Cancelled flights: How to get a refund and compensation?

Dozens of flights are being cancelled by airlines each day due to staff shortages and absences due to sickness.

British Airways, easyJet and Tui have all made the decision to cut back their summer schedules, with most routes being cancelled in advance and passengers notified.

The airlines say this will allow them to operate more efficiently and reduce the risk of last-minute cancellations.

However, some cancellations are continuing day to day, at the last minute – with some passengers reporting having their flights cancelled after they’d arrived to the gate or even boarded their plane.

Fortunately, consumer law is firmly on the passenger’s side.

Under European air passengers’ rights rules, easyJet must:

In addition, passengers are due compensation of either £220 (for flights of under 1,500km) or £350 (longer flights).

These are the key obligations for any airline that cancels a flight at short notice or suffers long delays.

My flight has been cancelled. When can I expect to get to my destination?

You are entitled to travel on the original day of departure, if there is any commercial way of getting you to your destination.

You should give the cancelling airline the opportunity to arrange a new flight (or – for domestic links in the UK or trips to Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam – a train).

I have been offered an alternative in two days’ time. Can’t I get there any sooner?

Yes. Airlines understandably want to keep passengers on their own services, but there are clear limits. The Civil Aviation Authority says that if the cancelling airline has another flight on the same day, it can rebook you on that (and provide meals while you wait).

But easyJet has its own, longer limit of 24 hours.

Some passengers say they have been told by easyJet that they cannot be transferred to another airline.

This is nonsense: all carriers must be considered.

If the cancelling airline cannot or will not meet its obligation, you should buy a ticket and then claim it back.

What if the replacement flight is from or to a different airport?

In addition to buying you a ticket to the country/region, the cancelling airline must also provide or pay for any additional ground transportation to get you to your original destination.

For example, if your easyJet flight to Naples is cancelled from Gatwick and the only alternative departure that day is on British Airways or ITA from Heathrow,…