At the height of holiday season travellers are still facing disruption following a failure of the main air-traffic control system across the UK.
As a result of the system failure on bank holiday Monday, almost 1,600 flights were cancelled – grounding around 250,000 holidaymakers.
On Tuesday, around 300 departures were cancelled as airlines struggled with aircraft and crew being out of position.
Wednesday has seen further disruption for holidaymakers, with more than 2,000 flights grounded in total.
Many stranded travellers have been left wondering whether they can claim compensation and what airlines are required to do to help them. Others are concerned about future holidays and how long before things will return to normal.
During an “Ask Me Anything” session for The Independent, travel correspondent Simon Calder tackled a wide range of questions from readers worried about their holiday plans and how they would be impacted by the outage.
The last week of August is a time of high demand for air travel, especially from returning holidaymakers, so many people have been affected.
Here are seven questions answered by Simon.
Q: We had our flights with Ryanair from France to Manchester cancelled on Monday. Rebooked new flights with them as soon as we heard but weren’t any available until Saturday. Will we be entitled to compensation for the additional five days accommodation, car parking charges at Manchester airport or loss of earnings at work?
“SuzanneF”
A: Will we be entitled to compensation for the additional five days accommodation? Yes, as well as meals, but keep the receipts and make sure they are itemised.
Car parking charges at Manchester airport? Possibly, but some car parking firms are letting people off if their flights are delayed.
Loss of earnings at work? No.
Q: Should I be worried about a holiday booked for September with easyJet? How long will it take for things to return to normal? Thank you
“Zasha”
A: Have no worries about travel plans in September.
From all points of view you have made a good decision – anyone who does not have to holiday in August should not do so, to reduce the stress on themselves (and everyone else who has no choice).
September is a perfect month in many parts of Europe, particularly the Mediterranean.
Q: We were informed that our Jet2 flight out to Gran Canaria and subsequent holiday were…
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