Delayed flight
Author
Discussion

Gentleman Geoff

Original Poster:

1,058 posts

242 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
I was due to fly from Dubai to Manchester on 6th September, but the A380 wouldn't start!

So, to cut a long story short, we were all brought off the aircraft and taken to a hotel for the night (we had missed the only other departure by then). The next day (24 hours after the original flight), we left Manchester and arrived in Dubai.

So what do I do about seeking compensation? I gather that there is EU legislation in place to compensate passengers for delays, but it sounds like some airlines try to wriggle out of paying this if it's due to technical problems. It's not worth me employing a lawyer, but if wondered if any other PH'ers have some advice on the best way of approaching the airline?

iAlex

20,549 posts

225 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
Gentleman Geoff said:
I was due to fly from Dubai to Manchester on 6th September, but the A380 wouldn't start!
Gentleman Geoff said:
The next day (24 hours after the original flight), we left Manchester and arrived in Dubai.
Am I right to be confused here?

anonymous-user

84 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
Gentleman Geoff said:
I gather that there is EU legislation in place to compensate passengers for delays, but it sounds like some airlines try to wriggle out of paying this
I expect Emirates will try to "wriggle out of paying it" as they're not an EU member state based airline.

Bluebarge

4,519 posts

208 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
If they paid for the hotel and meals etc during the period of the delay, that's the compensation right there. You could always check your travel insurance for anything extra.

Gentleman Geoff

Original Poster:

1,058 posts

242 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
iAlex said:
Gentleman Geoff said:
I was due to fly from Dubai to Manchester on 6th September, but the A380 wouldn't start!
Gentleman Geoff said:
The next day (24 hours after the original flight), we left Manchester and arrived in Dubai.
Am I right to be confused here?
Sorry, my mistake. Both flights were from Manchester to Dubai.

Even though Emirates are not an EU airline, the law seems to apply to flights from the EU, regardless of the airline. Is this true?

Deva Link

26,934 posts

275 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
Gentleman Geoff said:
Even though Emirates are not an EU airline, the law seems to apply to flights from the EU, regardless of the airline. Is this true?
Put in a claim and see what happens.

ETA - must have been fun for the staff finding that many hotel rooms!

Edited by Deva Link on Thursday 9th September 14:34

anonymous-user

84 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
It's EU regulation 261/2004 if you want to look into it anyway.

dreamz

5,299 posts

223 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
they should give you something as the dep airport was within the eu

european airlines try their best and tbh i've found emirates to be one of the better ones.

Gentleman Geoff

Original Poster:

1,058 posts

242 months

Thursday 9th September 2010
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies, I'll drop them a line. If I get something that would be nice, otherwise it's not the end of the world.

They made a huge fanfare about the A380 coming to Manchester but, to be honest, they simply couldn't cope when it came to dealing with 500+ stranded passengers.

Gentleman Geoff

Original Poster:

1,058 posts

242 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
The Airline said:
Thank you for your recent correspondence. The events that you have described are being looked into and one of our Customer Affairs Officers will write to you once our investigations are complete. In any future correspondence with us, please quote the above reference.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write to us.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Affairs
Well and truly booted into the long grass, I'd say.

5potTurbo

13,682 posts

198 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Gentleman Geoff said:
The Airline said:
Thank you for your recent correspondence. The events that you have described are being looked into and one of our Customer Affairs Officers will write to you once our investigations are complete. In any future correspondence with us, please quote the above reference.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write to us.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Affairs
Well and truly booted into the long grass, I'd say.
I wouldn't say so.
Standard 1st reply.
Next one will say laugh "NICE TRY!"
Seriously, I think you'll get something. Perhaps not much as they paid for a hotel....

Matt Harper

7,045 posts

231 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
Honest question - are you just having a punt, or where you genuinely, financially injured by the delay?
You stated that it would be no big loss if nothing came of this, which kind of begs the question, "Why bother, then?"

Engineer1

10,486 posts

239 months

Friday 24th September 2010
quotequote all
If you get anything it will be a useless compensation, a free second ticket or a free upgrade on your next flight with them as both of these require you to rebook with them and allow them to put restrictions onto the compensation.

Gentleman Geoff

Original Poster:

1,058 posts

242 months

Saturday 25th September 2010
quotequote all
Matt Harper said:
Honest question - are you just having a punt, or where you genuinely, financially injured by the delay?
You stated that it would be no big loss if nothing came of this, which kind of begs the question, "Why bother, then?"
I was genuinely delayed by 24 hours. This meant that my clients in Dubai all had to have their appointments cancelled at the last minute. Time will tell whether I have been ‘financially injured’ by this, but let’s just say that it was extremely inconvenient.

But, hey, these things happen and nobody got hurt. The captain did what he had to do and the plane got fixed the next day. Every single passenger had their own set of circumstances to deal with and I’m pretty sure that some others were much worse off than me.

Why bother, then? Because I was under the impression that airlines were obliged to offer compensation in the case of delays. I did a bit of googling and didn’t think a quick post on PH would cause offence to see if anyone on here knew better. If I were entitled to something, then I’d be a fool not to claim it for the sake of a quick email. If not, what have I lost?

smile

foilist

102 posts

198 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
As I understand it, the EU legislation simply says the airline (any EU airline or any flight on any airline originating in the EU) has to take care of you (ie food & accomodation) until the next available flight, and if the flight is cancelled or dealyed more than a certain time (24 hours, I think) and if you no longer wish to make your journey, give you a full refund.

Compensation due to consequential loss (ie cancelled business appointments, say) is up to the airline's discretion. After all, the T&Cs of your ticket simply say the airline has fulfilled it's contract by getting you to your destination: timing, mode and route of travel do not form part of the contract (amazing, but there you are!)

In this case, try again and see!

Gentleman Geoff

Original Poster:

1,058 posts

242 months

Saturday 2nd October 2010
quotequote all
The Airline said:
As a gesture of goodwill, without prejudice or admission of liability, we are pleased to offer a cheque equivalent to EUR 600.00.
party

Kudos

2,674 posts

204 months

Saturday 2nd October 2010
quotequote all
Gentleman Geoff said:
The Airline said:
As a gesture of goodwill, without prejudice or admission of liability, we are pleased to offer a cheque equivalent to EUR 600.00.
party
Good work sir!