What to do if your flight is cancelled? Rights explained amid Heathrow and Gatwick airport chaos

详细摘要

What rights do passengers have to claim compensation amid the lengthy delays and cancellations?

Dozens of flights between London and the US have been cancelled and delayed after an air traffic control system failure caused havoc to aviation around the world.

The US’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all flights nationwide for around four hours on Friday “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety” following communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.

About 10,000 flights to and from the US have been cancelled with disruption to scheduled expected for days.

According to ABTA (The Association of British Travel Agents), If your flight is delayed by under two hours, you have no rights - unless a short delay in the UK results in a missed connection and much later arrival at your final destination.

For longer delays, airlines should provide refreshments as appropriate after a specified length of time, regardless of the cause of the delay.

For flights up to 1,500km, refreshments should be given after two hours, while mid-haul passengers (1,500 to 3,500km) are entitled after three hours. For longer trips, it is four hours.

Airlines will often issue vouchers. If they don’t, keep your receipts. Purchases considered “luxury” such as alcohol or luxury hotels are unlikely to be covered.

If the airline believes that providing the care would further delay the flight, it need not deliver.

For overnight delays, airlines are obliged to find and pay for a hotel room.

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