ABTA the Travel information Association, have provided the following guidance for passengers caught up in the recent flight cancellations, due to volcano ash:
FAQ: FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS DUE TO VOLCANIC ASH
1. Are customers that have yet to travel from the UK entitled to a
refund?
If they’ve booked a package holiday, and their outbound flight can’t be
re-arranged until at least a significant time after (the normal rule of
thumb is 12 hours), they’re entitled to be offered a refund by their tour
operator. This is a refund of the full package price, not just the flight
element.
2. What if they’re not travelling on a package holiday?
If they’ve booked flight and accommodation separately, they can get
their money back for the flight. The airline, under the Denied Boarding
Regulations, must offer the choice of a refund of the ticket price, or rerouting
at the earliest opportunity. The customer might not be able to
have a refund for their accommodation costs; this would be down to
the accommodation supplier. The customer should also check their
travel insurance policy.
3. What’s the position in terms of customers that haven’t been able
to fly home?
transport home when possible, by their tour operator. Customers that
have booked with airlines will be provided with replacement transport
home when available, by their airline.
Tour operators have an obligation to provide prompt assistance to
their customers. In particular, they should liaise with the air carrier to
ensure that the customers’ rights under the Denied Boarding
Regulations are met by the carrier (see 4 below). Other assistance
should be provided by the tour operator in accordance with their terms
and conditions and contractual customer welfare policy.
4. Is the obligation on the airline?
Airlines, if they’re an EU airline, or any airline if the flight is departing
from an EU country, are obliged to offer customers a replacement
flight at the earliest opportunity, or a refund of the part of the journey
not made. If the customer chooses the replacement flight and it’s
going the next day or later, the airline is obliged to provide
accommodation and meals. This comes from the Denied Boarding
Regulations. Customers are in theory supposed to check-in at the
airport for this obligation to apply, but in practice they are being told
not to go to the airport. The best advice is that they should reserve
their rights by contacting the airline, probably by email or through their
website, to explain that they’re unable to check in but they will expect
the airline to fulfil its obligation and cover the additional costs. They
should keep a copy of this communication, and of receipts for
accommodation and meal expenditure.
Non-EU airlines, flying in from a non-EU country, don’t have this
obligation. They should be asked whether they will voluntarily provide
assistance as part of a customer service policy.
5. How does “force majeure” come into this situation?
The fact that the cancellations are clearly being caused by an
exceptional circumstance i.e. a volcanic eruption, doesn’t affect the
basic obligations described above on airlines and tour operators. It
only means that customers aren’t entitled to additional compensation
on top.
Further information is available on their website at
I have not travelled by air since July 1999. Despite this I have managed in that time to make more than 20 visits abroad to places ranging from the Carribean in the west to Yalta in the east, and from the North Cape of Norway in the north to the Canary Islands in the south.
ReplyDeleteIt is my hope that the present experience will encourage others to recognise that air travel is not the only means of getting from one place to another.
It is a hrash lesson but if such learning does takes place, it could only be good thing, as air travel is one of the heaviest producers of pollution. But that is probably your point anyway Morris.
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