Birmingham Airport latest: Flights resume hours after plane’s ‘under-carriage collapses’ during emergency landing

For delays of under two hours you have no rights (unless a short delay in the UK triggers a missed connection and much later arrival at your final ticketed destination – see below).

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

The time at which the duty of care kicks in depends on the distance you are flying:

• Short flights (up to 1,500km): refreshments after two hours.
• Mid-haul journeys (1,500 to 3,500km): three hours.
• Longer trips: four hours.

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

If the delay extends overnight, the airline is obliged to find and pay for a hotel room. In practice, carriers often say, “too difficult”, and invite the passenger to book their own and reclaim later.

While this practice does not comply fully with the rules, aviation authorities tend to turn a blind eye to it.

Many people in Europe trying to fly back to Birmingham were still facing lengthy delays after its reopening.

Diana Celella, an interior designer from Sutton Coldfield, was due to return from Lisbon on a Ryanair flight departing at 8.20pm after a week-long holiday in the Portuguese city with her husband Luigi, but saw online that the flight will now take off at 11.05pm.

The 60-year-old, who also works as a lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth, told the PA news agency: “My husband and I have had a lovely holiday, so it’s a real shame to end it with this delay. That said, if we do manage to take off tonight, we’ll count ourselves lucky under the circumstances.

“The atmosphere among fellow passengers is mostly resigned — everyone we’ve spoken to recognises that it’s out of Ryanair’s control.

“However, there’s been a lack of clear communication. We’ve had no updates from Ryanair since 6.20pm, and there have been no announcements at Lisbon Airport, which is frustrating.

“Fingers crossed we fly tonight.”

The Air…