Do any Med cruises set sail from the north of Britain?

Q We live in Scotland and like the Mediterranean but definitely don’t like flying. Therefore I am looking for recommendations of cruises from Scotland or the north of England that go to the Mediterranean and are suitable for a family with teenagers. What do you suggest?

Name supplied

A I need to manage your expectations and say straight up that I have found no good news. Scotland has a good few cruise ports, including Leith, Rosyth, Dundee and Greenock. Of these, Rosyth has the most frequent departures that I can see. They are on Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, which is a reputable company with, “at peak times and subject to numbers”, a policy of tolerance of younger guests. For most of the year, the policy is adults only.

Unfortunately, you have a choice of Norway, the Baltics, Iceland, France’s Channel and Atlantic coast, the Scottish Islands to Cornwall – and a one-night voyage to Newcastle. None of these meets your requirement for the Mediterranean.

Looking further south, Newcastle has a very similar range of destinations. Liverpool is slightly more optimistic, in that you can reach the Azores and Madeira. While, again, you are in the Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean, I can vouch for the beautiful Azores islands; you also get to visit Funchal on the stunning isle of Madeira, and the gorgeous Portuguese capital, Lisbon. But for the 25 July departure, the price is a steep £1,900 per person – and the teenagers may get cabin fever because more than half the days are “sea days” on which you cannot leave the ship.

I am afraid you would need to head as far south as Southampton to get a full range of cruises – and even then you will not see much of the Med in a two-week voyage because of the sheer length of time it takes to reach the Strait of Gibraltar from the UK. That, regrettably, is why fly-cruises are the norm for British travellers to the Mediterranean.

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Q I am due to travel to Abu Dhabi imminently. Do you think that British Airways will change the route to avoid flying over current conflict zones? I’m unsure if there’s a standard practice.

Georgie C

A I can assure you that no one at British Airways – which has not suffered a fatal accident for almost 40 years – will take any risks over your safety. The desperate unfolding humanitarian conflict in Lebanon has had many consequences for travellers in the past couple of days. Overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday, thousands of passengers were disrupted as a result of widespread flight diversions.

The normal flight path from the UK to the Gulf is to fly to the southeast corner of Turkey and then head southeast over either Iran or Iraq. But as missiles were fired from Iran over Iraq towards Israel, the airspace of both countries was closed. The most extreme response was Air France flight AF218 from Paris to Mumbai, in which the passengers endured an eight-hour trip to nowhere. The Airbus A350 reached Iraq but the nation’s airspace was suddenly closed. The plane turned around and, battling headwinds, finally arrived back at Paris CDG.

British Airways flight BA107 to Dubai had an interesting journey, too, almost reaching Iraq before zigzagging over Turkey to refuel at Larnaca in Cyprus, continuing south over Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The aircraft finally arrived in the UAE four hours late.

Your flight, BA85 from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, was unaffected on Tuesday: it departed late at night (one of the last to leave the UK’s busiest airport) and the crew on Tuesday night already knew about the need to stay south. It was half an hour late arriving, which compared with most travellers was a very good result. I imagine yours will follow a similar trajectory, and I do not foresee any disruption.

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Q Is there somewhere you can view future BA cancellations? I’m due to fly from Mumbai to London soon, and it would be good to see how often the flight is cancelled.

Phil M

A British Airways – and more particularly its passengers – are experiencing a difficult autumn. BA is always more exposed than other airlines to weather disruption at Heathrow since its main operation is based there. The UK’s main hub is the world’s busiest two-runway airport, and any reduction in the “flow rate” of arrivals and departures inevitably impacts British Airways far more than its rivals. Normally the shorthaul operation takes the hit. But the airline also revealed in a letter to staff last week that it has significant problems with its Boeing 787 fleet, saying: “We continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce – particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft.”

From Mumbai to London Heathrow there are three daily departures: 1.40am, 9.30am and 1.05pm. The first is on a Boeing 777; the last two on Boeing 787s. I have checked the British Airways schedule on ba.com. You can do the same; click on “Manage”, then scroll down to “Flight status”. There are three flights scheduled each day. Of these, the middle departures has been cancelled from 2 to 6 October inclusive, according to the publicly available data. You can check your flight for dates up to 14 October.

In the unlikely event that your flight is cancelled, British Airways is very likely to move you to a departure on the same day. Naturally BA would prefer to keep its passengers rather than paying another airline to take them. It will probably be inconvenient if your flight is shifted by several hours, but you should also be able to claim compensation of £520 under air passengers’ rights rules – which will take the edge off the irritation.

What if no seats are available on BA? As a UK airline, British Airways must provide a same-day alternative if a rival has space for you. So you could ask to travel on Air India or Virgin Atlantic. But the chances are you will travel as booked.

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Q We had a wonderful family holiday in Madeira in August, and were due to fly back on 16 August 2024. We got to the island’s airport with plenty of time and checked in as normal. It was only when we went through security that we realised that there were disruptions to flights that day due to wind. British Airways eventually cancelled our flight about six hours after the scheduled departure time. The BA plane had landed at the neighbouring island of Porto Santo, but eventually headed back to Heathrow citing bad weather at Madeira’s airport. Yet planes were landing and taking off at Madeira. We were 25 hours late in the end, of which only the initial delay was due to strong winds. But BA has used the weather as an excuse not to pay out – even after I showed them other planes were able to land and take off at Madeira. What should I do now?

Helen L

A In short, I am afraid, all I can suggest is to put it down to experience. I cannot see the prospect of a successful claim through either alternative dispute resolution or money claim online. British Airways will, with justification I believe, simply cite safety as causing the delay.

The island of Madeira is a spectacular rocky outcrop in the mid-Atlantic, and its airport is arguably the most challenging in Europe: it extends on stilts out into the Atlantic. With mountains on one side, the ocean on the other and swirling unpredictable winds, landings are often abandoned; the nearby airport on Porto Santo is often used as a location to wait for better weather. But there is no universal agreement about what constitutes “better weather”. Each airline has its own specifications about the winds it will tolerate, and the individual captain will ultimately make his or her decision about whether to attempt a landing.

I have heard of many similar cases when some planes were getting down while others stayed clear. It’s clearly frustrating if you are all ready to go and your plane has headed back to the UK. But such a scenario is a known possibility on any trip to Madeira.

Your travel insurance may offer a modest payment for the delay – and perhaps you can also appreciate what I hope was an enjoyable extra day, with BA obliged to pay for your hotel and all your meals.

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