out of basics such as toilet paper, while bored and hungry passengers who wanted food or water were expected to pay for it.
That’s grim. I thought people had certain rights if their flight is delayed or diverted?
They do but as recent days have made clear the rights you have really depend on where you are going, where you are on your journey and how long you are delayed.
What do you mean by that?
Generally speaking passenger rights are clear and governed by EU directive 261. For short haul flights those rights apply if planes are delayed by two hours or more and for longer haul flights the delays must be three or four hours.
Well, I definitely arrived more than three hours later than I was supposed to so what was I entitled to?
In the normal course of events passengers who face long delays are entitled to “care and assistance”.
What does that mean?
It means airlines have to provide food and refreshments, hotel accommodation if needed, transport to hotels if needed and two free telephone calls. If the airline does not provide you with the assistance you are entitled to you should keep your receipts to claim the money back from the airline.
But I was stuck on the plane for hours and was given no “care and assistance” unless you count being asked to pay through the nose for water and crisps?
The rights we have under EU rules refer to passengers who have not taken off. According to the Irish Aviation Authority, “where a flight has departed, EU261 is silent on the matter of duty of care/passenger entitlements for the duration of the flight. Where a flight terminates at an airport other than the stated destination the flight is regarded as cancelled and the passengers’ entitlements are as per their rights under EU261. There is nothing in the regulation that restricts airlines from providing care and assistance in such circumstances where passengers cannot disembark from the aircraft.”
My plane diverted to Shannon instead of Dublin. Where do I stand?
The airline has a legal obligation to get you to your original destination. If it diverts to another airport it should put a bus transfer on. And if it did not do that then you should send it the receipts for the mode of transport you used to get home.
What about compensation? I arrived home almost 12 hours late. What am I entitled to?
In short, nothing. Compensation does not apply if passengers are informed about the cancellation more than 14 days before the date of the flight or if the cancellation or a rerouting is due to extraordinary circumstances like weather conditions or security risks.
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