Caught in the Luton airport car park fire nightmare? Your rights when flights go wrong

Tens of thousands of passengers booked to travel to or from Luton airport have had their flights cancelled or delayed.

The Bedfordshire airport – which is the fifth-busiest in the UK – closed to arrivals and departures at 9pm on Tuesday 10 October after a serious fire broke out in a multi-storey car park near the passenger terminal.

Operations were suspended for 18 hours, during which more than 200 flights were cancelled – with others diverted to airports more than 100 miles away.

Here, The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder explains what you can do if you are caught up in the chaos.

What are the rules that guide my rights?

European air passengers’ rights rules prevail for flights operated by UK or EU airlines, and all flights from UK/EU airports, including Luton.

The regulations, known as EC261, were introduced in 2006. They were devised to require airlines to do the right thing for their passengers. They specify the care and compensation you can expect when you are denied boarding despite showing up on time, or when your plane is delayed or cancelled.

My flight to or from Luton is cancelled. What can I expect?

Even though the airline is not responsible for the flight being grounded, it is obliged to provide replacement transport: the airline must get you to your destination as soon as possible if that is what you want.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority says that means that, if a flight is available on the original day of travel, the passenger must be booked on it – even if it is on a rival carrier.

You are entitled to “re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to [your] final destination at the earliest opportunity”.

The term “re-routing” is unhelpful, since it implies finding a different route to the destination. On a link such as Luton-Malaga, with multiple airlines, there may be no need to change the route.

If you are flown to a different arrival airport, the airline must also meet reasonable onward travel costs. If you are flown to Gatwick rather than Luton, you could claim the £38 train fare but not a £150 taxi (unless you are in a party of four).

On occasion, a train (eg Eurostar from Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris to London) or even a rental car may be more appropriate.

You have two further options. The first is an alternative flight at a time to suit you in the future – though the cancelling…