Nine questions on flight cancellations answered by travel expert Simon Calder

As the UK baked in a second day of heatwave with record temperatures, The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder answered reader questions on flight cancellations, passports and more.

Here are nine questions on flight cancellations answered by Simon.

What compensation am I entitled to after a cancelled flight?

Q: We were booked on a Eurowings flight from Birmingham to Stockholm on 1 July that was cancelled with about three hours’ notice. After Eurowings refused to book us on anything that wasn’t a EW or Lufthansa flight, we booked ourselves on Ryanair’s Liverpool to Stockholm flight leaving the following day. We filled out a form on EW’s website requesting compensation for the cancelled flights and reimbursement for our Ryanair flight along with reasonable expenses (food, travel to Liverpool). The claim was submitted 16 days ago but, aside from a reply confirming they’d received our email, we haven’t heard anything back. How long do Eurowings have to reply, and how should we escalate if they do not get back to us in time? Also, we had booked to stay in a hotel by Birmingham airport the night before our original flight – are we eligible to claim this back as the cancellation rendered the hotel stay as unnecessary?

A: You are one of hundreds of thousands of people who have had a really tough time with cancellations this summer. If, as you say, Eurowings refused to book you on anything that wasn’t a flight on one of the Lufthansa Group airlines, it appears to have directly contravened the Civil Aviation Authority view that you must be offered a flight on any airline that will get you there on the original day of travel.

You did the right thing to book on Ryanair and then claim. Unfortunately one of the many gaps in the European air passengers’ rights rules is that there is no specified time for when these costs must be met. Give it a few more weeks then write a Letter Before Action saying you will make a legal claim (though since Brexit that has become trickier).

The Birmingham hotel counts as a consequential loss. It is possible, though frankly unlikely, that your travel insurance may cover it.

Q: My family had two return flights cancelled, are we entitled to two claims? The carrier is only offering one and no accommodation/food/transfer costs. Three day gap between offered flights.

A: Yes, you should be able to claim for each cancellation, if it was the airline’s responsibility (eg technical problems or staff shortage)

Q: Applied for…