A quarter of UK flights were disrupted by delays or cancellations this year – here’s how to claim compo if you were affected
WHAT we already knew has been confirmed – Brits really do suffer when it comes to flight delays and cancellations.
Britain suffers the second worst disruption in Europe, coming second only to Germany.
Research from shows that the UK’s passengers had to put up with a record numbers of delays and cancellations in the last year, affecting over 175,000 flights.
That’s one in four outbound flights from the UK – up 86 per cent compared to 2017.
UK passengers have suffered through several spates of strikes by Ryanair this year, and it looks like they are set to continue.
Earlier this year customers were also affected by air traffic control strikes in France that affected flights across Europe.
While the UK comes in second place behind Germany on the rundown, France isn’t far behind in third place, and actually has a higher number of disrupted flights at 28.16 per cent.
This is followed by Spain in fourth place, Italy in fifth place, and the Netherlands in sixth place, with Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden making up the rest of the top ten.
While Slovakia has the least number of disrupted flights in Europe, it also has the smallest number taking off per year at 5,200.
The country with the smallest percentage is actually Latvia, which sees just 12.30 per cent of its flights delayed or cancelled.
Paloma Salmeron, air passenger rights expert at AirHelp, comments: “2018 has seen the worst flight disruption across Europe in history. Millions of travellers have suffered severe delays or cancellations by airlines, but nowhere more so than in Germany and the UK.
“Airline staff strikes, lack of pilots and bad weather have all contributed to a year of air travel misery and chaos for passengers."
She continued: “And the situation is only set to get worse. The current Brexit aviation deal limbo combined with a predicted increase in European flights to 12.4-million by 2024 is likely to cause even more havoc in European airspace."
Are you entitled to flight delay compensation?
The rules are bit complicated but you should be able to claim compensation if your flight is delayed for more than three hours and you were flying from an European airport or with an EU-based airline.
Then you can claim compensation up to €250 (£229) for short-haul flights and €400 (£367) for mid-haul flights and €600 (£530) for long-haul flights.
Five essential flight delay facts
HERE are five essential facts about flight delays that you need to know
- You MUST have been travelling on an EU airline or a flight that departed from an EU airport
- Quote the EU rule 261/2004 in your letter when making the compalint
- Don't use a flight delay tool that takes a slice of your compensation, you can do it yourself for free
- You can claim as far back at 2012, so its not just flights this summer that count for compensation
- How much you get back back depends on the flight delay and distance - the maximum is £530
What are the catches?
The airline might not payout if the problem is beyond their control, for example due to bad weather or strikes.
Unless the strike was not ordered by a trade union, in which case you can get a refund.
Unfortunately, if you experienced problems on a non-EU regulated flight, you won't be covered by the EU flight delay compensation scheme.
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How do I complain?
If you feel you are owed compensation, contact the airline operating the flight - even if you booked it through a comparison website or agent.
If you feel like you're not getting anywhere with the airline and the flight was cancelled or delayed within the UK, report the issue to the CAA who may be able to intervene on your behalf.